Evening public ledger. [volume] (Philadelphia [Pa.]) 1914-1942, 1916-11-28
CHAPTER xIv-tContlnued>

.GYTIELL." suddenly laughed stern with a
w strange accent in his voice wen
then there goes for the operator III inc
Elffei Tower, eh?'
Again he glanced keonly in the falling
light at the apparatus there before nun,
she'll do / guess" Judged ne sI,pp,n6
on the rusted head-receiver He Niu u.S
hand upon the key and tried rev teh'"-
tive dots and dashes
Breathlcss, the girl watched, daring no
longer to question him. In the uieIestlIo'
the green sparks and spurts OF lvihs @ @nathe
began to cracltle and to Mss HNe hE'"e
spirits OF an unknown power
stern feeling again harnessed to MS
touch the lifs-force of the world that once
had been. exulted with wild emotion, tet,
scIence worshiper that he was, somethlns
of reverent awe tlnged the Keen triumph.
A strange gIeam dwolt within MS eyes
and through his lips the breath came aulcN
as he hung his very beins INTO '"o sup
experiment.
Je reached for the ondometer. Care
Fuliv slowly he tuned up the wave
lengths; up. up to 5000 meters then @ oaeN
again; he ran the whole gamut OF the ""e-
less scale. ,-,..,,,,r Gloon,
across the void and vacancy OF the deau
world, he flung his llghtninGs IN win
appeal His face grew hard ana eager
"AnythIng? Any answer3' asked hho-
trce. laying hand upon ms ""'"'
hand that trembled .t,
ba ayitrhed the roaring current on again
no hurled out into ether his cry OF ""Ih-
ing and distress, OF hope OF lnVlta'loh-I,tns NV
last lone call of man to man-ot me % last
New Yorker 20 any other human nelnB who,
by the meTest chance, might possibly nea' '
rim in the wreck of other cities other
lands, IS. o. So cracked the green hame'
IS. o s.. s. o. S, -.
Thus came night, fully, as they waited as
tbev called and listened as together there
~ 'hat inv structure on the roof OF the
tran,andous ruin they swept the heavens
and the earth with their wild call-ln vain
Half an hour passed and still the engl,
neer grim as death, whirled the chaihea
lightnings out and away.
Nothing YETI" cried Beatrice at last un-
able to keep silence any longer Are you
quite sure you can---
The question was not finished
For suddenly. far down below them as
though buried in the entrails OF the earth
shnddered n stIhed. booming roar, Through
avery rotten beam and fiber the vast wreck
of the building vbrated. Some wall or
other somewhere, crumbled ana went
crashing down with long. deep droning
thunder that ended in sliding dimlnuehdo
.aIhe boller!' shouted Stern,
off he fung the headpiece, He leaped
up; he seized the girl
Cut OF the place he dragged her' She
scrsamed as a huge weight from high
sior on the tower smashed believing
throuKh the roof and with shower OF
stones ripped It's way down through lao
vt,hhIsh Of the floors below as easily as
a bullet woud pierce a newspaper.
The crash sent them recoillng. The whole
roof shook and trembled like houeycombed
Ice In a spring thaw.
Down below something rumbled, Jared
and came to rest.
Botn of them expected nothing but that
the entire structure would collapse like
card house and shatter down its ruins that
would be their death
but though II swayad and qutvered. as
In the grasp of an earthquake, II held
stern clrcled Beatrice with his arm.
Courage, now Steady, now steady :"
cried he. The grinding. the booming Of
down hurled stones and walls died away
the echoes ceased. A wlnd-whIpped cloud
III steam and smoke burst up, fanlIke, be-
vond the edge of the roof. u bellied away,
aim in the night. upon the stn northerly
.sFire?" yentured the girl
No Nothing 10 burn But come, come
let's get out o. this anyhow. There's moth
ing doing any more, All through Too
much risk staying up here now"
Silent and detected, they made their eau
tlous way over the shaken roof They
walked with the greatest eircumspeetlon
10 avoid falling through some new hole OF
freshly opened ereYasse
To stern, especially, this accident was
bitter After nearly fortnight's exhaust