o whom experience ne

ne of them;

tal aberration lies at the seat of his trouble; for my own pa

domestic staff to some festivity, I should have been able to see the hand of Fate groping aro

rnoon euchre, and brought me a message from her "Herbert," asking me to come and assist him in f

bother with that sort of demon; he links arms with the old, original Satan

. I went over at once t

wkins didn't meet my eye at

uilt an observatory for him out by the barn. Then I saw that the thing was merely a tall, skeleton st

s, appearing at this po

regarding the affair, "I imagine that

all wrong," smiled Hawkins. "That, G

ulting into the road

n, Griggs," snapped t

, Hawkins, with the fiendish pur

ly not.

wn? Will it, by any chance, suddenly

ly. "The foundations run twenty feet int

in, but keeping a wary eye on the steel tower. "But

ss as it is childish. When you see every farmer in the United States

likelihood of memory producing a consumptive pallor;

ng his hand at it, "I intended, of course, to use the

I got

ockets? Very well. Up at the top of that tower I extended the hub of the windmill back to form a shaft with big cogs. Down at the bottom of the w

I said, wear

ckets are coming. I shall hitch one to each rung of t

lled, run to the top of the tower, and dump the water into a reservoir tank-and go

er-no valves, no pistons, no air-chambers-not

l!" I sai

ant to look over it, to-day, Griggs, or shall

what I can judge by the plans, if any workman was fool-hardy enough to enter the room with Hawkins' loom in action, that intrica

precipitated another conflict. I chose what seemed to be

nows anything about this. In a week or two, when somebody writes it up in the Scientifi

well's black mouth, running up to and over the shaft, and descending into the bla

ckets and the tank on top. That idea comes pret

e pretty near to actual ex

d over Haw

disregard of the frailty of the human make-up, and grasping one of th

ouldn't hold on to that ladder, Hawkins; i

tor. "The gear's locked. It

out to the ladder and stood t

n into the water, and I wondered whether Heaven woul

himself stood there and surv

w, if your faint heart will allow it, I should advise you to take a peep down here. So far as I know, it

e, I reached out, gripped the run

much attention to wells, but I could see

ns. "A tiled well is absolutely safe, you s

s' fallacies. Something ha

mill. Slowly, spectacularly, the

azement, as he made one futile effort

t then. All my wits were cente

hrow me off my balance. The problem was whether to let go and risk dashing down sixty

pon the ladder, and clung there, gasping with

g breath as my head sank below

iantly, from the second rung below, "

y that this is

do you

solutely safe, you see. Nothing ca

eap wit, Griggs," snapped Hawkins. "How the

own, down, we

emes, Hawkins. If the bottom will only fall out of the water department

nventor nervously. "Goodness!

climb?" I

an unpractical man as yourself, that idea is r

bright. If the ladder was climbing down in

was simply a perpendicular treadmill, and with the

; but we kept on climbing, and we were gaining on the ladder

ait a minute! Yes, by

, the windmill had ceased to rev

remarked the inventor, dashing all pe

re entirely confident a min

aid Hawkins, waving an answer to t

my breath on vituperation. I reached toward the run

d. I shot after it. One instant I was in the twilight

ying rapidly toward the top of the tower. It had all happened with that

owly, and still more slowly, until the ladder stopped

there; it could have hurled me over th

the accursed thing could get into motion again, I climb

o the opposite end of the shaft, a

ely secure seat on the bearing-a seat fully two i

ntor. "The windmill simply started

ss little thing, your

it I calculated it

rather, one misguided man, who allowed

hfully, "I suppose you blame m

lame you for getting me altog

dn't been for your stupidity

ha

ou jump off as we passed

t we flitted past that particular point at a speed of

t you, Griggs," rejoined Ha

"It reveals a beautiful side of your char

entor shortly. "Are you go

t is mortal of yourself to that

nly. Wh

mfortable, to wait here until Patrick gets back. He could p

will get back with him," replied Hawkins he

el

unded rooster on a weather vane?" shouted the inventor. "No, sir! You

looked at him, wondered whether it would be really wicked to hurl

a mile; and my nerves

, Hawkins

manded the inventor gruffly,

a breeze hits this

ns with apparent satisfaction. "That arm of the windmill right behi

s right-about the fact of

ffending cranium a terrific whack, which would pro

coming!" I cried. "L

or, recklessly hurling himself upon the ladde

rapid decisions as to the manner of death you would prefer. In the twi

the quivering steel cable, kicked wildly

ted Hawkins, belo

d him and taken the remark for a person

ganism was struggling for exit through the top of your head. As the wor

adder for dear li

the next, and so on. We made far better time than that. The wind had hit the win

vel of the earth, down through the mouth of the

t point. A gurgling shriek ca

ulders, and then cracked ice seemed to fill my ears,

for a moment I hung downward by my hands alone. Still I clung tightly, and wondered dimly why I seemed

t above me, out of the water I shot, and up the well once more. An instant of the

on me. Soaking wet, breathless, daze

you had sense enough to keep your grip going around that sprocke

said viciousl

h, goo

iving in. The ladies were in the carriage. Evi

in to your wife just why you knew we'd be a

s, with a s

Gri

with horror as Patrick whip

ins enough unpleasantness as it is. There are remarks which

ut practically everything his wife sai