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Show Irh77S LiJprrrrTrT: J)-, , deihtiira of Peter Qewe-TBe L - - ; : rBylKhrocl Cartel? II Kim by W. G. Chapman, in Ki SMtea ami Great Britain.) KmjGK tlic authorities on hoth of the water hushed up the Klr to the ''est of their ubillty. Hk feir persons arc cognizant of Rc, facts relating: to .Benedict Mftdebratcu inventor. Ho was Ka trial In Iingland under the K'hsd assumed which is imma-KL-nml. bcins found insane by kJrls sentenced to Broadmoor K'hls majesty's pleasure," which K)t he will spend the remainder Km fn 'that evecllcnt asylum ELmi maintains for her Insane H That the prisoner was Shay L to less than a dozen persons, rCrewe and myself were two, c the public prosecutor two HS-the administrators of Shay's Kuaerica the remainder. Vcmv' disappeared from Baltl-fcirktravliig Baltl-fcirktravliig signs of a coin-Etsl coin-Etsl breakdown, my services Ettltloned by his friends, who ELg of having him brought KcUced under the care of the KiiMfins. It was known that KWlled for England, but there Erf him had been losL Shay's Kj been a romantic one. Oe-K'a Oe-K'a newsboy, he Jiad made dis-Ejr dis-Ejr disco V'jry, In engineering- and Kd sciences, whose pateilta had Hfclm fame and wealth. It -was, Kjnproycmcht of the turbine,-. a ftfaich lie labored Incessantly for Ebit the mental collapse oc-m& oc-m& Trent crazy over perpetual Ecduccd the most bizarre and. E entirely worthless machines, H(igt his failure to have these K-Vls due to.a plot, developed H tendencies and, the day bo-H;iiitenicd bo-H;iiitenicd apprehension, sailed eti upon a British ship, thus fclmself from American jtiris-HAUhough jtiris-HAUhough his whereabouts were HL'lt IMS obvious that he would HHn close touch with cnglnccr-H;cross cnglnccr-H;cross the Atlantic, and I had Ht. that I should readily locate Hrhlch the real task of Induc-for Induc-for America would begin. Hta of the facility of my task, I Hh wlso to consult Peter Crewe Ku I reached England. ' Crewe Hk(d me in solving many strange BgucliAS befell me In my capacity M-worked lawyer He had the Hjk optical power of permanently Ktis every person or thing that Hkce scn. so that he was able at HTt'j notice to call it to memory HreHust detail. Ho claimed to B the population of New York Ebn by sight. A stranger seen Ement on a pussing omnibus, Hhscrs on a ship, those on the Hfof a railroad station he could Hrjrith exactitude, lie had been Heior several weeks when I at u my first task was to call on uk his assistance in locating the Hd)1 search. R" queried Crewe thoughtfully, hvc seen his photograph. Oldish Bu. shaven, clear eyes, iron-gray K-I. replied, laughing. "You're o! Edison. Shay is a short, stout . put flve-and-forty, with a straight Hes wrinkled at the corners, a I screwing up his forehead when a to e'seen him twice during the last Krcvre answered "I noticed him jriy., because 1 recognized him as bomlonce saw entering the on-Kkexliibitioii on-Kkexliibitioii at Madison Square i 3few Tori:, and wearing his f- I liavc seen him twice and. K-esouzli. each time in the same at the same time It was in Hl Court road at eight in the Kud lie was walking briskly in ctlon of Kensington. I have been oilt of passing through that ian early hour on my wav to office, and the coincidence Fcoublc meeting Impressed me EW can wc find him''" , Ht us bo in the same spot lo-the lo-the same hour, and I should Vtve ehould run an excellent chance," Crewe answered with his brusquo common senso. We followed Crewe's suggestion, but, though we perambulated the Earl's Court road for several mornings In succession, we did not encounter Shay. "Have you been to the engineering papers pa-pers and the big firms?" Crewe asked- "No, 1 want to avoid doing so if possible," pos-sible," 1 said. "1 do not want the Tacts of my mission to- become known." "Unless wo meet the man lace to face J hardly think we are likely to llnd him," Crowe replied. "There are seven million people in the metropolitan district of London, Lon-don, Langton." It did, indeed, seem to bo a case in which Crewe's optlcul powers would prove unavailable. We walked slowly back past the entrance to Kail's Court exhibition, discussing the mutter. All at once a placard oaughl my eye. 11 stated thai on the following night the trrcat industrial exhibition would be opened, In which engines en-gines and engine tools would have a prominent display. I caught Crewe by the arm. "Wi have him!" I exclaimed, exultantly. exultant-ly. "Jle will be there for certain." Crewe agreed with me and, highly elated, elat-ed, we retraced our steps homeward. On the next evening we Joined the crowds at the exhibition entrance and were shortly admitted, W'o passed