The daily Alaskan., 1907-06-28
The Elixir of Life.
~~~~N~~~~-
LOrIELnaLl

. ty.uve years before, and would not have known each other had we not bccu introduced. Disbrow was known | to me by reputation, for he had become eminent in physics l also followed science and have achieved some repu- ! tatiou in bactcrlology. When the bride and groom entered the drawing room for the ceremony Dishrow and l fol lowed.
 "Whut a perfect picture of youthful beauty" | whispered to Dfsbrow, re- Gerrmg to the bride
 "uow old would yoU take her to beT be asked
 "Twcuty-two or twchy-
 A singular expression passed over bis rucp
 "Do you think her older than that?"
 Suppose | should tell you she Is over rorty.'
 "I would doubt your sanity"
 At this point the marriage service commenced. and OUT remarks ceased. When it was over and We had offered our oougratulalions Disbrow and | went to the supper room to p0Clake of the dcllruy.cs displayed ,here. Help ing ourselves. we found a coZy corner and sat Iowu to chat and eat
 "Estwicl." said uishrow to me, "l'm going to celebrate our meeting after so many years by letting y"u into se. crpr. We are brother scientists; there fore I don't consider what l am about to tell you a breach of confidence, or rather l consider the professional con. udruce superior to the individual ob.l. gatrou Do you underestimate"
 "Perrectly,"
 "Wcu the girl Wa have just seen married Is rorty-two years uld." 1 gave a gasp of astonishmeuL
 But I must go back 10 the begin ming. You know when I left college something was expected of me."
 You were considered a prodigy" J Interrupted
 Tt wasn't the prodigy; 1t was luck, just as 1t was with Rocutgeu, only my luck came long before his. ] made a similar discovery years ago. have applied it as uo one else has applied lt Now. you know that from the mo meut We Ueglu to live We are attacked uv microbes. Cancel tup miero0e, aud you cancel old age. From experiments 1n insects l found that hy exposing tho .ar,ae to a ray since called radtum ] arrested decay. But 0t the same time | arrested growth From insects ] cE. periueuted ou frogs. kittens, dogs and other animals. have a pet collie dl. tnau years old as lively as 9 puppy"
 "Dlsbrow. has your learning made you mad|
 "ND: l am as sane as you. But ] .u.w that # 1 offered any such ideas to .ne world I'd be put iu limbo, and as | dread lunaHc asylums and value my Freedom I have kept my month shuL"
 "FUr heavens sake, go on"
 This is no place To give you any u:n- more than a preface to what ! have proposed to tell you about tho bride. did make my discoveries known Co one man, old Volimar our professor of chemistry at college. Tha, was just as had made app my mind t" .ry .o arrest decay iu human beings Not long after that EoI,mar cane 60 ao and told me that two muL.LwllIion- aires desired Jo join thrir vast for tunes by the marriage of a son ot tAc gur Go daughter of the uJher hul the boy was hut two years of ago. wl.I" the girl was twonty-four. If they wait cl rul the boy became Of age the girl would be too o,J lo produce an heir. Al least such an event wo".a not lc likely. Besides. the difference ot age would lc a great obstacle to their marriage The old man asked me if ] would make an effort to arrest decay on the part of the girl"
 Come. come. Disbrow, what non sense is thisE
 Your mcrcduIlty demonstrates the necessity of keeping my secret If you tell 1t, sooner or later they'll have me behind closed doors You haven't the scientific head old Vollmar had. He | tuubed to t&e idea at once"
 GO on with your yarn"
 "Tm not going to try amid this clat- ter Of dishes and voices to tell you my process. ] will only say that the stum- bling block in my way was the fact that | the clectrons discharged from radium are obsuucted in their passage through air. I was therefore obliged to put the subject in a receiver and exhaust the l air.
 (Which means death"
 "Ah, There's where the wonderful | power of radium comes in. It Is suf- | ticient to keep life In the subject for ! an indefinite period"
 But where did you get your appa- ! ratus? Sufficient radium for the pur. pose would cost fortune"
 The girls father opened hIs bank account to me"
 "WeuG"
 My subject was bit frightened and her father-the only one except herself in the secret-was beside him self with fear. But the desire to pile up gold even for posterlW was too