The Paducah evening sun. [volume] (Paducah, Ky.) 1906-1929, 1908-05-09

| sat directly across from the doctors
| assistant Before him lay a paper COW
cred with jotted notes. Trendon
slouched low In the chair on SHADES
right. Captain Parkinson had the 9th
err side. Convenient to Darrow's. hand
lay the material for cigarettes. As he
talked he rolled cylinder after cylinder
and between sentences consumed them
In long satisfying puffs.
First you will want TO learn OF the
fate of your friends and shipmates.'
he began. They are dead One of
them, Mr.. Edwards, fell TO my hands
to bury. as you know. He lies beside
Handy solomon. The others we shall
probably not see. Any one OF Il score
of ocean currents may have swept
them far away. The last great glow
that you saw was the signal of their
destruction. SO the work of great
scientist. potent benefactor of the
race. gentle and kindly old heart. has
brought about the death of your friends
and of my enemies. The innocent
and the guilty. the murderer with his
plumber. the officer following his duty.
one and the same end-a 1ialtry thing
our Saunted science IL In the face of
such tangled fates." He spoke low
and bitterly. Then he squared his
shoulders. and his manner became
businesslike.
Interrupt me when any point needs
clearing up" he said Its blind
trail at best. You've the right TO see II
as plain as | can make it-with SHADES
help. Cut right In with your questions.
Therell he plenty to answer. and some
never will be answered. Now. let me
get this thing laid out clearly In my
own mind. You first saw the glow
let me see
Might of June 3" said Barnett.
June - agreed barrow. THAT was
the end of Solomon. Thrackles X Co.
A very surprising end TO them II they
hard time to think" he added grizzly.
surprising enough from the suryiv-
ors' viewpoint" said Slade.
'sDoubtless. They've had that story
from you. needn't go over il. This
ship picked up the Laughing Lass. de-
serted, and put your first crew aboard.
That night, was it not, you saw the
second pillar Of fire?'
Barnett nodded.
so your men met their death. Then
came the second finding of the empty
schooner. Captain Parkinson. they
must have been brave men who faced
the unknown terrors of that prodigy"
"They volunteered. SIR" said the cap
tain, with simple pride.
barrow bowed with suggestion of
reverence In the slow movement of his
head. And that night-or was II two-
nights later-you saw the last appearl'
ance of the portent? Well. I shall
come 10 that Slade has told you how
they lived ON the beach With us In
the valley II was different. Almost
from the first was alone. The doctor
ceased TO be companion. He ceased
TO be human almost. \ machine. that's
what he was. His one human instinct
was-well, distrust. His whole force of
being was centered on his discovery. II
was to make him the foremost scientist
of the world; the foremost individual
entity of his time-of all time possibly.
Even to outline IL to you would take
too much time. Light. heat, motive
power In incredible degrees and under
such control as has never been known.
These were TO be the agencies at his
call. The push of a button, the turn
of screw-oh, he was to be master
of such power as no monarch ever
welded, Riches-pshaw. Riches were
the least of Ii. He could create them
practically. But they would be super
fiuous. Power. Unlimited, absolute
power was his goal With his end
achieved, he could establish an autoc-
racy. a dynasty of whatever
he chose Oh. II was rich hued.
golden, glowing dream, a dream such
as mems souls don't formulate in these
stale days-not our kind of men. The
Teutonic mysticlsm-you understand.
And 1t was all true. oh. gutter
do you mean us to understand that
he had this power you describeTr ask
ed Captain Parkinson.
"In his grasp Then comes n prac-
| teal gentleman with steel hook. A
| follower of dreams, too, In his way.
Conflicting interests-you know how IT
is. One well aimed blow from the
more practical dreamer and the great
er vision passes. I'm getting ahead OF
| myself. Just moment"
His cigarette glowed fiercely In the
dimness before he took up his, tale
again.
you all know who DIR. Schermer-
horn was None OF you know-I don't
know myself, though I've been his fac
totum for ten years-along how many
varied lines Of activity that mind play
ed. One Of them was the secret Of en-
ergy-concentrated, resistless energy.
Mans contrivances were too puny for
him. The most powerful engines he
| regarded as tops. For time high ex-
plosiyes claimed his attention. He
wanted to harness them. Once he got
to the point OF practical experiment.
You can see the ruins yet-a hole In
southern New Jersey. Nobody ever
understood how he escaped. But there
he was on his feet across a ten foot
fence in a plowed iield-yes, he flew
the fcnce-and running, running, furi-
ousiy In the opposite direction when
the dust cleared away. Some one stop
ped him finally. Told him the danger
was over. Yet | will not return he