Dexter High School - Signet Yearbook (Dexter, ME)

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Q mfr I THE SIGNET 31 As if in answer to his unspoken query he heard a metallic voice saying, All right, William, shut her off. At the first words, the young fellow jumped as if shot, and a look of terror flashed over his face. His panic was only momentary, however, and with a short, hard laugh, he crossed to a switch on the wall, and opened it. The arc broke, and to his consternation, Ralph observed a second figure stand- ing in the center of the room. This apparition proved to be, not a ghost, but a man, who, moving to- ward a small table in the corner of the appartment, placed thereupon a small, velvet-covered box, a blackjack, and an automatic revolver, remarking as he did so, Say, this is getting tame! I'm go- ing to start something tomorrow night, believe me I What do you expect for a quar- ter? asked the one prevliously ad- dressed as William, with a grin, What chance does anyone have to make things lively, anyway, as long as you work this 'invisible' stunt ? Not much, I guess, admitted the other, whom Ralph now recognized as the master of the house, adding with a laugh, as he picked up the velvet-cover- ed box and opened it, How are those for diamonds '? Good night! What beauties! Why, Joe, they must be worth millions! No doubt, answered Joe, But of course we won't be able to sell all of these, because to do that might raise suspicion against us, and I don't want to quit this game until my bank account grows a little larger, if I can help it. While this conversation was in pro- gress, Joe had been removing a suit of flexible metallic gauze, which he pro- ceeded to fold and put into a safe, along with the diamonds and his weapons. The two men then left the room, locking the door behind them. For some time Ralph sat intent, a perplexed frown wrinkling his forehead as he vainly sought .a satisfactory ex- planation of fthe mysterious events which he had just witnessed. Obtain- ing none, he finally arose, shut off his power, and extinguishing the lights with another,clap of his hands, locked the door and went upstairs to his room. The following day, Ralph was just seating himself at the breakfast table, when the morning paper was delivered, and opening it eagerly, he gave vent to a prolonged whistle, for on the first page in glaring headlines, was the fol- lowing: ANOTHER DARING ROBBERY Schmidt, the Jeweler, Mysteriously Loses Gems Valued at One and One-Half Million Dollars. Herr Schmidt, a prominent jeweler of this city, with showrooms at 154 West i street, was made the ,third victim of the unseen thief, when, last evening, he was relieved of diamonds valued at one and one-half million dollars. Mr. Schmidt says: A little before eight o'clock, last evening, I received a rush order for a diamond ring, to be delivered early in the morning. I immediately made prepar- ations to set the stone, and after selecting a ring of the style desired, I went to my safe and taking out the box containing my unset diamonds, proceeded to choose a suitable gem. This was all done in my private oflice, the door of which I had locked upon entering. At length, finding a stone of the right size, I placed it under my microscope in order to ex- amine it for flaws. It proved to be perfect, and I left it on the plattern of the instrument A. J . if

