Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1907-11-10

iauSned toieranuy, kho"hiS Ine Ai'eh'oi
pecuarities.
What else did he say?" the President
asked.
said he'd be hanged if he'd go until he saw
you" The laughter in the room increased.
"Said he had found something that would
enable the Government to whip the Japanese;
had been reading reports showing there was
no time to waste, and wanted to tell you about
1t at once.
The nlerriment subsidized as quickly as it had
been provoked and the hilarious ones, grown
grave, looked at each other in astonlshment
and wonder. Here at the very moment of
distress man who had done more toward
strengthening the nations agents of offe9Re
and defense than any other Individual, con-
fidently asserting that he could show them the
way out of their difficulties. The President
ordered that the caller be conducted to the
room at once.
Had it been any less parsonage than the
famous inventor, they would have paid small
heed to the promise of hope; had they been
informed in less troublous times that such an
invention was pending they would have looked
upon it with great interest and curiosity: but
now when all avenues of escape seemed
closed, when the eagles perch was rocking
beneath its talons, and it was threatened by
merciless foemen, they stared at each other
in amazed silence like who had been
| reprieved
1t was in the midst of this stiffness that the
inventor entered the room and stood bewll-
dered for moment, peering from beneath
the thatch of his brows at one and another.
Then, satisfied that his visit was opportune
and that none was present whom he did not
know, he gave them individual greeting as his
acquaintanceship warranted.
You were not expecting me, he addressed
the President; but it appears to me that
| there is no one here who should not know what
| have to say, and who is not directly inter
ested in what have to show. | am glad you
| are all here, gentlemen" he concluded, turn
| ing to the Others. And then, following the
example of the President, he seated himself,
and the others did likewise. They were strung
| with a suspense which he did not share. '' In
formal, isn't it?" he asked the President and
when assured that such was the case he calmly
drew handkerchief from his pocket and swept
it across the dome of his forehead.
All were waiting for him to speak; but,
with exasperating slowness. and without ask
| ing permission from the President he thrust
a hand into the roomy folds of his sack coat
and produced bundle of long stogies, one of
which he carefully withdrew and examined
| with great care. He thrust it into his mouth
| and revolved it, apparently for the purpose
of tightening loose wrapper. He turned to
| the chief executive. There was an air of ex-
pectancy in the room and leaning forward,
| that no word of the great secret might be lost.
They caught all he said.
Got a match, Mr.. Presldentt' he asked
with the utmost nonchalance
| They dropped back into their seats,
with evaporation and Others smiling The
President gravely supplied his want, and then,
as the evil odor of the weed was waited round
the room, he sat back in his chair, with the
tips of his fingers touching each other. The
Secretary of War was beginning to hdget with
impotence.
Roberts pulled three or four times fixed his
ewes on a cornice as if he was the sole occupant
Of the ROOM then calmly reached into pocket
and drew out a parcel which he laid on the
Presidents desk While every eye was fixed
upon him he tilted the stogy in his mouth to
an angle where the smoke would not interfere
with his operations, and began unwrapping
the package, throwing the newspapers on the
floor at his feet. Then came fold of silk
and last of all sheet of tissue paper, whose
cracking crispness sounded startlingly loud
in the stiffness of the room.
"Therel" he remarked triumphantly, ex-
posing two small plates of metal not differing
greatly in appearance from two pieces of
Furnished steel Eagerly all those in the room
crowded forward, while the President gingerly
took one of the slabs in his fingers.
New explosive?" he asked.
mo, they're harmless" The inventor
smiled.
The others looked eagerly at them as the
President held them, wondering what con-
nection the two little strips of metal could
possibly have with the defense of nation
against multitude of battleships. Nothing
but Roberts's known ability prevented them
from looking upon him as a crank. They in
spected the objects before them in turn, pass