througn the spacious grounds, where scenic railways, rail-ways, '"loop-tiie-loop" ami "shoot the chutes" arrangements vied with tho booths of fortune tellers and .those sideshows side-shows dear to the exhibition crowds, and entered the machinery hall. The Ilrst person who caught my eye was Shay, lie wns standing, passing intently at the numerous mechanical Inventions, but ho seemed to sense my presence and, turning turn-ing round, came toward me with outstretched out-stretched hand. "Glad to see you In London, Lang-ion," Lang-ion," he said, cordially. I introduced him to Crewe, ami we passed the usual platitudes concerning the weather and iJingland'a value as a holiday resort, ills conversation certainly seemed rational enough. Jt was not until we spoke of machinery ma-chinery that Shay's .aberr-tion became mauuesi. "What brings you to London, Lang-ton Lang-ton 7" he asked. "Holiday -inking?" "A little matter of business," 1 answered an-swered evasively. "And you?" Shay's manner changed. Ills face became be-came contorted, his excitement was intense. in-tense. , "To gain the recognition that L am denied de-nied by jealous competitors in America." he cried. "Langton. I huva mado tho greatest discovery of the century per pelunl motion. I have invented a machine Lhat will harness the sun's heat and provide pro-vide the earth with a substitute for coal, thai will supply unlimited power and abolish half the electrical mechanism of the day. And why will no one listen to me. either here or In my own country.' Because tho interests are allied in a das-. das-. tardly plot to crush me," he shouted. "Because they prefer their present wealth j in beiietUing the human race. Half the ' water companies would go bankrupt, Langton. for 1 can draw rain from the clouds, 1 can bring lire out of the earth 1 can work miracles with my machine,"' "How is it mado?" asked Crewe. Shnv's face became instantly composed. He looked at him In a, cunning manner. "Jm not so easy as that." he said with a Jeer. "But I will tell you the principle cf tho secret. It Is a combination of centrifugal and centripetal power. I am perfecting a few investigations," he went on, smiling inscrutably, "which will bring the mechanism to Its highest point of utility. util-ity. And then, If the world scorns me, will give some practical demonstrations that will never be forgotten" "Shay," I interposed, "I have a message mes-sage for you from your brother which he asked me to deliver if I fiho.uld come across vou. You sent him no uddress. He wants vou to try and get back next month to take a contract for equipping liis factory. Ho says that your presence would be necessary",, , S'hay squared his shoulders, throw back his head and burst into a roar of malignant malig-nant laughter. "So they sent you after rnc, Langton, ho guffawed. "You must think me easy. You want to get me back," ho continued, catching mo by the coat lapel, "to put me In a lunatic asylum. That Is the last move of the interests, and hp- brother, mv poor brother, whom they -have corrupted cor-rupted with Lhcir llltliy gold. Langton, vou cannot extradite a man for lunacy. If I were as raving as you you couldn t touch me when the British ling protects me Get out!" he concluded with singular sin-gular violence "I'll have no more to say to you." , ,. , , . "My dear Sir. bhay I protested, feeling uncommonly foolish- "Get out!" he roared. "You and your friend. If I set eyes on cithty of you again I'll fix you. I'll mash you small. I'll break every bone In your bodies and I'll deposit them in the middle of the Karl's Court road of tho consistency of a plum pudding." "Well. Langton, the next move Is up to you," said Crewe, laughing as we strolled away. "He's an uncommonly Intelligent In-telligent madman, and the prospect is that he'll land In some British asylum Instead of running into the net you so patently exposed for him." The chances of fulfilling my mission did look small to me. I went to bed very dejected and awoke still more so. Queuing Queu-ing my morning paper I saw a threo-col-umn headline in black letters. In England Eng-land that means more than in America. The story gave the details of a murder. The body of an elderlv man had been found, every bone broken to pieces. Even a fall from a roof flip could not have effected that terrific destruction, said the account, for tho head was drlvon right Into the ground. The only possible explanation ex-planation was lhat the victim had fallen several thousand feet from a balloon. But what horrified me was this: Tho body had been found 500 'aids from Karl's Court exhibition, and in the middle mid-dle of the Karl's Court road. The thought of Shay rushed Into my mind. I hurried round