Five Mile Beach weekly journal., 1917-11-23

LIZ IN" VI
and 1t was working with steady, labori-
Gus patience, under the guidance of a
skilled hand. Meanwhile the Jennings
automatic, tended only by a girl, was
casting forth straw hats as a modern
printing press disgorges newspapers.
Mr.. Ely had never seer 1t run so fast,
and he viewed it with considerable un-
e~asiness, for he knew that something
sensational would happen If it should
clog while going at such a gait. But
the eye of Jennings was sharper than
an eagles, and, though he seemed to
be wholly at his ease, he was always
on the watch for the danger signal.
"Now, gentlemen he was saying,
1--WE will give you all a chance to ex-
anime this mechanism to better adyan-
tage than Is possible while it is being
operated at high speed. Miss Will
liams, will you oblige me-
Miss Williams obliged" Despite her
innocent and girlish mien, she was an
expert with the automatic, trained I'M
der the inventors eye for many
months. She knew as well as he did
that the moment had come when the
machine must be stopped or 1t would
cut such capers as would set the crowd
bowling. She smiled sweetly at Mr..
Jennings and turned off the power.
The automatic came to rest.
"Gentle as a lamb" said the invent
or, patting the iron child of his brain,
as If moved by affection for 1t, but
really to see how hot it was in various
places. "Now, gentlemen, l will re-
move certain parts so that you may
understand how we get these remarka-
BILE results"
Mr.. Ely meanwhile had passed be-
hind the machine and stopped beside
the pile of plated straw with which
the automatic was fed. 1t happened,
then, that he noted the unlighted cigar,
and, kneeling there, he took out the
box of matches which the little peddler
had sold to him. He was about to
light one of them when his attention
was stricken by a voice, and he listen
ed, motionless.
1t was a squat, dark, oily skinned
man who was speaking. Ely had a
glimpse of his face through a wheel of
the machine and recognized him for a
curb broker named Stendhall, In re-
gard to whom he had received a warn
ing that the fellow might try to work
an u~nfriendly game with the stock.
"Mr. Jennings" said Stendhall, "some
of us are not satisfied with this exhibit
ton. We would like to see a test of
four hours continuous operation-four
hours at least. We
But Ely heard no more. There was
a ringing In his ears, with a dizziness
that made him put a hand upon the
floor to steady himself. The bare floor
was cold to the touch, being made of
slabs of stone. An idea seemed to leap
from the tips of Ely's fingers to his
brain. He cast a hasty glance ove the
pile of straw. No one was observing
him. Ten seconds later he arose with
a lighted cigar between his lips. The
inextinguishable match was briskly
sizzling In the straw.
Ely stepped behind Miss Williams,
who had got down from her place at
the machine. He had nc special inter-
est In her, but she was the only wo-
man present, and he felt responsible
for her safety.
"Ffre" yelled somebody, and on the
instant a beautiful squirt of flame leap
ed straight for the vitals of the auto
matte. There was a wild rush for the
doors, and Ely observed Stendhall, with
his head down, butting his way to
safety and roaring with panic.
Beyond a few scratches and the rend-
ing of garments no harm was done.
The fire burned itself out OF the stone
floor, and there was nothing for the
firemen to do when they arrived. After
it was all over the inventor, pale with
excitement, laid a hand on Ely's shout
der and stared into his eyes.
by George, STRIP said he. you're
the quickest man to think that ever /
saw. You. saved our bacon that time,
sure"
"How do you know 1 did It'll"
"Well," said the inventor, s%hivering
and %grinning, II hope I've got as much
faith in Providence as any person
needs, but there's "a limit, sir; there's
a limit. This was no miracle-no, sirp'
speaking of Miracles" rejoined Ely,
''you've got forty-eight hours to ac-
complish one. We can claim two days
delay on the ground of damage to our
machine. At the end of that time the
automatic has got to run four hours at
high speed or there's an end of u.s."
"IIl do it," cried the inventor. "By
George, I'll do it"
I've heard that BEFORE" responded
Ely. "Now l want to see it"
1t was after 4 o'clock when Ely en-
tered his private office and sank heavi-
ly into his chair. His desk was closed.
There were ONE letters upon the leaf
and on top of them a sheet of paper
bearing a memorandum in pencil.
This was the usual summary of the
situation prepared by Ely's right hand
man, James Mcknight. The total,