The Girl in the Golden Atom | Page 9

Banker.
They were silent for a moment, and then he went on: "You'd better try
to sleep a little while, Frank. You're worn out. I'll watch here."
"I suppose I should," answered the Doctor wearily. "Wake up that kid,
he's sleeping most of the time."
"No, I'll watch," repeated the Big Business Man. "You lie down over

there."
The Doctor did so while the other settled himself more comfortably on
a cushion beside the handkerchief, and prepared for his lonely
watching.
The Doctor apparently dropped off to sleep at once, for he did not
speak again. The Big Business Man sat staring steadily at the ring,
bending nearer to it occasionally. Every ten or fifteen minutes he
looked at his watch.
Perhaps an hour passed in this way, when the Very Young Man
suddenly sat up and yawned. "Haven't they come back yet?" he asked
in a sleepy voice.
The Big Business Man answered in a much lower tone. "What do you
mean--they?"
"I dreamed that he brought the girl back with him," said the Very
Young Man.
"Well, if he did, they have not arrived. You'd better go back to sleep.
We've got six or seven hours yet--maybe more."
The Very Young Man rose and crossed the room. "No, I'll watch a
while," he said, seating himself on the floor. "What time is it?"
"Quarter to three."
"He said he'd be back by ten to-night. I'm crazy to see that girl."
The Big Business Man rose and went over to a dinner-tray, standing
near the door. "Lord, I'm hungry. I must have forgotten to eat to-day."
He lifted up one of the silver covers. What he saw evidently
encouraged him, for he drew up a chair and began his lunch.
The Very Young Man lighted a cigarette. "It will be the tragedy of my
life," he said, "if he never comes back."

The Big Business Man smiled. "How about his life?" he answered, but
the Very Young Man had fallen into a reverie and did not reply.
The Big Business Man finished his lunch in silence and was just about
to light a cigar when a sharp exclamation brought him hastily to his
feet.
"Come here, quick, I see something." The Very Young Man had his
face close to the ring and was trembling violently.
The other pushed him back. "Let me see. Where?"
"There, by the scratch; he's lying there; I can see him."
The Big Business Man looked and then hurriedly woke the Doctor.
"He's come back," he said briefly; "you can see him there." The Doctor
bent down over the ring while the others woke up the Banker.
"He doesn't seem to be getting any bigger," said the Very Young Man;
"he's just lying there. Maybe he's dead."
"What shall we do?" asked the Big Business Man, and made as if to
pick up the ring. The Doctor shoved him away. "Don't do that!" he said
sharply. "Do you want to kill him?"
"He's sitting up," cried the Very Young Man. "He's all right."
"He must have fainted," said the Doctor. "Probably he's taking more of
the drug now."
"He's much larger," said the Very Young Man; "look at him!"
The tiny figure was sitting sideways on the ring, with its feet hanging
over the outer edge. It was growing perceptibly larger each instant, and
in a moment it slipped down off the ring and sank in a heap on the
handkerchief.
"Good Heavens! Look at him!" cried the Big Business Man. "He's all

covered with blood."
The little figure presented a ghastly sight. As it steadily grew larger
they could see and recognize the Chemist's haggard face, his cheek and
neck stained with blood, and his white suit covered with dirt.
"Look at his feet," whispered the Big Business Man. They were
horribly cut and bruised and greatly swollen.
The Doctor bent over and whispered gently, "What can I do to help
you?" The Chemist shook his head. His body, lying prone upon the
handkerchief, had torn it apart in growing. When he was about twelve
inches in length he raised his head. The Doctor bent closer. "Some
brandy, please," said a wraith of the Chemist's voice. It was barely
audible.
"He wants some brandy," called the Doctor. The Very Young Man
looked hastily around, then opened the door and dashed madly out of
the room. When he returned, the Chemist had grown to nearly four feet.
He was sitting on the floor with his back against the Doctor's knees.
The Big Business Man was wiping the blood off his face with a damp
napkin.
"Here!" cried the Very Young Man, thrusting forth the brandy. The
Chemist drank a little of it. Then he sat up, evidently somewhat
revived.
"I seem to have stopped growing," he said. "Let's