The Owosso times. (Owosso, Mich.) 1897-1926, 1907-08-30

ed.
There was no wind without. The
candle, feeble as its 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
ed 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 go 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 sur
faces Of the walls, and removed every
speck of loose material. More news
paper was requisitioned, but after util.
izing the Irvine on his parcel of cloth
ing he ran short of string.
He coolly went up the stairs, unfas-
tened the rope with which he had in
tended to hang himself and loosened
its stiff strands. Soon he had an abun-
dance of strong cord, and four bulky
packages were added to the first small
one.
They were heavy, too, weighing sew
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
husk, as 1t were, of the meteor-were
so ponderous, what would be the
weight of the meteor itself? How
could he hope to lift 1t from the hole
In which it lay, how convey 1t from
Johnson's News to a new and safer
habitation? He might as well endeav-
or to move an unwilling elephant.
The thought chilled him. For the
with Mr.. Abingdon, Philip experienced
a dread of failure. With something Of
panic 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 I so ready to lose faith
in mothers"
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 direc-
tions. Its assures gaped widely as If
to mock at him. The rain and steam
had done their work well. 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
pairing them in his minds eye with the
collection now lodged in Isaacstein's
safe. If those were worth 100000,
these must be Of fabulous value.
Any other person in the wide world
might have been excused If he pinched
himself or winked furiously or took
out the gold filed tobacco pouch for
careful inspection to assure himself
that he 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
to 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 inclose all his valuables in a
tin tfunk which he would purchase
next morning. Any ordinary trunk
would certainly be spacious enough,
but its phenomenal weight would I'M
questionably evoke more comment than
he desired, and it would need two
strong men to lift it,
This portion of his plan needed to be
ChIilNiJ iCl9JdCiCd1 hO wac iO"
more than ever thankful that the ESQ.
save one expended, reposed in his
pocket. With money, all things, or
nearly all things, were possible.
Owing to the cramped space in which
the meteor lay, it was no small task to
bring it to the surface in sections, but
he persevered. BY strenuous endeavor
he accumulated an astonishing pile Of
iron ore studded with diamonds, look
ing not unlike almonds in a brown
cake, and the guttering candle held low
down failed to reveal anything else in
the hole. There was good deal of
debris at the bottom, and the depth was
now over four feet. To reach to Its
full extent he was compelled to jam
his head and shoulders into the eXcava-
ton and feel blindly with one hand, so
he rightly concluded that final ex-
animation might be left until daylight.
BY this tine he was hot and covered
with dirt. He stripped, washed himself
in front of the fire and changed into
his new clothes.
He did not possess q looking glass,