The Ocala evening star. [volume] (Ocala, Fla.) 1895-1943, 1914-01-10

mIstak1ng the fact that ne compIeueIg
dominated the situation
Van Vechten noted that his uncle
recognized the man, and that the Man
Of Irons attitude all at once became
| one of tense, alert watchfulness.
With an air that impelIed many to
follow his example, the stranger con-
suited his watch; an average declara-
ton of all the watches would have
liked the time at twelve minutes till
midnight.
He advanced to the table, from
which everybody else shrank as far
| as the confines Of the vast room per-
mitted, and laid a hand upon the
casket. CHANGING once more at the
watch which he still held in the other
| hand, he quietly remarked:
Gentlemen, this coffin contains
enough willardite to wipe New York
of my time-locks, set to detonate the
explosive at midnight precisely" His
commanding regard met Theodore Van
Vechten's, as he added:
| No one better than you knows how
likely it is to work without hitch"
| In the ensuing quiet, the ticking, as
Of a clock, which he plainly heard.
After moment he went on:
| Il shall not take the time to apollo
| gize for this interruption of your fes-
tivlties, ecause"-another glance at
| the watch-"Only ten minutes stands
between this moment and midnight.
But, as briefly as possible, want to
make it clear to you that / am re-
| sponsible for the occasion that has
brought you together here. With my
perfected time-lock and permanganate
| steel-the only metal that will with
stand the oxyhyric fame-combined
| with Theodore Van Vechten's business
talent and his commanding position,
| wherefrom he can persuade every one
| of the country's financial institutions
to purchase an Atlas safe, whether
they want it or not, the concerns in
itial year has been a phenomenally
prosperous one.
You gentlemen who are fortunate
to be among the stockholders, and
Theodore Van Vechten, are reaping
the harvest; 1 get nothing-the in
| ventorS portion.
Through my lack of business acu-
men l was frozen out of the company
and it did not take long to discover
that every avenue of legal redress was
closed to me. Please bear in mind
that fact
Then what remained for me?" The
brilliant eyes swept the wondering
audience. why, either to accept the
situation as Theodore Van Vechten
willed it, or recover my rights by
force.
Now, gentlemen, virtually / have
been robbed of fortune. l am not
seeking vengeance-no, no; nothing
of that kind-only justice and COM
'pensation. / have spent months in
preparing for tonight; more than once
my secret operations have nearly met
with shipwreck, and you must realize
that l come here fully determined to
exact the uttermost farthing of my
dues, or else not one of you will live
to enjoy them. Call it blackmail, call
it hold-up, call it whatever you will,
the fact Is that I am here to enforce
not to beg or ask, mind you-but
to enforce a distribution of my share
of the profits of the Atlas Safe Com
pany. and my reinstatement into the
position of superintendent OF which
I have been unjustly deprived"
Theodore Van Vechten had gradual
ly returned to the head of the table.
and he now stood with his hands on
the back of his chair, composedly re-
garding the speaker. The latter's eyes
met the Man of Irons intent look, and
he added:
or else I shall annihilate every
one of you and myself" He looked at
his watch again.
You all understand. You have just
six minutes within which to make up
your minds"
The Man of Iron was not of the stuff
that is easily frightened-else be
would not have been the Man of Iron.
He was taken unawares and rendered
bewildered-as who would not have
been?-but he was first to recover him.
self His voice rang out with an au-
thoritative command that the casket
be removed.
The intruder, with one hand still ly-
ing lightly at an end Of the handsome
casket, the other still holding his
watch, calmly interposed: