Evening public ledger. [volume] (Philadelphia [Pa.]) 1914-1942, 1916-11-18

| tegrntion that lay whore once his inBtru-
ment case had stood, containing his sur
| veying tools
Down on his ragged knees he fell his
rotten shreds OF clothing tore and ripped
at every movement. like much water
| soaked paper.
A strange, hairy. dust-covered figure, he
knelt there. Quickly he plunged his hands
into the rubbish and began paving II over
and over with eager haste.
"Ah!" he cried with triumph. THANK
heaven. brass and lenses haven't crumbled
yet"
Up he stood again. In his hand the girl
saw a peculiar telescope.
my level seer" he exclaimed, holding
II up 10 view Tho wooden tripods long
since gone. The fixtures that held II on
won't bother me much.
Neither will the splrit-glass on top. The
main thing is that the telescope itself seems
to be still intact. Now wen see."
Speaking, he busted on tho eyepiecs and
the objective with bit Of rag from his
coat sleeve
Beatrice noted that the brass tubes were
all eaten and pitted with verdigris but they
still held firmly. And the lenses, when
Stern had finished cleaning them, showed
as bright and clear as ever.
Come, now; como with me-" he bade.
Out through the doorway into the hall
he made his way while the girl followed
AS she went she gathered her wondrous
veil of hair more closely about her.
In this universal disorganizatlon, this
wreck OF all the world, how little the con-
ventions counted
Together, picking their way up the
broken stairs, whore now the rust-bitten
steel showed through the eorroded stone
and cement in thousand places, they eau
tiously climbed.
Here. splder webs thickly shrouded the
way, and had to be brushed down. There
still more bats hung and chippered in pro-
test as tho intruders passed.
A FUZZY little white owl bllnksd at them
from a dark niche and, we'll toward the top
OF tho climb. they flushed up a score OF mud
swallows which had ensconced themselves
comfortably along a broken balustrade
At last, however, despite all Unforeseen
Incidents OF this sort they reached the
upper platform. nearly thousand feet
above theNearth.
out through the relies OF the revolving
door they crept, he leading. testing each
foot OF the way before the girl They
reached the narrow platform OF red tilinE
that surrounded the tower.
Even here they saw with growing amaze
ment that the hand of time and OF this
maddenlnE mystery had laid its heavy inn
print.
'Lookl" no exclaimed, pointing. what
this all means We don't know yet How
long it's been We can't tell. But TO Judge
by the appearance up here, it's even longer
Lnan 4 lAuAEnAT 2N1f AAe very Allt5 are
cracked and crumblng.
aarllework is usually considered highly
reealeltrant-but this Is gone. There's grass
growing in the dust that's settled between
tho tiles. And-why, here's a young oak
that's taken root and forced dozen slabs
out Of place"
''Ths winds and birds have carried sssd
up here and acorns." she answered Ia an
awed voice Think OF the time that must
have passed. Years and years.
but tell me-" and her brow wrinkled
with q sudden wonder, tel me how we've
ever lived SO lonE7 ] can't understand IL
mot only have We escaped starvation.
but We haven't frozen 70 death "a an these