The Raymer enterprise., 1912-06-20

He and Kruss began TO lash me
firmly to the plank. Ny hands. al.
ready tied together round the wrists.
were drawn up over my head and fast
ened securely to one end Of the plank;
my feet were secured in a similar
fashion to the other. Just at this In.
slant . brilliant lash Of lightning lit
up the yard. and caught sight Of .
large dumb-bsll shaped glass flask.
and also what appeared to bs . tin
canister. These articles Kruse held
In his hand and proceeded. with lie.
wins help. to fasten round the under
side Of the plank, 3ust below where I
was lying. They were kept in their
places By an iron chain. Az soon a.
this operation was over Levin began
70 slash away at the ropes which held
the balloon In the yard. I now found
myself lying stretched out fat, unable
to move an inch. staring up at tho
great balloon which lowered above
me.
Suddenly the balloon was lifted from
IL moostngs and shot up into the
night A. It cleared the buildings the
full force Of the gale caught Il, and
j felt myself being swept with ter.
rino velocity into the very heart Of
the storm. Binding flashes Of
lightning played around me on
every side. while the peals Of thun-
der merged into one continuous roar.
Up and up I dew. With the wind
screaming through the meshes Of the
nstvork. Then almost before was
aware Of It. I found myself gazing up
At q wonderful starnecksd Armament,
and drifting In what seemed to be .
breathless calm. heard the thunder
pealins away below me. and was con.
scious OF bitter cold. Tho terrible
sense OF paralysis and inertia had
now. to Q great extent left me, and
my reason began to exert itself. /
was able to review the whole situa.
ton. not only knew where was,
but also knew what the end must be.
Hydrogen and chlorine" I mutter.
ed. "The dumb-bell shaped glass flask
which Is fastened under the plank
contains. without doubt, these two
gases. and the tin canister which
rests beneath them 10 full Of nitro
glycerine."
! knew right well what this combi.
nation meant. When the frst CLINT Of
the suns rays struck upon the glass
vessel 1t would be instantly shattered.
The nitroElycerine would explode by
the concussion. and the balloon and
myself would be blown into impalp-
able dust beyond sight or sound Of the
earth.
This satanic scheme for my destruc-
ton had been planned by the fiends
In human shape who had lured me to
Cornwall. Having got my secret they
meant to destroy all trace of my ex.
istence. / tore fiercely at my bonds,
but the ropes merely cut the deeper
into the flesh Of my hands. wonder.
ed how 1t was that the hydrogen and
chlorine had not exploded when was
passing through the storm. Why had
the lightning not been merciful enough
to hurry my death7 could not &C.
count for my escape, until suddenly
remembered that In all probability the
stop-cock between the two gases in
the dumb-bell shaped glass had only
been turned Just when the balloon was
sent OF. In which case the gases
not have had time to diffuse properly
for explosion.
At the dawn Of the day the deadly
work would be complete. The Ques.
ton now was this-how long had l
to live, and was there any possible
means OF escape! The action of the
drug had now nearly worn of, and I
was able to think with acuteness and
intelligence. l began to work the
cord between my wrists up and up be.
tween my palms until could lust
reach 1t with my little finger, and by
supreme effort slipped 1t ever my
left hand. could now move my
hands, although they were still tightly
tied together round the wrists. In
frantic despair began to tear at the
cords which bound them. Cutting
hard with my teeth. at last managed
TO liberate my hands. and then my
next intention was to unfasten the
horrible explosive from the plank.
But the glass vessel and tin canister
mad been secured round the plank by
means OF a chain which was lashed
In such fashion that by no possible
means could l undo 1t. was free to
move, but the means of destruction
were stu threatening me. How long
mad before the sun would rise? Even
now the light in the heavens was
getting stronger. What should do,
My hands were free. and I could SIT
up. managed to unite the cords
from my legs. And then. with many
slip and struggle. / contrived to
Chamber up the network until I came
TO the balloon Itself. when I began
70 tear at the silk with nails and teeth
| wrought furiouslv md