to Crewe. "I think the bnlloon explanation the only possible ono," he said, when I hnd unfolded my fears. "You arc overwrought, over-wrought, Langton. Put Shay oiit of your mind; his words wero the ravings of a madman." But tho next day another similar death was chronicled. Tho body of a; man had been found wedged Into 'the wall of an empty house In Bromley street, about tho same distance from Earl's Court grounds, but in an opposite direction. It had been flung with such terrific violence that it had passed through six inches of briclt3 and mortar and lodged in the' front of the" house. Tho human form was barely recognizable. recogniz-able. This time Crewe smiled no longer. "One tan but fall vertically from a balloon," bal-loon," he mused. "This man must have been ahot from a twelve-Inch gun. Langton, Lang-ton, I think I'll look for your friend Shay again, but this time we'll avoid his rcc-i rcc-i ognlt.n." That night, accordingly, we went into the Earl'sj Court grounds. "Wc loitered In the vicinity of the machinery exhibition, exhibi-tion, but there was no trace of Shay. After a while wo strolled through the gardens, listened to tho bands and inspected in-spected a number of sideshows from the outside. Suddenly I felt Crewe pinch my arm. Wc were passing the "Aerial Ride." h. very body, probably, has ridden In this contrivance at some time or other. Ono gets into a boat, suspended, with a number num-ber of other boats, from a central pole by long slays of steel. A mechanism underground seta the boats revolving through the air. As they swing further and further out they tilt inward until one rides at a dizzy pace almost upon his side. If tho machine- were not operating oper-ating ono would fall to tho ground below, but the forco of centrifugal motion keeps one In the boat as water slays in a bucket whirled round the head. Wc were passing- this contrivance, I say, when, looking up in response to Crewe's pinch, I saw that the operator was Shay. I knew him, though he woro a mechanic's me-chanic's cloth cap and a workman's clothes. More than that, he knew me. J saw an egression of unconquerable hate pass over his features and, fairly frightened, hurried away. I hurried away with' Crewe and, at a newspaper kiosk, saw the familiar black headlines on an evening paper. I purchased pur-chased one. It was the usual story. A third body had been found, three hundred hun-dred yards from the exhibition grounds, upon a roof top. It had knocked down three chimneys and torn off a cornice and had doubtless been thrown there during the preceding night. Crewe was, very thoughtful when wc sat together in my rooms thai, night. "II can't be duo to Shay." he cried. "The story of his about an irresistible power is absurd. And yet, Langton what docs It mean? I cannot fathom It." His glance fell upon my bookshelf and he rose to his feet. "I seo you have an enlarged map of London an ordinance survey, I believe," lie said. "I saw it yesterday as wc were passing out of the door. Yes, hero it Is. Let us Investigate." He spread the great sheets on tho table, turning them until he reached that of the Earl's Court region. Every house and street car was accurately depleted upon this monumental record of patient industry. "The first body was found here." he said, piercing the paper with a pin. "And the second In the Bromley rond here. The third on the roof of 55 Qualntock street here. Now we have three-fourths of a circle if we join these pin holes by a faint line. Upon the fourth floor " He ceased, for through lheNopen window win-dow wc heard a newsboy shouting In the street. "Another body found," ho cried. " 'Or-rible 'Or-rible discovery in Preston road. All the details." Wc raced downstairs and bought a copy. Another corpse had been located In a branch of a tree In Preston road. Crewe hurried back to the map and pricked the "1 have It," he shouted. ".Four points on n circumference. Find the center. Langton. I am going to spoil your map." He connected tlie points and, using his thumb and finger as a pair of compasses, completed the circle with his finger nail, tracing the nail marks on the paper with a pencil afterward. Then he pointed the center and I sprang to my feet, choking. The center of the circle was tho bandstand band-stand of the Earl's Court grounds. And the bnndutand was not twenty yards from tho "Aerial Ride 1 "What does It mean?" I cried. "Take your hat, take your hat. Langton," Lang-ton," said Crewe impatiently. "We'll find out before morning. You know the entrance en-trance to the Exhibition which leads past the chutes to tho bandstand?" "No. I thought there was none." , "I mean the low wall that ono can vault over," said Crewe Impatiently. "The gap left