at the back of the big motorman, wondering, with half-stirred fears, if something had touched his sanity. While the growls, mutterings and feminine plaints behind him gradually subsided, he communed with himself.

From the beginning of his short walk from his laboratory up to the present time, he could not remember a single living person with whom he had come in contact, whose actions had not been, to say the least, peculiar; and, in the present instance, doubly, trebly, yea multipeculiar. Could it be that he-John Holden-had some weird influence upon them all? What kind of thing had he become? It seemed as if some atmosphere he carried with him affected men and women like a poison in the air, stirring them to strange acts. Impossible! And yet, witness the strange contortions of the enraged company behind him.

John stood with bowed head, his eyes absently resting upon the motorman's coat. Suddenly he noticed that the spot upon which his gaze focused was fast turning from blue to brown, while a delicate wisp of smoke was floating up from it. And meantime, the motorman had become a very.busy man indeed. He was trying to manage the controller, handle the brake and rub his back at one and the same time.

The car was bowling merrily along up town, bearing its load of puzzled but ugly humans. Some of the passengers disembarked at the various corners, others taking their places; so that when John turned from the much worried motorman, who was now thoroughly roused to action, the car presented an almost entirely new aggregation of faces.

His idea of his own condition, of the mysterious thing that had occurred and of the powers it had bestowed upon him, was still far from being convincing. Indeed, he could not accept a theory that a thing so utterly, absurdly improbable as his suspicion now suggested, could happen. But he meant to try it thoroughly. Appreciating the fact that his experiment would no doubt be painful, he salved his conscience with the thought that it was in the cause of scientific research, and fixed his eyes upon the farthest occupant of the car.

The expression upon the face of his

unconscious assistant in the experiment instantly changed and in another moment was exhibiting emotion in an ascending scale, from surprise, through indignation, to rage and pain.

"Misery loves company," thought John, now, however, quite indifferent to others' concern in the matter, in his eager search after solution of the mystery. He shed his glances, like the rain, upon the just and unjust, and the man of rage at the end of the car soon had a majority of his fellow passengers as companions in misery.

The temperature within the car seemed to rise with the rising of highly heated remarks and, very quickly, as Holden continued his test, human nature's boiling point was reached and the contents of the car literally bubbled over. There was a crash of broken glass, the doors were thrown open and the panic-stricken occupants tumbled out and along the street: The startled and, as yet, unscorched conductor rang the bell frantically. As the last passenger made his escape the car came to a standstill, leaving John “upon the burning deck whence all but him had fled." The last vestige of doubt was removed from his mind. was all that he had surmised and more besides.

He

But the conductor, confident that the sole survivor of the strange fracas must have been the cause of the stampede from his car, advanced upon John with firefiguratively-in his eyes also. Holden shifted his gaze from an advertisement of an asbestos stove-lining, where it had been harmless, to the already heated countenance of the would-be ejector. There was an instant pause, then, with a howl of misery, the coin-collector clinched to avoid punishment and dragged John toward the wrecked doors.

Having ideas of his own as to the proper way of getting on and off a car, Holden resisted half-heartedly. The brawny conductor, thinking to accelerate the exit of the trouble-maker, as John stepped to the street, applied his foot in no uncertain way. There was an instant turning of the worm, but as it happened, in this case, it was a very athletic worm, indeed, that turned. A twist, an upward spring, a grip upon the waist-line, and the conductor was over John's shoulder,

by a police officer from his station against the corner hydrant, they advanced upon our friend en masse.

But when the officer had arrived within range of the disturber's fiery eyes, there was a pause, and a waving of hands as though he, too, had interrupted a swarm of bees en route. With a whoop and a blow of his club-which, had it landed, would have put an end to this narrative, and sent its hero to the hospital-he protected his face with his arms, and sprang into the fray. John side-stepped, and the blow was wasted. Another vicious blow, which grazed his shoulder, and grievous to relate, the representative of the law, being the recipient of a vigorous blow under the ear, from the now thoroughly aroused John, descended to the muddy street, and, in the vernacular of the street, "took the count."

fruits thereof-they hurled themselves into the breach, headed by their local pugilistic celebrity. Holden, his eyes scorching and withering the flesh wherever they rested, had at last crossed the Rubicon of the law. Missiles of every description were aimed at him; some of which took effect on the windows of the car-a few only reaching their intended. mark.

