The citizen., 1913-12-05


some way acquired unprecedented
powers over the phenomena of cleo
trlclty and sound. These he can evi.
IDENTIFY at will, either focus, as on the
Atlas Building, or diffuse, as over the
city. For the moment we will adopt
the latter hypothesis
That it is man in possession OF
extraordinary powers said Helen
leaning forward in her interest Go
on"
We have, completed, only the phe-
nomena of electricity" continued Oar.
row; the phenomena OF sound remain
to be completed We observe as to
that (a)"-he folded back his fore
hnger-"the Atlas manifestation last.
ed about nine and half hours and
lb)"-he folded his middle finger
tie city manifestation was a little
less than two hours"
Yes cried Jack, but then this
second"
One minute" interrupted barrow;
let me finish. Now, let us place our
selves in the position of man pos
sessed of new toy, or a new power
which he has never tried out, What
would he do?"
Try it out" said Jack
Certainly; try 1t out to the limit,
to see just what it could do in differ
ent circumstances. Now, take the
lapses of time | have mentioned, and
assume, for the sake of argument, that
| these powers are limited"
Just how do you mean-limited?"
asked Helen.
II mean eXhaustible, like a water
ing pot. You can water just so much.
and then you have to go back and fill
up again. In that case, We can sup
pose this mans stream will last nine
hours and a half when he dribbles it
oown on one spot. like the Atlas Build
ing; but it will empty itself in about
two hours when he turns her upside
down over a whole city. There re-
mains only the length of time neces-
sary to refill the water-pot to round
out our hypothesis. That is something
more than nine hours and sometimes
less than fifteen"
How do you get those igures?" de-
manded Jack.
The Unknown is anxious, after the
| Atlas success, to try out his discovery
on the larger scale. He will naturally
do so at the first opportunity after his
waterproof is retilled But he wishes
| to do so at the first effective oppor-
! tunity. What is the most effective
moment? The rush hours. What are
| the rush hours? From eight to ten.
and at six. Since he did not pull off
| his show in the morning, we are fairly
I justified in concluding, tentatively,
that the water-pot was not full by
then, and, as the Atlas phenomena
subsided at three OF the morning be-
/ fore, the inference Is obvious
But isn't the most effective time at
night, anyway, on account OF the
lights?" asked Jack.
Good boy" approved Darrow. He
might have waited for that. But the
! city-wide phenomena ceased at eight
the night before: and the Atlas sound
! phenomena did not occur until ten
the next morning--fourteen hours.
| Now, the most effective time to scare
Mccarthy was any time after nine.
Mccarthy arrives as the clock strikes" )"
Jack shook his head
oh. it's not proof; it's idle hy-
pothesis,' admitted Darrow. I'VE shall
have to test it, But let's go on with
it, anyway, and see how 1t works out" ="
What's Mccarthy got to do with
ito" demanded Helen.
That's so, you aren't in touch
there" Darrow sketched briefly the
situation as it affected the boss Hell
ems eyes were shining with interest.
Now" continued Darrow, having
| tried out his new power to the limit
| Cyr friend would begin to use it only
| as ne needed it. There is now no
reason to empty the water-pot entire
| ly. All he wanted to do this morning
was to scare Mccarthy, and impress
the public He did that in thirty
! elgnt minutes. vi lle Ddolo Va iOSi
teen hours to fill the water-pot, it is
evident that he would be rehabilitated,
ready for business, in an hour. There
fore, all he is waiting for now is the
most effective moment to try out his
city-wide experiment of silence. /
/ imagine that will be about six"
Sounds reasonable" admitted Jack
Reasonable. It's certain" cried
Helen.
barrow smiled. NO, only a wild
/ hypothesis
They're scared already and they're
somewhat prepared by the perform
ance this morning. Besides, l don't
see yet that human agency is sus-
pected."
Don't you think you'd better warn
people what is going to happen, and
tell them there's nothing to be fright
ened off" pleaded Helen.
No" said Darrow Il do not. 1t
would confuse the phenomena. and
they must be unconfused in order that
7 can either prove or disprove my
hynothesis. If this lasts about two
hours, the fact will go far to prove
me right. If the next manifestation
comes at about ten the next morning.
we shall have established period
icity at least. But if the man realizes
that his existence is suspected, he Will
purposely vary in order to mix me