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Show ? the 1 i 41rfOtt OF U f, T BLAZED TPAL. ;foot MTgr-3JEKT SMuTO. I i 8YNOPSIS. Percy Darrow, a young scientist in "arch of a Job. enters the office of Hoss" McCarthy of New York. Mc-nnthy Mc-nnthy nas ust been threatened by an to trymous message ordering him to flee : sajtpUroPe. He does not take the mes-! mes-! elevat8erlou"ly Darrow goes up the ; Knox oto :ry for a Psitin with Dr. In the ?uddeniy the electric apparatus ' ness. jr as building goes out of busi-" busi-" trouble Pts are unable to locate the I reason ei ht once, without apparent i The nexteCtrlc connections are restored, i tn&t unlesehen!n,f McCarthy is warned i f slen will v. lftaves at once for Europe iy &t that hois.ln' nlm at 3lx- Prompt-I Prompt-I u,s of NVw v . entire electric appara-1 appara-1 row thinks k, ? s cut oft. Percy Dar- na" a clue. f CHAPTElT3 i "I could tell -J Continued. have happened. Xacy what must Was the condition Never mlnd that local? How lar did itBenera1' or onlj' "U seemea to DeeXten"" , v York, nd only abouttnaned 4 New '.00." ; ories?" .at they had any stand," said Jack. - of the influence of f-! ' t)hlsh! Who sprung that?" M ifessor Aitken, I think." ,6 ought to know better. Any I 3. .couldn't understand them all. fl was one of polarizing the island k-l Vse of the steel structures; and "Nq fcuman agency?" "What?" "No man or men are suspected of bringing this about?" "Oh, no! You don't think " "No, I don't think. I only Imagine; and I haven't much basis for imagining. imagin-ing. But if my imaginations come out -ight, we'll have plenty to do." "Where, now?" asked Jack, as the icientist fnished dressing and reach-id reach-id for his hat. "Breakfast?" "No, I ate that betore I dressed. Ve'll make a call on the Atlas Build-ag" Build-ag" "All right," agreed Jack cheerfully. What for?" "To ask McCarthy if he hasn't a job or you In w'" pre! You j at. Why, ' Warford , loves a vail. "We'll call on him, just the same," isisfed Darrow. "I'm game," said Jack, "but I n tell you the answer right now. No -ma ed t0 wallt 10 the Atlas Bni'dins-" mm) "I bave a notiori vne Atlas Building is' goingo-'beiia mighty interesting The' plaf- " DarAiw. .s joucheli on the street. The 'i t and golden; the sun warm ' I i Indian summer. The clock I f Metropolitan tower was boom- . I As the two set out at a slow :r down the backwater of the I slreet, Darrow explained a little 3 k' EJi'd he abruptly, "I'll tell I hat 1 think or imagine. I be- ! last right's phenomena were con- 3d not fortuitous or the result of I ;! " raj fortes. In other words, some l turnel off the juice in this city; .ill turnedit on again. How he did it, J J fc not know; but he did it very com-Si com-Si ely. It'as not a question of wir- k alone. Even dry-cell batteries were I icted. Now, I can think of only J i broad general principle by which 1 could accomplish that result. Just I at mean! he took to apply the prln- I ile is beyoDd my knowledge. But I I am cored in my supposition, I ere occurs to me no reason why he I ould not (0 a 3tep or so farther." I "I don't bflieve I follow." said Jack I mtrltely. "What I'm driving at Is this," said ' arrow-; "this Is not the end of the cus by an! means. We're going to ,e a lot of funny things if my guess i anywhere oear right." CHAPTER VI. The Wrath to Come. "Did you ever meet McCarthy?" asked Darrow, as the elevator of the Atlas sprang upward. "Never." -Well no maer wnat ne sa-vs or does, I want you to say nothing-noth- Ing." Correct," said Jack. "I'll down-charge." down-charge." That's right," Harrow approved. Pirst 0f all, wait outside until I call McCarthv was already at his desk. nd in evil humor. When Darrow en-,red en-,red he merely looked up and -Good morning." Darrow greeted him'easily. "Any wireless this morn- vJaw?cCartliy threw back his heavy e-That damn orr.-vT's been leak- C2ii .; - Darrow. "N0, your operator didn't leak. Who is he?" 'If he didn't leak, what did you say that for?" I m a good guesser," replied Darrow Dar-row enigmatically. "They say anything any-thing about a 'sign' being sent, and such talk?" "You've been gettin' the dope yourself your-self out of the air," returned McCarthy Mc-Carthy sullenly. "Look here, my fat friend," drawled Darrow, his eyes half closing, "I'm getting get-ting nothing from anywhere except in my own gray matter. What do your messages have to say?" "Why should I tell you?" "Because I'm Interested and because be-cause I know who sent 'em." "So do I," snarled McCarthy, in a "ArV6mper- I'm beginning to suspect he's jjao to look out for. And I doubt Vif you'll ever find him. Of course, he's responsible for the row last night as well as for the trouble in the Atlas Building the night before." "I don't know whether he is or not." "Oh, yes, you do; and I do; and the wireless man does. We're the only three. The rest of them are still figuring on comets." "Well?" "I don't suppose there's any real doubt left in your mind but that this man can turn the juice