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.,:mr-I .15 H -'ff 1 vw 30 THE SIGNET Small wonder, then, that Ralph's bo- som swelled with pardonable pride, as hecrossed the room, glanced at the ther- mometer and hydroscope and making such adjustments of the ozone and oxy- gen supply and of the Ventilating fans as seemed necessary, seated himself before the Multi-Ray control-panel. He pressed a button. With a crack the oil switch in the motor cir- cuit closed, and slowly at first but with ever increasing speed, the powerful mo- tor ran up to synchronism. Soon the whir of the generator settled into a steady hum, and Ralph, starting one of the rotary gaps, switched on the high- frequency current from the alternators. The instantaneous appearance of a stream of sparks at the rapidly revol- ving gap was accompanied by the for- mation of a violet flame in a three-foot Geissler which was mounted upon the table with a ball and socket joint. Tilting the tube to an angle of about thirty degrees, Ralph slowly turned it upon its axis and gazing intently into the crystal fluoroscope, was soon watch- ing a squad of militiamen who were practicing with fencing foils at their ar- mory in the neighboring city. Becoming tired of this exhibition of swordsmanship, Ralph changed the di- rection of the HTHYH and picking up his French teacher, who was reading be- fore an open fireplace in her home, he switched on another battery of spark gaps and audions, put on his head-set and breast transmitter, and asked her a question concerning his next day's lesson. She readily gave the desired information and after thanking her, he swung the ray slowly toward the north without shutting off the telephonic ap- paratus, occasionally laughing heartily at the strange variety of sounds picked up. Here an opera singer was enter- taining a company of friends in her drawing room, with the latest popular songs, there a politician was harrangu- ing a crowd of working meng a baby was crying in one room through which the marvelous invisible ray chanced to pass and inanother, a youth and maiden were pledging eternal fidelity to each other. Suddenly as the ray swept the section of the city known as the Brownstone district, there came a sound in the 'phones like that of a human voice screaming with pain. Startled, Ralph quickly adjusted the instruments until the sound was loudest, and saw with surprise that he was surveying the in- terior of the mansion of one of the city's most prominent electrical en- gineers. Focusing the ray, by adjusting a condenser, Ralph carefully searched the large building, and at length came to a small room in the upper story. Here was evidently the source of the sound, in the shape of a huge Telsa transform- er having its terminals connected with two wire grids,-suspended from the ceil- ing by means of porcelain insulators of the air dielectric type. Between these grids which were aboutfive feet apart, roared a bright green arc. A young man was seated near the transformer reading. 'As Ralph watch- ed, he laid aside his book, glanced at the clock on the wall, and commenced to pace the floor with short, nervous steps. . That chap seems to be expecting someone or something, thought Ralph, I wonder what's up ?

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I 32 .LEINDIS EIHJ, and turned to put away the box of diamonds which I had left on the desk behind me. It was nowhere to be seen. I instantly tried the door, and found it to be locked. There is no place in the rooms for anyone to hide, and moreover, .my back was turned only a mo- ment. The police state that the other two myste- rious robberies which have occurred during the past week, took place undersimiliar condi- tions. They confess that they have no clues. I Ralph bolted his breakfast, hurried out to the shed which served as a hang- ar and rolled out his monoplane. Tak- ing to the air, he flew toward the city, and alighted on the landing stage at the police station. Here he quickly .obtain- ed an audience with the lieutenant in charge, and told him of his discovery of the preceding evening. Realizing that at last a possible clue was at hand, the lieutenant accom- panied Ralph to the latter's home, where he was shown, by the aid of the Multi-Ray, the interior of the suspect's dwelling, in order that the police might work to advantage when they should raid the building and prevent the pos- sible escape of the criminals, or the concealment of the loot. This done, a plan of attack was agreed upon. The lieutenant was to have the house surrounded early in the evening, and 'he himself would be in constant telephonic communication with Ralph, who, by means of the ray was to keep a close watch over the two men, reporting instantly to the officer when they should enter the attic room containing the instruments previously described. . Accordingly, evening again found Ralph seated in his laboratory, awaiting the moment when these scientific thieves should start their evening's campaign. A telephone rested on the table at his elbow, and at the other end of the wire the lieutenant, armed like his ,men, who lay in ambush around the house, likewise waited the opening of hostilities. ' Nor had they long to wait. Just at seven o'clock, both the men under sus- picion entered their operating-room, and at once commenced to prepare for their unlawful work. Ralph took down the receiver and said, Ready, Lieu- tenant! Good came the answer,- then silence reigned. In an agony of suspense, he watched Joe don his metallic uniform, and reach for his weapons. Before he could touch them, however, the door was burst open and a squad of blue-coats rushed in with drawn revolvers. Resistance was useless, and with the best grace possible under the circumstances, the pair submitted to being handcuffed. At the trial, a week later, during the presentation of the State's case, the lieutenant's report was read to the jury. The following extract from this lengthy communication is of especial interest. -As to the apparatus used by the prisoners, for rendering themselves in- visible, we learned that one of the pris- oners, J oe Harding by name, had discov- ered a new metallic compound, which he calls 'Marconiumj and which, when charged from a high tension transform- er such as the Telsa coil used by him, gave od emmanations which striking against platinum, had the peculiar prop- erty of interrupting the light waves in the immediate vicinity of the platinum. The prisoners made use of this property