The Washburn leader. [volume] (Washburn, McLean County, N.D.) 1890-1986, 1908-06-26


swept over the lean old face into
which she peered, drove the wrinkles
into the corners of the eyes, and q
mas Of radiating burrows round the
mouth.
you've guessed it." he said, and
then turned to the admiral. "Brockton,
you don't know what that hole meant;
but in an hour from now I'm going to
show you. That is, Norma, my as
sistant, and I will"
Then in a sudden frenzy for work
he asked them all to leave until he
sent for them, and they, wondering
and specializing on his next endeavor,
obeyed. Only the workmen, who had
descended into the cavity and. were
preparing to hoist the plate and mold,
and the admiral, by special invitation,
remained. The c4ang of hammers re-
sounded holloway through the o
as the timbers beneath the floor were
shored up by the carpenters; then
came the setting of another and lar
ger tank than the n which had been
so Unexpectedly driven into the earth.
The smaller plates which had been in
tended only for experimental purposes
we're exhausted, and therefore they
had nothing on which to operate save
two immense castings weighing many
tons. Wide sliding doors rolled back,
and workmen from the foundry, with
~straining muscles and clinging toes,
e1ou,ly p,,ohod In 1ou, uhoo1ad oors m
which rested the huge pieces of metal.
A steel crane projected its ungainly
arm, reached slowly down, and, in a
Titanic grasp picked up one piece.
moved it into position over the new
bed, and deposited it in a great basin
whose material indicated that it would
be able to Withstand any heat.
The admiral in boyish ex%uberance
would have thrown wide the door; but
the inventor, remembering the other
contretemps, forbade. The latter
busted himself for a few minutes in
his storehouse, and returned with q
sheet of peculiar insulation which was
of his own invention, almost indie
structible by heat, and a resistant to
any form of ~radioactivity, which he
placed with great care On top of the
huge plate. The second plate was
lowered squarely on top of this,
clamped for additional security, and
the workmen dismissed. The connec.
lions were made in identically the
same way as in the previous test, ex.
ccpt that one electrical apparatus was
attached to the upper plate above the
insulation and the other to the one
beneath. Brockton, seeing that the
currents were about to be applied,
backed off into the corner, until
stopped by the farthermost partition.
Its all right this time" the in.
ventor assured. him. wild current
and wet floor before, badly insulated
handle, too. All fixed up now. Won't
be any accident this time" and so on,
making the final inspection of his ap-
paratus as he talked. Norma reviewed
her fathers work, to be certain that
all was we'll, and then at a nod from
him took her station at the other mon
ster which had not been used hither-
to. There was a simultaneous move
ment on their part, and, as if suddenly
endowed with a soul, the lights once
more flashed here and there, glazing
at them with sinister contempt
Frankensteins under control!
The admiral, fascinated by the mys-
terry of science, stared at the white
haired old nan who was calmly watch
ing his play Of colors, and then at the
girl who with equal self-possession
and GOODNESS manipulated the strange
currents beneath her hands. They
were animated as by one mind, throw
ing their levers and switches to and
fro at identically the anne moment
without looking at each other, and the
click Of the closing currents came in
unison. Not until then did they step
back from their stations and inter-
change what seemed to the admiral
mutual glances Of congratulation.
THAT assistant Of mine is a won
der!" was all the old man said as he
came over, dragged q stool up beside
that on which the officer sat, and glee-
fully rubbed his hands together: "She
thinks more clearly than I do"
Brockton, who had been tense as .
violin string and had almost forgotten
to breathe, drew q long breath and
looked at the girl, who had been. lean.
ing against the wall as though ex-
hausted, but was now watching the
slowly cooling metal. He would have
asked questions; but the inventor
turned to him and with an air Of
triumph said:
Il wish you would invite all those
who were here when we made the first
test. Then you will have the explana-
ton ~unlessSI am again mistaken"
The admiral obeyed, and we a the
cooling sprays were sitting over the
great pieces Of metal they came troop
ing in from the work which they had
resumed. There were men from the
draughting rooms with pencils behind
their ears, engineers from the outside