The Columbia herald. [volume] (Columbia, Tenn.) 18??-1935, 1907-10-18

mattress and swept the floor. gatae.,
ing into a heap all the tiny particle
with which 1t was Uttered. These h
collected In piece OF newspaper anu
folded them into parcel, which again
he iuclosed in stoutef sheet of browiI
paper, finally tying the whole with a
yard of string he carried in bis pocket.
There were hundreds Of tiny dia-
znonds In that Insignificant package
and not a few the size Of small peas,
As a matter Of fact, he discovered sub
sequently that the net result OF his
sweeping brought him In over a fl,OO0.
Having examined every nook and
crevice of the apartment by. the aid
of the candle, he satisfied himself that
naught remained which would indi
cate to the most curious eye any event
out of the common having occurred IN
that humble dwelling.
II was typical Of Philips implicit
faith that he did not unlock the back
door until his interior task was ended.
He knew that his meteor was untouch-
cd.
There was no wind without. The
candle, feeble as it's rays were, illumi-
mated the small yard sufficiently to re-
veal its debris of white stones and
darker Jumps Of metal. Beginning at
the doorway, he swept vigorously, but
with minutest care, until he had form
cd four good sized piles on the flag
stones
He could not afford to differentiate
between the debris of the damaged
pavement and the fragments of the
meteor. 1t was easy to distinguish the
larger pieces of broken glass from the
window inside the house. In the yard
he had neither the time nor the light
to select the bits of shattered stone
All must 60 together, to be sorted with
leisured care subsequently.
He scrutinized the external window
stills, the door posts, the chinks OF the
small coal house door at the farther
end of the yard, even the rough SUI
faces of the walls, and removed every
epeck of loose material More news
paper was requisitioned, but after util-
king the Irvine on his parcel OF cloth
me he ran short Of string.
He coolly went up the stairs, unfas
tened the rope with which he had in
tended 10 hang himself and loosened
ITS STIFF strands, Soon ne nao an apuil-
dance Of strong cord, and four bulky
packages were added to the first small
one.
They were heavy, too, weighing seN-
eral pounds each In placing them
side by side close to the wall beneath
the front window he suddenly realized
an unforeseen difficulty.
If these shreds of matter-the mere
hugk. as 1t were, of the meteor We're
no ponGerous, what would be the
weight Of the meteor itself9 How
could he hope to lift 1t from the hole
IN which it lay, how convey 1t from
Johnsons News to new and safer
habitation? He might as well endeav-
or to move an unwilling elephant
The thought chilled him. For the
Arst time since his parting inter, aw
with Mr.. Abingdon, Philip experienced
n dread OF failure. With something of
manic In his blood, he snatched the
candle and ran hastily into the yard
He knelt and held the light low in the
excavation. Then he cried aloud:
"What! Am 80 ready to lose faith
in motherr
For the huge metallic mass-so big
that 1t would not enter the bore OF the
largest cannon known to modern gun
nery--was split asunder In all dlrec-
tons. It's assures gaped widely as II
TO mock at him. The rain and steam
had done their work we'll. 1t was even
possible that he would not need the
spade, but would be able to pick out
each separate chunk with his hand.
Instantly he put the thought into ex-
ecution and succeeded in lifting sew
eral pieces to the yard level. He noted
that they were gorged with the dull
white pebbles, some being the size OF
pigeons eggs. He could not help com
parIng them in his minds eye with the
collection now lodged in Isaacstein $
safe. II those were worth 100000,
these must be Of fabulous value.
Any other person In the wide world
might have been excused II he pinched
nImSHII OF WlukCu AdA AOeoAJ ~ NONf-
out the gold filled tobacco pouch Tor
careful inspection to assure himself
fiat ne was not dreaming. Not so
Philip. The only dominant feeling In
his brain was one Of annoyance that
he should have doubted for one single.
instant that means would be given him
20 secure absolute and undisputed con.
troll Of his treasure.
But there remained the problem OF
weight. His original idea was to wrap
the actual body of the meteor In the
stout sack he obtained from O'Brien
and then incIoss all his valuabaes In a
tin trunk which he would purchase
next morning, Any ordinary trunk
would certainly be spacious enough,
but its phenomenal weight would un-
Questionably evoke more comment than
he desired, and II would need two
strong men to lift II.
This portion of his plan needed to be
entirely remodelosl and he was now