The increasing crowd was rapidly assuming the nature of a mob, when the object of their displeasure seized the only opportunity offered. He sprang across the platform of the car, and by means of well directed blows, augmented by a few unsportsmanlike but necessary kicks, was clear of his enemies and flying up the street in the direction of his refugehome.

With howls, the pursuit opened, but

John, who had not trained upon freelunches and beer, as had the majority of his trailers, was soon opening his lead. At the first cross-street below his destination he turned up and was lost to their view.

After that, a few alleys and back streets crossed brought him to his own neighborhood; and when he dropped over into his own little back yard, he gave a great gasp, wilted down upon a friendly convenient soap-box and offered up silent thanks.

It being rather an unusual way for Mr. Holden to enter his home, her majesty, the cook, was disposed not to admit him, until he had identified himself. In the excitement of the chase he had forgotten his strange affliction, and strode into her kitchen with the fire of battle dying down in his eyes, but with that other fire, breeder of trouble, and mystery of mysteries, still thoroughly alive. When the cook sailed into range she caught a cross-fire instead of delivering a broadside, and retired from action, much warmer but no wiser.

He reached his room without further mishap. After divesting himself of his soiled and torn clothing, he donned his lounging robe and dropped into an easy chair almost exhausted. Picking up his oldest, choicest pipe, he began a close communion with himself.

"Mr. John Holden a disturber of the peace? The gentlemanly, popular Mr. Holden, a law-breaker, a common street brawler, and a fugitive from justice?" His physical self shrunk down in the chair at the accusations of his mental one, and at the thought that he might have been recognized, he felt a momentary hot rush of shame over the episode.

Recovering his mental balance presently, however, the pipe-loading proceeded. Picking up a silver match-box he snapped the cover back, and while ex

tracting one, was astounded to see the

contents burst into flames in his hand. He sprang to his feet in alarm, and hastily closing the box, thereby extinguishing the fire, sank back into his chair, unnerved and trembling.

"Good Lord!" he groaned. "Supposing I was employed in a powder-mill!" His enormous capability for making trouble bore down on him so over

whelmingly that he stole guiltily and dinnerless to bed that night, and he spent a miserable night. He slept poorly and awoke much earlier than usual. And after a lonely breakfast served in his room and while he turned his back upon his kindly housekeeper, he sent for the only man he dared to trust with his secret.

Dr. Joseph McGregor was the right sort, and when he was ushered into John's room Holden felt it. He entered into no preliminaries with this good friend. Keeping his eyes averted from the doctor's face, John handed him a copy of "The Morning Ochre," which he had been trying to read, and the front page of which resembled a shot-gun target with scorched perforations.

Dr. Joe read aloud-in letters four inches high-this awful announcement:

IS NEW YORK CURSED?

A Spotted Plague Appears in This City!

MEDICAL FRATERNITY PUZZLED!

The detailed account underneath had not been as severely punctured as the headings, owing to the fact that John had flung the paper from him in disgust, when these burning words of freak-journalism met his eyes. His friend was enabled to continue without trouble.

"Yellow fever or small-pox seem trivial diseases when compared with this new Terror, which is no respecter of persons, striking old or young, at home or abroad."

Here followed as detailed an account as could be obtained from the various sources at the command of the omnipresent reporter. Following this article was another equally disturbing, in bold-faced great primer:

Brutal Assault of a Car-Conductor

Well Dressed Ruffian Pummels Officer Grady into Unconsciousness and Makes His EscapeNo Arrests

At the conclusion the doctor dropped

the paper and looked at John inquiringly. Our friend seemed to be deeply interested in watching the trees grow in the park; but, feeling the doctor's gaze, he related the events of the past thirty hours without reservation.

Doctor Joe scattered words of doubt and disbelief along the wayside of John's tale, until the narrator, in order that his friend should be convinced beyond possible skepticism, turned his eyes squarely upon him. With a yell Doctor Joe tumbled backward over his chair and straightway became a strong believer.

When he had recovered he seated himself, muttering in grieved tones, "If the

disclose my findings; for I must confess, your case staggers me, and I'll have to go to men higher up in the profession for light upon the matter."

So it came about that the next day saw Holden and his faithful man, Williamin whom he had confided-comfortably ensconced in quarters safely removed from the bustle and roar of the city.

To a man of John's habits it was no great hardship, this spending the days upon the water or along the beach, returning at night to dine, smoke and retire early. But the utter loneliness of it, cut off from human companionship-except for William, with whom he could con

eyes are really windows of the soul, yours must be a blooming blast-furnace." John did not reply. It seemed unnecessary.

