Mansfield mirror. (Mansfield, Wright County, Mo.) 1908-1957, 1914-01-01

a long vacation, and with a last look
at the beloved instruments so inf,
nitely more delicate than the human
senses locked the door and departed.
taking his sea- upon the little car
that ran down the steep cog road to
the city below.
| He entered the busting place Just
as the u dropping behind the west
ern peaks left the first shadows Of
evening to steal swiftly cross the
plain. Scarcely three-quarters Of an
hour had passed since Kelly Of the As
ISOLATED Press had clashed the receiv.
er into its hook and darted for the
telegraph key. but already the howl.
ing newsboys yer scampering about
with the agility Of young apes as they
gathered their horde Of nickels from
the shrieked prophecy Of the dire
death that was hurting down upon
them, fighting for dropped coins as
coyotes snap and wrangle over bones.
as little mindful Of the promised clash
Of celestial bodies as had two knights
Of the squared ring challenged each
other to pigmy mortal battle. Des-
mond. watching them. doubted not
that they would have stood daunt.
lessly screeching their wares before
the onslaught of a Jupiter, scrambling
for the coins in the very shadow Of
the approaching monster. With a
cynical curiosity new to him he
scanned the faces of those who pur-
chased the news which he had sent
forth to the world, watching them as
they read the huge headlines bearing
his name, reading in their faces their
varied emotions-their open derision.
their incredulity. their doubt and in a
few cases their fear. On all sides he
heard the comments of those who had
purchased the scare head extras.
Another high brow says a moon
or something is going to drop on us
this evening. Guess I'll have to put
up my umbrella"
Bet you twenty to M she misses
u.s."
Fine bet that. II l won what good
would 1t do me-buried a hundred
miles deepf"
you can't always tell. Those wise
boys hit things right once in a mil
lion times"
!"And Just think. Julia. II 1t hits us
1t will break up the dance"
"a scheme to sell more yellow news
papers"
Absurd, impossible, unscientiic-"
HE says 1t Is as big az this state"
GLAD the state amt Texas, then"
From a nearby corner a band Of Ad-
ventists began to chant to the beat
ing Of a drum, seeming to glory In the
direful prospect. HE who %repenteth
In the last hour may yet enter the
holy Kingdom. Come ye while yet ye
may and be saved, for the end Of all
earthly things Ia at hand, woe. woe"
Angry, Disguised, amused, Desmond
turned upon his heel and started for
a nearby hotel that he was accus-
toned to frequent, but had scarcely
taken half a dozen steps when a
hand fell upon his arm and he looked
up to see the h%alf.serious. half-smiling
face Of his friend Alan March before
him. He paused, saluting.
March slipped the professors arm
beneath his OWE Come along, now,
and tell me all about It Might as
we'll know the worst first as last" he
announced as he scanned his friends
face as closely as a physician might
scan the features Of a patient Of
whose sanity he was slightly in doubt.
What was your idea in starting all
this excitement anyway-or Is the re-
port a canard conjured up by some
enemy or practical Joking alleged
friend of yours?" Desmond shook his
head.
mo, 1t is my own message, and as
you will readily appreciate, I have
staked my reputation upon its accu-
racy. II I am wrong I will be the butt
Of the world, a clown, a bufroon, a
lunatic." Despite himself he drew a
sigh. 1t did not seem possible that
such a grotesque calamity as he had
prophesied could occur in a universe
Of such perfection, God-made, where
each %stupendous body Of unthinkable
space lay balanced to a hair against
It's countless neighbors Of hundreds OF
millions, yes. hundreds Of billions Of
miles away; where a perfection incon-
ceivable to man seemed to rule
through both infi1ity of time and
space. And now that he had had
time to ponder over It. 1t seemed to
him that 1t must all have been a
dream, a dream SO vivid that he had
upon awakening mistaken 1t for real
ity. Yet II he had been asleep then
he was as apt to be asleep now. and
with his die cast he would stick to 1t
to the last and either go down to dis
grace as a false prophet, or in case
he survived the cataclysm stand erect
and indicated in the eyes of all man
kind. Allan spoke again.
"In common with all who know you
I have a huge respect for your scien-
tifc attachments, your level headed
ness and your thorough integrity.
| am convinced that you
fully believe that this awful catastro.
phe will occur to US as you have prog
nosticated. The only element OF doubt
In my mind 10 the possibility Of any
man, no matter how careful or learn.