The Camden chronicle. (Camden, Tenn.) 1890-current, 1909-01-22
lbility Of no common order.


with pipes that in case of fire would
automatically fiji the building with a
fire-extinguishing gas; and the whole
remarkable structure set upon power
full sleeping-car springs that would
distribute and make harmless the
violent shock of an earthquake or an
explosion.
you should hear Jill talk" the
man exclaimed Shed tell you how
folks sit in patented chairs at pat
ented tables and read patent journals
by patented lights, yet are so unen-
lightened as to live in any kind of
house, while, if there is one thing in
the world important enough to be
brought to state of patentable per
lection, 1t is the home. Why, after
hearing her talk on the subject for
just five minutes, friend of mine
said that he felt like primordial man
living in cave
''You should be proud of your wife"
| assured him; "and feel yourself
doubly secure while sheltered behind
the bright shield of her practical
genius"
ITS the tax-proof-cyclone-proof ar
rangement that worries me-" he ex-
plained. "She won't show me how it
is worked, and I've pressed every but
ton | can find and got myself in a
world of trouble, but l can't come
across that tax-cyclone button. won
der what would happen if l should dis
cover it and press it" he mused.
you might prefer to pay taxes" l
laughed.
He shook his head in kind of good
naturedly Miniature and saw his eyes
roam around as in search of some
secret button. AS we passed the
third door on the left of the hallway
he paused and whispered THAT is it!
That is JilPs room! She's in there
thinking now, and she never comes
out till some bright idea comes out
with her" He stopped and applied
his eye to the keyhole, then suddenly
Strengthened up. why, she's gone
out | say, let's hunt together for
that cyclone-tax button"
| waved aside the astonishing prop
osition. "You go first" l laughed,
and l won't follow. Your wife's busi-
ness may be yours, but it's no part
mine"
You're right" he assented. Some
thing unpleasant might happen and
then I'd be sorry for having got you
into trouble. Come, I'll show you the
Patent Applied For over the door, and
l guess you'll just have time to get
the next car back to the city"
AS / walked down the road in the
dusk meditating on the house that Jill
built and its strange inmates, l sud
denly began to doubt the reality Ok
Jill. Perhaps the little man was him
self the inventor of the patented house
and had fabricated "Jill'' as an adver-
tising scheme, or else as kind of
silent partner on whom he might shift
any unpleasant responsibilities. Or,
perhaps, too close application to his
invention had unbalanced him and
given rise to this queer hallucination.
Yet the man was as guileless as a
boy of ten, with none of the cunning
of insanity, and, wondering If the pat
ented house might not prove pretty
big thing after ALL I paused and
looked back, little vain of my ex-
perience.
Had found myself suddenly on the
other side of the earth | could not
have been more astonished. The
house that Jill built was gone!
moment later l was running
breathlessly back down the road. Once
came to a standstill and hesitated
mentally Had there been any such
place as the house that Jill built?
Might / not have merely imagined it?
Which of our experiences is so vivid
as not under certain conditions to
seem a dream-a fantastic shadow
thrown upon some inner conscious
ness? But my feet seemed to scorn
the wild doubt in my brain and re-
Sumed their race down tne road.
Bringing up directly before the plot
of ground where the house that Jill
built had been standing only few
moments before, found merely a
stretch of uncared-for lawn.
/ stared before me in deepening
wonder. then wheeled about, morbidly
fearful lest the house, like some I'M
pleasant dead thing, was hiding at my
back. But the house that Jill built
was indeed gonel A kind of painful
humor seized me and laughed queer
ly. He's pressed the tax-button, !
guess!"
Suddenly was conscious of voices.
They seemed to come from nowhere,
indistinct at first, but as | listened at