The Springdale news., 1909-03-09

visible. certainty tue HiSSei uIu hoe know of my presence, for he came and stood within three feet of me without giving any sign. The companion was open. In a moment some door below was opened also, and Il scrap of con yersation came up to us very clearly.
 You haf dem finishedf" the doe tors voice inquired. 50, that iss we'll" Papers rustled for few mo ments And the r.result-ah exactly it iss that exactly. Percy. mein son, that maigs the experiment exact We haf the proeess'-
 Il don't see. sir, quite. replied the voice of Percy Darrow, with tinge of excitement "I can follow the logic of the experiment, of course; so can follow the logic of trip 10 the moon. But when you come to apply 1t how do you get your re-agent? There's no known method :. Dr. Schermerhorn broke in "Ach, 1t iss that I haf perfected. Pardon me, my boy: it iss the first l haf worked from you apart. It iss for surprise. I haf made in small quantities the missing ingredient. It will form per feet interruption 10 the current. Now We go'-
 Do you mean to say" almost shout cd Darrow. that you have succeeded in freeing 1t Ill the metalt'
 "Yes," replied the doctor simply.
 could hear chair overturned.
 "Why, with that you can
 Il can dc efferything. broke in the doctor. "The possibilities are enor- nous"
 And you can really produce 1t in qnantity?a
 er."
 pause ensued
 "Whym came the voice of Percy Darrow, awestricken. With fifty centigrams only you could-you could transmute any substance = why, you could make anything you pleased als most, Ton could make enough dia- monds to fill that chest, It is the philosophers stone!'
 "Damonds-ye yes-it Is possible In terrupted the doctor impatiently, If it was worth while. But you should see the real importance"-
 The ship eareened to a chance swell. A door slammed The voices were cut off, l looked up. The nigger's head WAS thrust forward fairly into the glow from the companionway. The mask of his sullenness had fallen. His eyes fairly rolled in excitement. His thick lips were drawn back 10 expose his teeth. His powerful figure WAS gathered with the tensity of a bow. When the door slammed he turned si- lently to glide away. At that instant the watch was changed, and in mo mcnt found myself in my bunk.
 Ten seconds later the nigger, de- tained by Captain Selover for some tritiing duty, burst into the forecastle. He was possessed of the widest ex- element This in itself was enough to gain the attention of the men, but his first words were startling
 "I found de treasure!" he almost shouted. T know where he kept,'
 They leaped at him-Handy Solo mon and Pulz-and fairly shook out of him what he thought he knew. He babbled in the forgotten terms of al ehemy, dressing modern facts in the garments of medieval thought until they were scarcely to be recognized.
 And so he say dat he fine him, de philosopher stone, and he keep him in tat heavy box we see him carry aboard, and he don have to make gol' with it-he can make damon s--dia- mon's-he say it too easy to All dat box plum full of diamon's."
 They gesticulated and exclaimed and breathed hard, full of the marvel of such a thought Then abruptly the clamor died to nothing. I felt six eyes bent on me, six unwinking eyes moving restless in motionless figures, suspicious. deadly as cobras.
 Up to now my standing with the 1 men had been well enough. Now they drew frankly apart One of the most I significant indications of this was the l increased respect they paid my office. 1t was as though by prompt obedi- ence, instant deference and the em- phasizing of ships etiquette they in tended to draw sharply the line be- l tween themselves and me There was much whispering apart, many private talks and consultations in which I had no part. Ordinarily they talked free. ly enough before me. Even the read ing during the dog watch was inter. mitted-at least 1t was on such days as l happened to be In the watch be- i low. But twice l caught the nigger and Handy Solomon consulting to- gether over the volume on alchemy. 1 was fin two minds whether to re- port the whole matter to Captain Sel- over. The only thing that restrained me was the vagueness of the inten- ton and the fact that the afterguard was armed and was four to the crews l five. An incident, however, decided me. One evening l WAS awakened by a sound of violent voices. Cap tain Selover occasionally juggled the watches for yariety's sake, and l now had Handy Solomon and Perdosa. The nigger, being cook. stood no watch
 You drunken greaser swabs snarl- i ed Handy Solomon You son of n Yaqui! I'll learn you to step on n seaman's foot, and you can kiss the book on that! I'll cut your heart out and feed 1t to the sharks.'
 "Potha!" sneered Perdosa You cut heem you finger wid your knife"
 They wrangled. At first I thought the quarrel genuine. but after a mo ment or so could not avoid a sort Of reminiscent impression of the cheap melodrama. It seemed incredible. but