by tho workmen, who arc repairing the wall. O, Langton, why the devil can't you use your eyes? We passed- it yesterday on that omnibus. Never mind. Listen! Tlte exhibition closes at 11. We vault that wall at 11:30, when all the people have left. We hide In that cluster of trees you didn't see them, those Japanese laurel shrubs? Well, lake my word for it. they arc there and we hide In them till midnight, when everybody has gone home. Why not wait till midnight before vaulting the wall? My good Langton, at midnight the people peo-ple leave tho restaurant opposite, since the law forbids them to purchase drinks after that hour. No, T can understand you didn't notice the restaurant." I glanced at the clock as I put on my hat. It was half past ten. Thero was just time to reach our objective comfortably, com-fortably, but none to spare. Wo descended de-scended the stairs, went Into the street and took a motor omnibus for Earl's court, where wc got down. To cross the wall was simple and wo were soon ensconced in the clump of laurel lau-rel shrubs. Earl's court was empty of its throngs and the proprietors of the booths and annisoment shows were wending wend-ing thoir tired way homeward. After ten minutes more wc remained practically practical-ly the sole inmates of the gardons. "Langton.'' said Crewe, "we've got to find what is going to occur at that Aerial Ride tonight. I want you to wait hero for me wihllc I go forward and Investigate Investi-gate whether or not our masquerading engineer lias closed up his property and left. If I need won I shall blow my police whistle. Walt, half an hour; then come cautiously In senrcli of me," I had no watch and the minutes passed like hours. Once or twice, shivering there alono In the darkness, I fancied I heard faint callt: from the bandstand. But the whistle did not blow. At last, wearied of my delay, and with cramped limbs lhat demanded stretching, I set off toward our objective- I passed the chutes and the bandstand. Tho place seemed wholly deserted: not even a watchman was to bo .seen anywhere. As I drew toward the Aerial Ride I noticed a faint glow from the basement In which tho mechanism was located. Over my head the boats hung Idly and emptily against the sky- Then . . . An arm was round my throat, compressing com-pressing it so that I could utter no sound. My head wns forced back till tho vertebrae ver-tebrae felt on the point of breaking; and I was staring into the maligna: t eyos of Shay. He was quito mad, furiously and incoherently in-coherently mad. and. ns he held me in his powerful grip, he babbled out his triumph. "I've got your friend." he cried. "But you'll come first, and he'll wait in the engine house- I'll smash you, you sneaking sneak-ing lawyer. I'll smash you. I'll crush you into a plum pudding and lay you down In Earl's Court rond. I've proved it," ho went on, gesticulating wildly with one hand, but nevor releasing his strangle stran-gle hold. "One more, two more bodies found tomorrow and all London will go craxy over mv instrument. You don't want to die. Langton? Why, you will bu a martyr to science; you will prove the truth of what I told the world; you wll! assist mo to overcome the Interests who have fought down my invention for the benefit of the human race. .Come along, come along, come Joyfully, Langton. I am going to explain It to you boforo yon go through the air." I was as helpless as an infant In his clasp. Still throttling me, he dragged me up the Hlghl of wooden stops that led to the Aerial Ride and doposlted me In one of the motionless boats that swung round a wooden plnlfortn. Then, gibber ing llko a madman and uttering meaningless mean-ingless cries, lie gagged me and began binding my arms and legs with a coll of now cord. "You know the principle of this flight," ho said in calmer tones. "You know how the centrifugal force keeps the boats out from the center of the pole and keeps you in that boat. O, what a ride you'll have! We never send our patrons at a speed greater than twenty miles an hour, but my perfected engine will work up to one hundred and twenty. Langton, you'll go whizzing round and round at the speed of an express train, and you'll be horizontal with the ground and tin: boat will go sailing upon her slde and yet you won't fall out because of the centrifugal cen-trifugal power." He gave one last twist to the cords that bound me and glared into mv eyes. "But suppose I suddenly shut off the engine? What then?" he asked, A smile flickered across his fncc. "I'll tell you, -Langton." he said. "What happens when you whirl the pail of water rounil and round your head and sudenly stop? What happens to the water? Does It stay In the pail? Or does It go through tho