off again, if he wants to?" "I don't know as he did It," persisted McCarthy stoutly. "Now, how long do you suppose you'd last if the public should get on to the fact that this hidden power was going to exert itself again unless you left town?" A slight moisture bedewed McCarthy's Mc-Carthy's forehead. "Not all your police, nor all your power could save you, if the general public once became thoroughly convinced con-vinced that it was to go through another an-other experience like last night's unless un-less it ousted you. Why, a mob of a million men would gather against you in a2 hour. You see," drawled Percy Darrow, "why you'd better look after that wireless man of yours and me." "And you," repeated McCarthy. "What do you want?" "I want to see those wireless messages, mes-sages, first of all," said Darrow, reaching out his hand. McCarthy hesitated; then swiftly thrust forth the flimsies. Darrow, a slight smile curving his full red lips, held them to the light. They read as follows: "McCarthy: A sign was promised you at six o'clock. It has been sent. Repent and beware! Go while there is yet time. "M." There were four of these, couched in almost identical language. The fifth and last message was shorter: "McCarthy: Flee from the wrath to come. "M." "What," said Darrow, "is to prevent the other operators who must have caught this message from giving it "Do You Know Whether Any Other Instrument Caught This?" to the public? What, indeed, Is to prevent M.'s appealing direct to the public?" "I don't know," confessed McCarthy miserably, "Do you?" "Not at this moment. Will you send for the operator who took these?" McCarthy snatched down the telephone tele-phone receiver, through which presently pres-ently he spoke a message. "What have you cot to do with this?" he demanded, after he had hung up the hook. "I want something," said Percy, "of course." "Sure," growled McCarthy, once more back on familiar ground, and glad of it. "What is it?" "I'll tell you when I'm sure whether I can do anything for you in this matter." mat-ter." "If this fellow didn't leak, how did you know about them wireless?" demanded de-manded McCarthy again. "How dc you know who's doi.i' this?" Darrow smiled. "The man who can control the Juice as this man has is a scientific expert ex-pert with a full scientific equipment. If he communicated at all, it would be by wireless, as that is the easiest way to cover his trail. I remembered your telephone message from the fanatic fa-natic about sending a 'sign.' Immediately Immedi-ately after, the Atlas Building experienced ex-perienced on a small scale what next day the city experienced on a larger scale. It was legitimate inference to connect one with the other. Of course, if our telephone friend was the man who had brought these thing about, he had done it to force you to do what he demanded. But he would lose the effect of his lesson unless you understood under-stood his connection with the matter. Hence, I concluded that you must have received messages by wireless and that they must have repeated the warning as to a 'sign' being sent. It was very simple." "You're smart, all right," conceded McCarthy. After a moment the wireless operator opera-tor came in. "Simmons," said McCarthy, "answer this man's questions." "They will be in regard to these messages," said Darrow. "Where are they from?" "Somewhere In the one-hundred to two-hundred mile circles, depending on the power of the sending instrument," replied the operator promptly. "Are you sure?" "I know my instruments pretty well; and I've had experience enough so I can tell by the sound of the sending about how far off they come from." "And this was from somewhere about one to two hundred miles away, you think?" "Yes, sir." "Do you know whether any other instrument caught this?" "No, only mine," He was very positive. posi-tive. "How do you know?" "Mr. McCarthy had me inquire." "How do you account for it?" "I don't know, except that maybe my instrument happened to be just tuned to catch it. That's another reason I know it was from far off. The farther away the sending instrument, the nearer exactly it has to be tuned to the receiving instrument. If It was nearer, 'most anybody'd get it." Percy Darrow nodded. "That's all, I guess. No, hold on. Did any of these come between six and eight last evening?" For the first time the operator smiled. "No, sir; my instrument was dead." He went out. "Well?" growled McCarthy. "I don't know; but I can see more trouble." "Let him turn off his juice," blustered blus-tered the boss; "we'll be ready, next time." Percy Darrow smiled. "Will you?" he contented himself by saying. Then, after a moment's pause, he added, "I'll agree to stop this fellow If you'll give me an absolutely free hand. I'll even agree to find him." "What do you want?" "I want a job, a good engineering-construction engineering-construction job, for a friend of mine." "What can he do?" "He can learn. I want a good honest hon-est place where he can learn under a good man." "Who