The Argosy, August 1905 — page 104: what you’re looking at

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

Pringle lifted a hand to his head. With the other hand he raised the old (il dressing-gown and shook it feebly, ap- parently with some notion that Tapscott might drop out of it. = Good Heavens!” gasped Pringle, then cast the dressing-gown from him and sank limply on the bed, his eyes roving about the narrow chamber. The other bluecoat had impatiently rummaged through a closet, looked be- i ’ hind a dresser, peered under the bed, y and was now examining the fastenings (4 of the window. c “Speak, can’t you?” he demanded, turning to Pringle. “Did—did he get out through the other room?” inquired Pringle, in halt- ing tones. “ Of course he didn’t.” “Then you search me, Hickman. It beats the devil! Just after I closed the door Tapscott went to the washbowl and drew a glass of water. Quick as a wink he emptied something into the glass and took it down at a gulp just as I jumped at him.” “Then what happened?” queried Hickman. “That’s too many for me,” replied : Princle, shaking his head. “ All I know is that I stood there, holding the dress- ing-gown. Tapscott was gone.” “ He dodged out somehow,” declared Hickman; “it ain’t possible for a man to make a get-away like that without having things fixed. You look around here while I go and search the rest of the house.” During the excitement that followed, Trenwyck and Blinkers slipped away. In the hall outside they encountered the skulking figure of a man standing close to the door. He might have been a lodger, at- tracted by the disturbance in Tapscott’s rooms. Be that as it may, he was a low- browed, questionable-looking fellow, and Trenwyck and Blinkers eyed him suspiciously as they passed. The cab that had brought them stood in front, on waiting orders, and during the ride back to their hotel the two friends smoked and wrestled with the = situation. At last Trenwyck’s thoughts drifted £ “a 5 . ~ a ae “a * = ae . ‘ a fe, ’ si * At ‘plant has been destroyed. years at first and proceeding to the scene Seige fie.) On opening it, hefound and 4 that only one of the packets was en- closed—the larger of the two. “What does the letter have to say?” asked Blinkers, and forthwith Trenwyck read it to him: Dear Sr: As you have seen, circumstances over which I haye no control make necessary my abrupt departure for the Past. I have long known this storm was brewing, but hoped I could make port in the Middle Ages with my colony of artisans before it burst upon me. Now I alone must be the evangel of civilization and progress to those Benighted Peoples. Although I enclose you the means, f do not ask you to follow me. It is a step no man would dare consider unless impelled by convictions as strong as my own. The packet given you herewith con- tains a supply of seeds of the wonderful plant developed .by me after years of painstaking culture. This hybrid I have dubbed the tempus fugitarws; it is a cross between the Indian poppy and a rare plant of unknown species found in Borneo. To become effective as a means for bridging the Present and the Past, the seeds must be treated chemically—which, while rounding out their tremendous powers, at the same time renders them instantly soluble in water. I*had just finished treating the seeds enclosed when you called on me this morning. Besides these and those I have with me, there are no more in existence, and the mother- Every one of these time seeds will set a man back half a century. I shall make my journey by easy stages, covering fifty of my labors in Darkest Europe; then on and on as fancy takes me. My one regret is that untoward events make necessary an ill-timed departure. Should you have recourse to the seeds in your quest after ancient times, fail not to take them on the very spot where you would cast your fortunes. And re- member, you can take nothing with you apart from what can be earried in the hands or stored about the person. Across the years I give you gt Half a century separates us, and yet the — ink is scarcely dry on this letter which I, have written. é be? Perotau Tapscorr, 7 i - Ke oS comicbooks.com