Arthur B. Reeve

“ In it we saw a sheet of flame several feet long, a veritable artificial bolt of lightning. The rest of us shrank back in momentary fear at the apparently gigantic forces of nature which seemed let loose in the room.
“Don’t be afraid,” called Kennedy. “I’ve seen all this before. It won’t hurt you. It’s an application of a high-frequency current.”
Whatever it was I could not overcome the awe which it inspired in me. I wondered how the arch-fiend had restrained himself from turning the deadly power on us.
Kennedy continued to experiment gingerly with the apparatus, and finally shut it off. ”

“ Sinclair, too, appeared to be considering the same problem and with no greater success than I had.
“That’s wonderful,” he remarked glancing over the clever wireless-outfit before us. “But I can’t understand yet about that accident to the aeroplane. Do you imagine these people knew anything about that?”
“I’ve been wondering that myself,” commented Kennedy. “Suppose we hunt through the house a little farther. There seems to be nothing to prevent us.” ”

“ He had already started ahead, Burke and I following and Sinclair and Mrs. Hawley bringing up the rear.
We stood for a few moments in the shadow of a hedge while Craig sent Burke, as an expert in that sort of thing, scouting about the house to make sure that it was deserted. Burke quickly returned from the shadow of a barn which had been remade into a garage.
“There doesn’t seem to be a sign of life in the house,” he reported. ”