is he?" "I'll bring him in." A moment later Jack, in answer to a summons, entered the office. McCarthy stared at him. "What kind of a job?" he growled. "Something active and out of doors," Darrow answered for him; "streets, water, engineering." "It's a holdup," said McCarthy sullenly sul-lenly drawing a tablet toward himself and thrusting the stub of a pencil into his mouth. "A beneficent and just holdup," added add-ed Darrow; "the first of its kind in this city." McCarthy glared at him malevolently. malevo-lently. "It don't go unless you deliver the goods," he threatened. "Understood," agreed Darrow. "What's his name?" demanded McCarthy, Mc-Carthy, withdrawing the pencil stub, and preparing to write. "His name," answered Darrow, "is John Warford. Junior." McCarthy started to his feet with a bellow of rage, his face turning purple. pur-ple. "Of all the infernal !" he roared, and stopped, as though stricken dumb. For two or three words further his mouth and throat went through the motions of speech. Then an expression expres-sion of mingled fear and astonishment overspread his countenance. He sank back into his chair. Percy Darrow nodded twice and smiled. CHAPTER VII. .A World of Ghosts. A deathly stillness had all at once fallen like a blanket, blotting out McCarthy's Mc-Carthy's violent speech. The rattling typewriter in the next room was abruptly stilled. The roar of the city j died as a living creature is cut by the j sword all at once, without the transi-' transi-' tionary running down of most silences. J Absolute dense stillness, like that of a sea calm at night, took the place of j the customary city noises. In his as-I as-I tonishment McCarthy thrust a heavy j inkstand off the edge of his desk. It I hit the floor, spilled, rolled away; but I noiselessly, as would the inkstand In i a moving picture. To have one's world thus suddenly stricken dumb, to be transported orally oral-ly from the roar of a city to the peace of a woodland or a becalmed sea U certainly astonishing enough. Hut this silence was particularly terrifying ter-rifying to both McCarthy and Jack Warford, though neither would have been able to analyze the r ' 'n for its 1' welrdness. For silence Is In reality a composite of many lesser noises. In a woodland almost inaudible insects hum, breezes blow, leaves and grasses rustle; at sea the tiny waves lap the sides and equally tiny breaths of air stir the cordage; within the confines of the human shell the mere physical acts of breathing, swallowing, winking, wink-ing, the mere physical facts of the circulation of the blood, the beating of the heart, produce each its sound. Even a man totally deaf feels the subtle influence of these latter physical phys-ical phenomena. And underneath all sound, perceptible alike to those who can hear and those who can not, are the vibrations that accompany every activity of nature as the manifestations manifesta-tions of motion or of life. An ordinary or-dinary deep silence is not so much an absence of sound as an absence of accustomed or loud sound. And in that unusual hush often for the first time a man becomes actutely aware of the singing of the blood in his ears. But this silence was absolute. All these minor sounds had been eliminated. elim-inated. For a moment Boss McCarthy stared; star-ed; then shoved back his chair with a violent motion, and rose. He was like a shadow on a screen. The filching from the world of one element of its every-day life had unexpectedly rendered ren-dered it all phantasmagoric. As McCarthy shouted, and no sound came; as he moved from behind his desk, and no jar accompanied his heavy footfall, he appeared to lose blood and substance, to become unreal. As no sound issued from his contorted face, so it seemed that no force would follow his blow, were he to deliver one. He stumbled forward, dazed and groping as though he were in the dark, instead of merely in silence; a striking example in the uncertainty of his movements of how closely our senses depend on one another. Jack spoke twice, then closed his lips in a grim straight line. He held his elbows close to his sides, and looked ready for anything. A look of mild triumph illumined Percy Darrow's usually languid coun-enance. coun-enance. He stepped quickly to the wall, and turned the button of the ln-cadenscent ln-cadenscent globe. The light instantly glowed. At this he nodded twice more. From his pocket he drew a note-book and pencil, wrote in it a few words, and handed It to the dazed and uncertain un-certain boss. "I was right," Darrow had scrawled. "This proves it. It's by no means the end. Better be good." McCarthy's bulldog courage had recovered re-covered from its first daze. He began to see that this visitation was not entirely en-tirely personal, but extended also to his two companions. This relieved his mind, for he had suspected some strange new apoplexy. "Did you expect this?" he wrote. Darrow nodded. Together the three ghosts left the phantom office, and glided down the phantom