was for the moment gratified
to elicit a faint spark, a feeble snap of blue fire, which clicked
from the "receiver" to his knuckles. His eye dwelt fondly for a few
seconds on the air-pump, but wandered from that to the telescope, and
finally took cognizance of an apparatus for weighing heavy articles.
This was provided with a small platform, upon which the recluse
philosopher stepped, to determine his exact weight. He was busied in
this personal experiment, when a visitor was announced and ushered
into his _sanctum sanctorum_.

"I beg pardon! Do I intrude?" said the caller, a man of official
bearing, who gave the name of Graham.

"Not in the least, Mr. Graham. I have been taking my weight, and I beg
you to excuse me until I note the precise number of pounds and ounces.
My memory is treacherous. I make it a rule to ascertain my weight and
my height several times a year, but I can never remember either, an
hour after. I actually forget the date of my own birthday and how old
I am."

"That is owing, doubtless, to the fact that your mind is absorbed in
important things," said Graham, not very tactfully. "I make bold to
come to your house, Mr. Blennerhassett, uninvited, but not without
warrant. You are, I am informed, a partner of Aaron Burr in certain
enterprises now much talked of. It is of this Wachita expedition that
I wish to speak with you."

"Speak freely, Mr. Graham. Colonel Burr intimated that you would
probably join us. Here are letters giving recent information. Read for
yourself."

Graham glanced over a number of communications containing secrets that
Blennerhassett, had he been a man of ordinary forethought, would not
have trusted out of his own hands. Among the letters was one from
Burr, giving a brief account of his troubles in Frankfort. "You
perceive, my dear sir," so ran the lines, "that this step will
embarrass me in my project of the Wachita settlement, and will deprive
me of the pleasure of seeing you at your own house." Graham smiled
gravely at the guileless simplicity of the man who had not hesitated
to take a stranger into his confidence, unquestioned and unsuspected.

"It is my duty, as a man of honor, to undeceive you, Mr.
Blennerhassett. I have no intention of joining your expedition. The
fact is, I am here, not to aid and abet you, but the reverse. I come
commissioned, as the agent of the Federal Government, and my duty is
to prevent the execution of Burr's designs. Do you not know that
o