"Strangest case I ever run across," remarked the doctor, comfortingly. Then, after a pause, he asked abruptly, "I believe you own a comfortable little place up 'the sound,' eh?"

John nodded despondently.

"Now, a man of your fiery spirit," continued Doctor Joe, "should have a wider scope. With Long Island sound on one hand and a deserted beach on the other, I think it would be wise, at just this time, if you took your man and journeyed up for a bit. I'll run up in a day or so and

verse, but not look upon-was somewhat depressing. So, when Doctor Joe ran up one afternoon to spend the night John shut his eyes and literally welcomed him with open arms.

After dinner-at which they sat side by side, in order that their glances might not conflict-they adjourned to the sitting room; where, in easy chairs drawn up before the open drift-wood fire, Doctor Joe gave a full and exhaustive diagnosis of John's peculiar affliction.

"Your case, old man, is one of the strangest of my whole medical experience, so much so, indeed, that I've interested three of the most prominent men in their different lines of the profession

on the Western Hemisphere. It is their opinion that the experiment which has ended so disastrously for you, whether the results of the chemicals, the exact proportion of the solution, or the manner in which they were combined, has caused a thorough phosphorizing of the retina, and established a powerful attraction for light-waves.

"Now, light, being to a certain extent heat, the continued storage of light would naturally tend to produce considerable caloric. This, under great excitementwhether pleasureable or otherwisewould be still further aggravated by the increase of the temperature of the body in the same ratio as the increase."

He paused, in order that these technical terms might soak in gradually, then continued:

"At the point where this compound has become sufficiently heated by light saturation to cause activity, atoms are thrown off along the line of the sight for a short distance, causing combustion at the point of focus. You know how a burning-glass works, don't you?"

John assented mournfully.

"Well, you're a human burning-glass, so to speak. In fact, you're the only example of animated fireworks in the world."

John groaned dismally.

"We've come to the conclusion," added Doctor Joe, "that a powerful counterirritant might relieve you; but we'll have to figure out a way of administering it without cremating the patient."

The intelligence, not being conducive to sound slumber, caused our friend to spend another sleepless night. He arose early, saw Doctor Joe take his departure for town and, with his fire-proof friend, his pipe, and a downcast heart, started up the beach.

He had gone a long distance from home before his unpleasant reveries were broken in upon by the rattle of chains, as a large steam yacht came to anchor. He could dimly make out her shape through the gray mist which was fast settling down upon the water as she swung to the tide.

Lighting a fresh pipeful he sat down upon the string-piece of a dismantled wreck of a boat-landing and looked out upon the scene. He saw a small launch

put out from the yacht and watched it curiously as it made its noisy way in. Its occupants were a lady and gentleman. As the launch approached he recognized in the gentleman a man of authority in yachting circles, whom he had met upon several occasions in the city. The young lady—and John could now see that she was young-was unknown to him. As his piercing eyes were harmless at long range, and it seemed ages since he had seen such a vision of loveliness, the lonely man, sheltered from their view by a cluster of weather-beaten spiles-sat and feasted his eyes upon her.

The launch ran in at the other end of the old dock-out of John's sight, and was evidently beached on the sand; while the yachtsman disembarked and walked hurriedly away over the knoll.

Our undiscovered friend sat silently, puffing away on his pipe, and for a time all was peace and quietness. Suddenly he heard exclamations of alarm from the solitary occupant of the boat. Rising to his feet he saw the treacherous little craft, the beaching of which had evidently not been secure, drifting rapidly out into the dangerous fog.

With John's appearance on the beach. the young lady redoubled her vocal efforts. As the distance was widening with alarming rapidity he saw that nothing but heroic measures would avail. Off came shoes and coat and into the ice-cold sound he plunged to the rescue.

As he pushed through the water he lost sight of the drifting boat at intervals, owing to the oily swell and, during one such interval, his ears were stricken by a piercing scream. He was rapidly overtaking the boat, but at this evidence of a new complication, he straightened up in the water. What he saw made him put forth all the strength he had. The young lady, in attempting to propel the boat closer to the swimmer, had tripped and gone over the side.

When John, straining every muscle, came up with the boat, he found its former passenger clinging to the side, unable to clamber in. With chattering teeth she resigned herself to our friend's guidance, and he, through his fuller knowledge of such things, climbed in from the opposite side, and proceeded to rescue her in proper fashion.