Evening star., 1925-04-19
CHAPTER XIII.
/ Am Not the Man 1 Was.


There was a short silence, broken
by Baumer, who asked permission of
the professor to retire, in order to
make himself more presentable. Lit
tie Adolf was of nature that in
stinctively shrank from witnessing
deeds of violence, and, evidently deem
ing, with reason, that my hour had
come, he had no wish to remain.
AS he rose to go the professor stay
ed him with gesture.
by all means, my dear Banner" :"
he said, make such changes in your
toilet as undoubtedly appear to be
instructions. You will have certain
duties to perform before we leave"
He turned to Won Emmerich, who
was lounging on the chair from which
he had witnessed the experiment with
Beatrice.
"It is essential. my good Karl" con-
tinued the professor, that you should
not be incommoded in any way by
the police of Geneva, who are at pres
ent looking for noted murderer. We
must accordingly convince them that
you have ceased to exist. The oppor-
tune arrival of Mr.. Thomas Preston
will, 1 hope. enable us to achieve this
small deception without any serious
difficulty. The police shall be inform
ed by our friend Adolf that the body
of a Mr.. Thomas Preston, alias Karl
Won Emmerich, wanted in connection
with the murder of a French chauf
feur at Zurich, has been found on the
shores of the lake not far from this
villa. Adolf himself will claim the
merit of this happy discovery, which
will be duly confirmed by the police
themselves on their arrival.
while Adolf is thus lending his
valuable assistance to the police of
Geneva, I will take steps to insure
that the body of Mr.. Preston shall be
duly forthcoming, and that it shall
present the appearance of having
been in the water for some little time,
shall we say, as from yesterday eve
ming. For this purpose 1 will prepare
a solution which will have the double
effect of paralyZing Mr.. Preston at
the moment of his immersion, and of
Fastening the subsequent process of
decay"
Certainly, Herr Professor" said
Baumer, turning a little white, "I will
go at once to the police, and you may
look for my return within an hour"
The professor nodded and Baumer
quilted the room.
while 1 am preparing the injec-
ton for Mr.. Preston" said the pro-
fessor to Karl, you will perhaps
make arrangements for our trans
port, with Miss Harvel. to Basel. We
will make the journey in the large
car, and the servants can follow by
train.'
Karl rose to his feet and. drawing
himself to attention, clicked his heels
IF / may venture, Herr Profes-
sor?" he said.
Certainly, my dear Karl"
II would remind you that Miss Har.
vel is hardly dressed for travelling in
an open car"
"Fraulein Elsa is here?"
Yes, Herr Professor
Kindly instruct her to make the
necessary arrangements. She will
doubtless be able to find something
suitable
Karl left the room, and 1 was now
alone with the professor.
He came close to me and stood
gazing at me quietly in silence for
some moments.
II am sorry, Mr.. Preston" he said
at last, that it should have come to
this, but you leave me no choice in
the matter. / warned you clearly of
the consequences that were bound to
result from any interference with our
plans. You chose, however, to disre-
gard my advice. Hence the unfortu-
nate position in which we find our
selves at the present moment. In the
circumstances we must reconcile our
selves to the inevitable and try to be-
lieve that the event in which you are
about to figure is less deplorable than
1t seems. You are young man, Mr..
Preston, and the thought of so
abruptly terminating what doubtless
appeared to be promising existence
is perhaps distasteful. Personally,
however, 1 have always endeavored
to view death in the light of an inter-
esting scientific change and, for your
consolation, I can inform you, as a
man of science, that I am by no
means convinced that your existence
as a sentient being will be wholly dis.
continued as a result of the step we
are at present contemplating. / need
hardly say that you have my very
best wishes for long and successful
career in whatever state of being you
may find yourself within the next
half hour"
At this point the remarkable man
once more summoned his servants
and directed them to remove me to
what he described as the garden cha
let, saying as he did SO that I was
doubtless in need of q few moments
of reflection in order to At myself for
the coming change and that the build
ing in question was admirably suited
for the purpose.
Continued in Tomorrow's Star.)
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