Inheritance and succession -- Fiction; Love stories; Maryland -- Fiction; Mystery fiction
I need not go into the intricate calculations necessary to provide
for all the conditions of the problem. Fortunately for my purpose
the walls of the projected addition lay at a favorable angle for
the carrying out of my designs, and I had only to work out the
correct position for the windows and make the proper allowance for
the overhang of the roof cornice. The stained glass was made from
my own drawings, and I personally set the bullseye lens in its
appointed place. The work was finished in May, 1861, and I should
have liked to have made a test of my apparatus before Yardley's
return from abroad; if there had been any error in my calculations
and measurements it would be difficult, later on, to trump up an
excuse for making the necessary structural alteration. But, as it
turned out, I had made no mistakes.
However, Yardley forestalled my intentions by appearing at the
"Hundred" early in May. I bade him welcome, and showed him my
completed work. He was pleased and said so, frequently and warmly.
I could only smile in acknowledgment of his plaudits and fulsome
thanks.
June the twentieth of that same year I sat in my observation post
on Sugar Loaf. Through my high-powered telephoto lens I saw Yardley
come into the room and sit down at his desk. It was then ten
minutes of twelve o'clock. Five minutes later, what looked like a
streak of purple flame leaped through the semi-darkness of the
room, and Yardley Hildebrand toppled to the floor. The apparatus
had worked with meticulous exactness, and Evelyn Mansfield was
avenged--at least in part.
Since then I have watched two others of that black line of
Hildebrands go to their doom--Randall and Horace. Poor spirited
creatures, both of them, and hardly worthy to receive the accolade
of my splendid Sigma ray. Randall held his sovereignty for just a
year, but Horace had the devil's own luck. Cloudy days saved him,
together with one quite unforeseen contingency, an eclipse of the
sun on June 21, 1864. On June 20 and 21, 1865, there were heavy
rains, and I was furious. But the twenty-second was clear and fine,
and lo! he, too, was gathered to his fathers.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
Reviews
Reviews
No reviews yet
Be the first to share your thoughts on this work.
Elsewhere in the archive
Join the Discussion
Join the discussion
Sign in to leave a comment or review.
Sign InorCreate an account