air? Langton, you are going through tho air. The sudden cessation of the centrifugal force, converted Into energy, will throw you just about as hard as a cannon ball. "You may land In the Earl's Court road or you may land In the Preston road or in Bromloy street, r can't promise for certain, but my aim Is improving, and I can assure you of four hundred yards' clean traveling over the rooftops." He ceased and broke into rcvllings. He struck me several times, kicked me with his heels and. In his uncontrollable rage, seemed on the point of murdering me. Then, tearing himself away with a shout of final defiance, he left inc. I heard the mechanism begin whirring in the engine house and felt tho boat begin to move. It glided gently at first, but soon Its motion was accelerated. Now 1 was flying high In the air over the grounds; faster and faster I flew, till the trees, the buildings and the night shadows were northing but a blur under me. The speed was Inconceivable! It was as though I wero lashed to the engine en-gine of some train which spun on Its circular cir-cular courso at about twice the speed of the Chicago flyer. My brain reeled, my senses were deserting me; terror, ev.cn, fled from my benumbed consciousness conscious-ness and I waited calmly for that supreme su-preme moment when the power suddenly arrested, I would be sent Hying out of the boat and through tho air. over the revolving re-volving .housetops. Each moment seemed an eternity. Would that culmination never arrive? And even as I wondered I felt a shock that Jarred each nerve in me; a blinding light, an awful sound in my ears and I lost consciousness. When I opened my eyes I was still in the boat. But my hands were unfastened J i J$ j and Crewe was bending over me, rub- Ml W j, blng my chafed and tingling limbs. My j j i. head swum dizzily. Itwtlil "It's all right, Langton," he said j (Q J$ 5 cheerily. "The watchmen have him un- Jaj der guard In the engine house." Ilflflftl I stared at Crewe, hardly yet eon- s Hi 'ill scions of my surroundings.' memory alow- 1 a jilt! ly filtering back through her accustomed II tjRS "What happened to you?" I muttered i 81 III striving to recall the occurrences of thai Il ilg period after Crewe's departure. nSsill Crewe sat by me in the boat and aBiS rubbed my legs and arms briskly. SmftM "Why. Langton, I must confess thai a&llfif' the maniac outwitted me. He cama or. Mili1 me from behind as sllcntlv us a -nt and SSMStW choked mo into Insensibility. When "J ffiltlfB' opened my eyes ' I fdund myself bound SniRlil In the engine house. I knew exactly flttj j what sort of deviltry he was up to, ami sSltlla 1 surmised that you would be trapped ! SlltsK as easily as I. Presently he came back;. i u Mr he was so Intent on your destruction : HUasI that nc did not seem to notice me, but j mlTi! from his Incoherent mupibllng I learned iJSRs that he had you fastened In one oC'the 3 SiltlK boats. He threw on the lever which KirnUj'V' starts the mechanism and. as the ma- ! Imjlijl chlncry began to work and the speed ac- SEIm celcrated he stood there, rubbing hie SB Jiff hands and chuckling, with me bound BttfK hand and foot not ten paces away, Im- I M wSJJ mediately behind a dynamo. i 1 aJ; "From where I lay I saw the ' speed i ft MV indicator creep up from nothing toward ! if Kkl) the century mark. 1 understood that,. . 2 SMl when it reached 120, the maximum, the J ma fiend would throw tho lever back and ' j 8R5 send you flying into perdition. I strove i i ffis to free myself. 1 got one arm loose, biit i mgu that was all. T could not stir. But T saw I mx an iron bolt lying not five feet from me : U Hl and somehow T can't Imagine how I (iif?' managed to reach It. Just then the -end' : I, came. I saw the indicator needle reach : Swij the end of the dial. Shay flung back the i fjll!' lever with a shriek of joy. and then, B H maddened by the thought that your life ! Hffi: had been sacrificed, I managed to catch 5i his ankle as he leaped back and brought ; BBSS him to the ground when I stunned him nml with the bolt. I found a penknife in his i 1 m pocket, cut my bonds, and summoned 1 HI j the night watchman by my cries. But Blj I dared not hope to find you still in the ; IE "But why am I in the boat?" I cried- a ft ! "Why did I not go flying through the : I air whcnho slopped the machinery?"' b rj "Why," said Crewe, smiling, faintly, B rl j "you owe your life to a most providential MB oversight on the part of our maniac. In 1 i HI his half-witted fury, instead of merely ' B HH strapping your arms to your sides, he 1 I BN passed the cords several times around the 'ft p ' Iron i(stay that holds the boat in po3l- g K J Next week: "The Face of the' Clock.") lf ' |