The Argosy, Volume XLIV — page 195: what you’re looking at

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

THE ELIXIR OF LIFE. “How selfish is resentment!” was the response. * But 1 will not press my offer. Let us talk about something else.” “TI will tell you this,” Allan con- tinued fiercely. ‘‘ Your iniquities will surely be discovered, and your devil’s draft will not save you from the gal- lows. You may kill me, and dispose of my body, but something will be left which will afford a clue to my disap- pearance.” The doctor laughed. “You are wrong, he said—* alto- gether wrong. Nothing will be left— not a hair—nothing but a little insig- nificant pile of ash which one might almost lift between the finger and thumb. And that reminds me. I have explained my discovery, but I have not shown you the apparatus by which | attain my results. It will serve to wile away the half hour remaining.” He slipped the vial into his pocket, and, going over to the iron doors in the wall, unlocked and threw them open, revealing an intricate entanglement of wires and an array of silvered knobs. “This,” explained Dr. Armitage in the tone of a lecturer, “is a form of electric furnace, with the addition of strong alternating currents altogether independent of those which generate the heat. Beneath these porcelain bars which sustain the subject is an ingen- ious condenser, which concentrates and distils the vitic ether. As you are not a scientist, a technical explanation would, I fear, be thrown away on you, but, speaking generally, I may say that this invention of mine is the most pow- erful dissolvent that exists. Nothing, not even metal, can resist it.” “TI don’t believe it,’ Allan said short- ly. “Some clue will be left to hang you.” Dr. Armitage looked genuinely an- noyed. “How skeptical is the unscientific mind!” he rephed. “It will believe nothing that the eyes have not seen. However, in this case a practical illus- tration is easily given. You shall see for yourself.” His eyes wandered about the room as though seeking some suitable object for his experiment, and finally rested 191 ‘on the parcel which Allan had deposit- ed on a table. “ What is that?” he asked, indicating the package with his finger. Only for a fraction of a second did Allan hesitate in his reply, but in that infinitesimally brief space of time a thousand hopes and fears alternately occupied his mind. Predominant even over his desperate anxiety to escape was a wild desire for vengeance, and now his villainous host was himself offering a chance for the former and a certainty of the latter. Therefore it was with a steady voice that Mortimer answered: “Tt is a canister of tea that I am-—- or rather intended—taking home to my wife.” “Really?” said the doctor. “So you are a domestic character. Upon iny word, I should not have suspected it. I am sorry that I ain compelled to de- prive Mrs. Mortimer not only of her husband but of her tea as well. I could not, however, find a more suitable sub- ject for my experiment.” He picked up the parcel, and, having stripped off the wrapping, glanced at the label on the canister. ‘““* Albuera Tea,’ ~~ hereadaloud. “ ‘A strong and palatable blend.’ An excel- lent brand, no doubt, but I am not much in favor of tea as a beverage. Under other circumstances I should have been happy to give you a little lecture on its deleterious properties, but it would, I fear, be wasted. How- ever, there will not be much left of this to injure any one when I get through with it. “No,” Allan muttered to himself, “nor of you, nor of me, nor your pre- clous invention.” “Perhaps vou would like me to wheel your chair a little closer,” sug- gested the doctor, pausing half-wav hack to his furnace. “ No trouble, I assure you.” “No, thank you,” Allan replied. “I can see very well from where I am.” Every nerve of his body was tingling, but he managed to control his voice, and the doctor, suspecting nothing. went on about his preparations. “Now,” the doctor said at last, “ we are all ready for the experiment. awa (GO) ElLOOO (GO) awa