The Island School — page 112: what you’re looking at

Machine-transcribed from the original scan — historical spelling and the odd misread are preserved.

me lo. not ie us. aS now, and one of them is ‘the fellow who leads ay _them—Giuseppo, Jim said they called him.” | Rs He sat with his eyes fixed on the small mirror, with _ the look on his face tha’ was always there when he a was engaged in mental calculations. They kept silent until he spoke again. | pein | --—- “‘Tn ten minutes,” he said, suddenly, “it will be dark. __: Tn half an hour J must be ready to receive my guests.” The small fire which Romeo had lighted was now only a heap of smouldering ashes. The negro was desired to quietly scatter them. He did it with his bare feet; and then, as the shades of night swept rapidly across the landscape, Morse bade oe pre- pare to move. “They cannot see so far in the gloom,” he said. “ Get along, walk quietly, and do not so much as utter . i a single word.” _' They were little more than moving shadows as they crept along the street to a flight of steps further on, by which they could descend in the direction of the gate chosen for exit. Morse remained squatting on _ his haunches, thoughtfully working out a problem, or something akin to one, in his mind. _ “Twenty grains,’ he muttered, “will lift a ton. | Weight of gates and buttresses seven tons, or there- abouts.” | cM _. From his inner coat-pocket he brought out a small -_. wooden box, about three inches by two, and raised a © the lid carefully, Inside were a number of small packages about the size of teething-powders. | _~——s “ ‘Tf T had told the boys what I have been carrying with me,” he said, grimly, “I am afraid they would have been very uncomfortable.” He rose up and slipped down the steps without a ‘4 Bi sound. At the bottom he stopped to pick out one of a Me j the packages from the box, and restored the latter to by hi, “his pocket. ite Stealthily as an Indian im a hostile country, He pur- ae Be sued his way to the gates. It will be remembered that the two bronze gates Wetec with an ease that rather astonished the boys _ when first they saw them move. This was, as ex- _ plained at the time, partly to be accounted for by a ‘metal ball under each lower hinge, containing oil. ¥ This metal ball revolved on a plate of bronze, and __ anything placed close te it must necessarily be sub- ject to friction. | Morse first of all closed the gates, and then ga’ Me a y A great care placed the powder close under the metal ball. He gently pushed it well in with the thin blade of a small pocket-knife, i _ His preparations were, so far, complete. i Pi Bat he had as yet to see how the thing would act, til Pee ald: “sade ee ge the end he . ~ } ih ys a nd 3 wien aime Main ig aw ,* i eA mh AD (hs / vee wp yr ; vA : 7 Eat ‘i ' 5 Oikos) are > two more | men creeping | | fhe Hy, oy M 4 ry “ ‘ * i} SOA weed > Wh oS poise ne aie ses Ae . of ‘ ha fo en ck he believed was far a away rth 1 most violent explosive known to man. fet Withdrawing aside, to the distance of fifty yard in the direetion of the gates where he was to rejoin his friends, he lay down at full length upon the ground, and waited the result. | It was but a quarter of an hour later when a fate loomed up dimly in the gloom, and he recognised it as the foremost of his Spanish foes. i The man stood still by the gates, and was in a Little @ ‘e while joined by another, and then another, and He on, until Giuseppo himself appeared. aay Tt. Avas plain that they had not snticipated the gates being closed, but it was equally evident os none saw anything pointing towards danger. Ph us only doubt in the minds of the subordinates was whether they had arrived at the right spot or not. | Giuseppo, whose actions Morse was able to dist ie iu guish pretty clearly, had no doubt about the matter. — Though no word was spoken, he made his belief clear by his movements, and he finally directed one of his followers to push open the gates, and to do it ‘ heedfully. J Ny The man put his shoulder to the nearest gate, - and it turned slowly for an inch or two, Finding i it mace no noise, he gave ita sharp thrust, and then bs seemed as if the very earth at his feet had been rent. in twain. Morse, from his post, watching with allthe we of an old philosopher, beheld the gates tossed int j the air, and a huge ‘mass of masonry on either sid came toppling down. a te t To him it seemed as if Giuseppo and his men i been suddenly buried alive. a te ’ ut lt was what he had intended to do, but the com- Ht plete success of his experiment sent a shudder throug oh him. i ae He waited just long enough to hear any ery ‘or a groan that might have followed the explosion, me GA after the rattle of falling Feisty allwas still, n St au; x. ." a Pa 5 i re iy in nis \ * upon his feet, and, half ceanned with. he te within him, staggered in the direction of ‘the ap pointed spot to rejoin his friends. — He rejoiced as an inventor, but was deeply moved as a youth who had personally tested the power of a terrible discovery. ang Then came the thought, natural under the einen stances: J “T—I, Robert Morse, as yet but a schoolboy, have the power to wreck towns, cities, nations, at my fin ger's ends.” | Then he stopped, and put his hands b face. ih ae i never use it save in good cause !” | UNG Atl kes A a om ue are ne A ik % Sy} met Mit, ) se