halls. Other ghosts in various vari-ous stages of alarm were already making mak-ing their way down the stairs. Some of them spoke, but no sound came. One woman, her eyes frightened, reached out furtively to touch her neighbor, apparently to assure herself of his reality. Urged by an uncontrollable uncon-trollable Impulse, a man thrust his hand through the ground glass of an office door. The glass shivered, and crashed to the tile floor. The pieces broke silently. It was as though the man had been the figure in a cinematograph cinemato-graph illusion. He stared at his cut and bleeding hand. The woman who had touched the man suddenly threw back her head and screamed. They could see her eyes roll back, her face change color, could discern the straining strain-ing of her throat. No sound came. At this a panic seized them. They rushed down the stairs, clambering over one another, pushing, scrambling, falling. A mob of a hundred men fought for precedence. Blows were struck. No faintest murmur of tumult came from their futile heat. It might have been the riot of a wax-works in a vacuum. They fell into the lower hallway, and fought their way to the street, and stood there dazed and staring, a strange, wild-eyed, white-faced, bloody crew. The hurrying avenue stopped to gaze on them curiously, gathering compact com-pact a mob that blocked all traffic. Policemen pushed their way In and began roughly to question and W question in real audible words. But for the space of a full minuta these people stood there staring upward, up-ward, drinking in the blessed sound that poured in on them lavishly from the life of the street; drinking deep gulps of air, as though air had lacked. Darrow, and with him Jack Warford, War-ford, had descended more leisurely. Before leaving the building Darrow placed the flat of his hands over his ears, and motioned Jack to do the same Thus they missed the stunning effect of receiving the world of noise all at once; as a man goes to a bright light from a dark room. Furthermore. Darrow returned several times from the sound to the silence, trying to determine de-termine where the line of demarcation demarca-tion was drawn. Then, motioning to Jack, he began methodically to make his way through the crowd. This proved to be by no means an easy task. Rumors of all sorts were afoot. Some bold spirits were testing a new sensation by venturing into the corridor of the building. The police were undecided as to what should be done. One or two reporters were already al-ready at hand, investigating. McCarthy, Mc-Carthy, his assurance returned, was conversing earnestly with a police captain. Percy Darrow, closely followed by Jack, managed to worm his way through the crowd, and finally debouched de-bouched on Broadway. "What was it? What struck us?" demanded Jack. "Do you know?" "I can guess; In essence," said Percy. Per-cy. "I was pretty sure after last evening's eve-ning's trouble; but this underscores it, proves it. Also, It opens the way." "WThat do you mean?" "Along the lines of these phenomena there are two more things possible. Possible, I say. They might be called certain, were we dealing only with theory; but there Is still some doubt how the practical side of it may work out" "I suppose you know what you're talking about," said Jack resignedly. "I don't." "You don't need to, yet But here's what I mean. If my theory Is correct, we are likely to be surprised still further." fur-ther." Jack ruminated; then his engaging young face lighted up with a smile. "All right," said he; "I'm enlisted for the war. What have you got to do with it?" "I'll explain this much," said Darrow; Dar-row; "more I'll not tell at present even to you. If one breath should get out that any one suspected well, this is a man-hunt." "Who's the man?" "An enemy of McCarthy." "Whom you ara going to find for him?" "Perhaps." "And you were putting up that job for me as part of your pay!" Percy Darrow smiled slowly. "As all of my pay from McCarthy," said he. "I was just bedeviling him." Jack Warford started to say something, some-thing, but the scientist cut him short. "This is bigger than McCarthy," he said decisively. "We are the only people peo-ple in this city who suspect a human origin of these phenomena. Other men are yet working, and will continue con-tinue to work, on the supposition that they are the results of some unbalanced unbal-anced natural conditions. The phenomena phe-nomena are, as yet, harmless. It will not greatly injure the city, once It 1b prepared to be without electricity or without sound for limited periods. 1 doubt very much whether the Unknown Un-known can continue these phenomena for longer than limited periods. But conceivably this man may become a peril. He has, if I reason correctly, four arrows It his quiver; the fourth is dangerous. It Is our duty to find him before he uses the fourth arrow if indeed he has discovered the method of doing so. That is always in doubt." Jack's eyes were shining. "Bully!" he cried. (TO BE CONTINUED.) |