The Paducah evening sun. [volume] (Paducah, Ky.) 1906-1929, 1908-05-14

| luNb pouring llllO Tue s'ds Oht SuNts
his own life by instinct, suppose
There / was had to live. 1t did
not matter much but continued TO dc
IL by various shifts. That last day on
| the headland the fumes nearly got me
You may have noted the rather excited
scrawl In the back of the ledger2 Yes,
thought | was gone that time, but |
got 10 the cave II was low tide. Then
the earthquake. and was walled In.
| Mr.. Barnetts very accurate explosives
| SHADES insistence-your risking your
| lives MS you did. mites on the crust of
a redhot cheese hope you know how
| | feel about IL all. One can't thank a
man properly FOR the life
"Oh, the pirates. Necessarily II must
be a matter Of theory. but I think we
have 1t right Slade and built il up.
For what it's worth here II is. Let me
see, YOU sighted the glow on the night
Of the ID Next day came the desert
ed ship. II must have puzzled you
outrageously."
1T did," said Captain Parkinson
lryly.
Not an easy problem even with all
the data at hand. You, Of course, had
none. On SHADES showing. Handy Sol
ONION and his worthy associates thought
they had chest full OF riches when
they got the doctors treasure - be
Iievcd. they owned the machinery for
making diamonds or gold or what not
of ready TO hand wealth. It's fair TO
assume certain eagerness on their
part Disturbed weather keeps them
busy until they're well out from the
island Then to the chest. Orenlng
il isn't so easy. | had the key, you
know" He brought a curious and
'delicately wrought skeleton from his
pocket. Tipped with platinum" he
Observed. Rather gem Of key, ]
think You see. there must have been
some action even through the kcyhole
or he wouldn't have used q metal of
this kind But the crew was rich In
certain qualities. 1t seems. which ]
failed stupidly 10 recognize in my ac-
quaintance with them. Both Pull and
Perdosa appear to have been handy
men where locks were concerned. First
Pull sneaks down and has his turn at
the chest. lie gets it open. Small
profit for him in that The next we
know of him he is scandaliZing Handy
solomon by having tit ON the deck"
THAT Is what couldn't figure out
TO save my life" said Slade eagerly.
IF you recollect, told you of the
professors plunge in the cold spring
In sort of paroxysm one day" said
barrow. That was the physiological
action Of the celestium. At other
times | have seen him come out and
deliberately roll in the creek, head I'M
der. Once he explained that the me
dium he worked In caused a kind Of
uncomfortable longing for water. some
thing having none of the qualities of
burning or thirst, but an irresistible
temporary mania. II worried him a
That, then, was what allied Pulz.
When he opened the chest there was,
as surmlse. trifing quantity OF
this stuff lying in the inner lid 1t
wasn't the celestium itself, as | i'm
agine, but sort Of byproduct with the
and radiant effects of the
real thing. and il had been set there
on guard, a Encouragement TO the
spirit Of Investigation. as ii were. SO
when the top was lifted our little
guardian gets in its work. producing
the light phenomenon that so puzzled
Slade and inspiring Pull with pas
sion for the rolling wave, which is only
Interrupted by Handy Solomon's tao
king him. As he fed he must have
pulled down the cover"
"He did," said Slade. II heard the
rlang But saw the radiance on the
clouds. and the whole thickness of a
solid oak deck was in between the sky
and the chest"
."Oh, little thing like an oak deck
wouldn't interrupt the kind of rays the
doctor used. lie had his own method
Of screening. You understand. How
ever, this inconsiderable guardian af-
fair must have used itself up. which
true celestium wouldn't have done
So when Perdosa sets his genius for
lock picking TO the task the inner box.
full Of the genuine article. has no
warning signpost. so TO speak. Every
things peaceful until they raise the
filed hollow layer of the In
ner cover, which serves TO interrupt
the action. Then comes the general
exit and the superior fireworks"
That's when the rays ran through
the ship" said Slade. 1T seemed to
follow the deck lines"
"The stuff had a strange affinity for
tar" said barrow. II told you of the
circle of fire about Professor Schermer-
horns waist the day he gave me such |
4 scare. That was the celestium work |
Ing on the tarred rope he wore for a
belt. 1t made a llvid circle on his |
skin. Did ! tell you of his expert |
merits with pitch? 1t doesn't matter
Where was ~
AT the place where we. all jumped"
said Slade
"Oh, yes. And you dove into the
small boat, trying to reach the wa
ter"
Wait Bit" said Barnett. IF rat
was the exhibition OF radiance we
saw. II died ont In few minutes.
How was that? Did they close the
chest before they rnnpr