Miracle Gold (Vol. 1 of 3)

, but not very far off. I see the end of my labours, the reward of all my

re was a snuffing sound, and another loud inspiration. "Hah! that is refreshing--most

ted through the slits and joints of the folding-doo

to tell me what new wonders you have added to it,

ily. "What do you know of the crowning wonder? Tell me, wom

n, are you ill? What is the matter? Why do you look at me in that way? You are crushing

hoarsely. "The spirit of the eau-de-cologne must have gone down my throat and ca

ling me about it now. You seem not well. Perhaps you had bett

l, mother. You need not be uneasy about me. W

you when it would be completed. That is my chief anxiety, for t

ll give up living in London and come down here

and back to London again when 'tis finished?" The voice of the woman was caressing, pleading. "I have not ve

ould half fill this room. Besides, I have other business in London I cannot leave just now. I will come as soon as ever I can. You may take my word for

derful to remember.

g to contrive. It will show the year, the month, the day of the month, the day of the week, the hour of the day,

stonishes me. It will be the m

kable clock, mother. It will take account of leap year, and be co

nce wou

her. It will have to b

t the machin

the principle will have eight thousand years of vitality in it. Steel and brass and rubie

interrupted the voice of

great maritime cities. There will be four thousand Figures of Time, figures of all the great men of the past, each bearing a symbol of his greatest work, or thought, or achievement, and each app

gures! Why, it wi

figures of those who died on the 22nd of August just now. They are very interesting to me, and o

t, Oscar? Whose is the figure that

genet of Glouce

tone of i

called Richard the Third of England, and ni

tone of prot

take a delight in modelling the figure of my Hunchback Tyrant. In body and soul I can sy

God's sake, don't. You cut me to the soul! You frighten me

dining-room rattled. The girl wondered he did not think of her. He knew her room lay beyond the dining-room, and he must be aware nothing di

me! Me! If I were to say my heart was broken, no one would wonder. I am not reproaching you. Heaven knows, if I turned upon you, I should have no friend le

You never talked in this way until now. What has changed you?" The

a way before you, my good, gentle mother." His voice became less excited, his steps more slow and light. "It is passed. I am myself again. I know your advice is good. I mean to follow it. I will marry a wife. I will marry a pretty, shapely wife. You shall have grand children at your knee, mother, before long, before

. I was frightened a moment ago, and now I feel suffocated w

h heard sobs--th

had ceas

oman said: "Who is she? Do I kn

will keep the secret of her name in my heart to goad me on. I am accustomed to succeed. Rest assured I will succeed in this. We

Keep your secret. I

I have reason to be excited to-day. At this moment--it is now just twelve o'clock--

scar. Do you

don. You do not belie

mean? You do not believ

oyance or spe

hat is, I do not believe in all t

--not half everything--

t tell me of

xperiment to-night. At this moment I am putting the result of many anxious hours to the touch. If my experiment turns out well I shall come into a strange power. But there, I will say no more about it, for I must not

lp. I think some of the springs want o

early. I am going b

on't want to pry into your secrets, but you spoke of gaining som

what,

trange

n what the stra

e there is

No, I th

I am u

You are worn out. I will wheel you

own the hall and into Mrs. Leigh's bedroom. Words passed between the mother and son, but she did not catch their import. She heard the

She was sitting bolt upright in her chair with

ng the hall from his mother's room to the stairs, which began at the left-

soon come and then I can slip away again and wait till the first train for London--for home! He must be mad. Even if

d? She thought it was but a moment ago since he closed his mother's door. He might have gone up unheard. It might be longer since the door shut than she thought. She could not judge time exactly in the dark, and when she was so powerfully excited. Should she get up out of that chair, open the door as quietly as possible,

her heart stand still, her breath cea

could not see the door. The light which had illumed the fan sash in the porch had evidently been extinguished, for there was no gleam through the open door. That part of the ro

ring and seeing. She was not conscious of her own identity beyond what was presented to her sensations through her ears or her eye

e could hear the footfall of his left foot and the slight, b

hirt-front against the gleam from the window as he advanced. It was plain he could not see as we

d. She heard him feeling his way. As soon as he reached the foot-post he turned righ

ty of the skin. Hah! They do. They say Ninon de L'Enclos kept her beauty up to past seventy by rain-water. Hah! They do. They say she did. Hah! I wonder how long would it preserve my beauty. Ha-ha-ha! More than a century, I suppose. I wonder would rain-water preserve the beauty of my hump. I bel

reath. Before each exclamation he rubbed his forehead with on

arkable to look at, and then I have genius. Yes; I have a form of body far out of the common, and a form of mind far out of the common, too. I have a hump and genius. Hah! But no one cares for a hump or genius. She doesn't, for instance. Hah! But I mean that she shall like me. I mean to make love to her. I mean to woo her, and to win her. Hah! She doesn't know me now as well as she will know me later. I have never been in love before. I can't say I like the feeling. I used to be very valiant and self-sufficing, and at my ease in my mind. Hah! I looke

ough she did not realize that she was glad, because he had let down the window. The diminished light would reduce the chance of his seeing her even now that his

y retracing his steps to the door, muttering as he

house a few hours after entering it. Run

he darkness at the foot-board. Only his head rose above the high foot-board. His hand moved in di

ant and enormous relief, although as before she was not at the moment attentive to the relief. The feeling,

against the foot-board. He muttered in a voice more dee

We shall see. I did not tell my mother the name of the girl I mean to marry. She shall know it soon e

him and drew them back swiftly towards him. The air fr

not stir. She sat motionless. She had no power over the a

the bed, fumbled for the door handle, and, having found it, went

ing up stairs. Presently a door above was clo

her face with her hands she sank back in the