The citizen., 1913-12-12

JOB, | see. Good morning, Doctor,
he greeted Knox. WHAT do you make
of it?"
Il make of it that the Atlas Building
will shortly be without tenants" re.
piled the doctor; me, for one
Eldridge surveyed Darrow coldly
through the glittering lenses of his
glasses.
THE cause of these extraordinary
phenomena is self-evident." he stated
You mean their nature, not their
cause" replied Darrow. I'm nature,
they refer back to the interference
with etheric and molecular vibrations
That" he added. lis a fact that every
boy in the grammer-school physics
class has figured out for himself. The
cause is a different matter
Il stand corrected" said Eldridge
Such lapses in accuracy of statement
are not usual with me, but may be
considered as concomitant with un
usual circumstances"
"Right-ol" agreed Darrow cheerfully
We'll, what about the causes?"
That | will determine when am
satisfied that all the elements of the
problem are in my hands"
"Right-o," repeated Darrow. We'll.
I'll bet you new hat I'll land the
cause before you do. Be a SPORT"
Il never indulge in wagers." replied
Eldridge
Well" said Darrow to Jack and
Hallowell, come on"
Without waiting to see if he was
followed, the young man again plung.
ed into the black and clinging dark.
ness.
Get hold of my coat" his voice
came to the others. We're going to
climb"
Accordingly they climbed, in silence.
up many flights of stairs, through the
cloying darkness. At last Darrow halt.
ed, turned sharp to the left, fumbled
for a door. and entered room.
"Simmons?" he said
"Here!" came a voice.
Il though you'd be on the job" said
barrow. with satisfaction. "How's
your instrument? Going, eh? We are
in the wireless Offices" he told the
others. sit down, if you can find
chairs. Wen wait until the sun is
shining brightly. love, before we real
ly try to get down to business. In the
meantime"
In the meantime" repeated both
Jack and Hallowell, in breath. "Go
on, my son." conceded the latter. 81
bet we have the same idea"
We'll, l was going to say that I'm
not in the grammer-school physics
class, and | want to know what you
meant by your remark to Eldridge,"
said Jack.
That's my trouble" said Hallowell.
It's simple enough began Darrow
"We have had, first, failure of all
electricity; second, a failure of all
sound; third, failure of all light The
logical mind would therefore examine
these things to see what they have in
common. The answer simply jumps at
you: Vibration. Electricity and light
are vibrations in ether sound is vibra.
tion in air or some solid. Therefore.
whatever could absolutely stop vibra-
tion would necessarily stop electricity.
light and sound"
But" objected Jack. eff vibration
were absolutely stopped, why wouldn't
they all three be blotted out at once?"
Because" explained Darrow, the
vibrations making these three phe-
nomena are different in character
Sound is made by horizontal waves.
for example, while electricity and
light are made by transverse waves.
Furthermore, the waves producing
electricity and light differ in length.
Now, it is conceivable that condition
which would interfere with horizontal
verse waves or that condition which
would absolutely deaden waves two
hundred and seventy ten-millionths of
an inch long would have absolutely no
effect on those one hundred and fifty,
five ten millionths of an inch long. Am
| clear?"
Sure" came the voices OF his au.
dience
That much Eldridge and any other
man trained in elementary science al
ready knows. 1t is no secret"
ut hasn't been published" observed
Hallowell grimly.
We'll, go to it! The task of the in
dependent investigator, of which we
are some, is now to discover. first,
what are those conditions. and. sec.
ond, what causes them. With the ex-
ception of Mr.. Hallowell, we all know
what this guiding power is
Don't get it," growled Simmons.
Now, look here Simmons, you are
very loyal to Mccarthy, for whatever
reason, but your loyalty is misplaced.
For one thing, your man has disap-
peared, and will not return. That last
message scared him out. For another
thing, we're going to need you in our
campaign. the worst way"
I'm from Copenhagen; you got to
show me-" said Simmons.
Darrow laughed softly.
(TO BE CONTINUED)
Fear ALWAYS Handican