Ordinarily one wave takes ten seconds to traverse it;
here it is so slow as almost to be unnoticed."
What was the implication of his startling, almost gruesome,
discovery? I saw it clearly, yet hung on his words, afraid to
admit even to myself the logical interpretation of what I saw.
"Reconstruct the case," continued Craig excitedly. "Mr. Phelps,
always a bon vivant and now so situated by marriage that he must
be so, comes back to America to find his personal fortune--gone.
"What was left? He did as many have done. He took out a new large
policy on his life. How was he to profit by it? Others have
committed suicide, have died to win. Cases are common now where
men have ended their lives under such circumstances by swallowing
bichloride-of-mercury tablets, a favourite method, it seems,
lately.
"But Phelps did not want to die to win. Life was too sweet to him.
He had another scheme." Kennedy dropped his voice.
"One of the most fascinating problems in speculation as to the
future of the race under the influence of science is that of
suspended animation.
Pages:
435
436
437
438
439
440
441
442
443
444
445
446
447
448
449
450
451
452
453
454
455
456
457
458
459