Books › Blue Book v057 n02 [1933-06], 1933 › scan 15
Scan 15
Blue Book v057 n02 [1933-06], 1933
39 lines. Read by computer on 18 September 2026. No printed page number was found. See the scan on archive.org.
1She gave a little gasp of horror.
2"He is going to kill Mr. Roosevelt! He is going to shoot!"
3She moaned helplessly.
4Unable to restrain himself further, Tyler sprang to his feet.
5"Who, Ruth? Who?" he cried.
6She shook her head, bewildered, frightened.
7"I don't know who—I don't know! But I can feel it—a dark evil thing. He—or is it she?—is going to strike!"
8The pupils of her great eyes dilated. Nat felt himself powerless to move.
9"Ruth!" Tyler cried again loudly. "Ruth!"
10"Hush," she said. "Hush!"
11She waved him back. Tyler stood helplessly, his eyes on her face.
12"Now!" she moaned. "Now! Shots! Many of them…. Five shots…. Mr. Roosevelt is safe! Missed! But others fall—several…. A woman—two women—a man—a big man, an important man. Words now!…. Words…. 'Missed Roosevelt! Glad I got Cermak! Too many people are starving!'"
13She stopped, suddenly, the violin sinking from her shoulder. Tyler put an arm about her, supporting her. As if released from a spell, Nat jumped to his feet, staring at the radio cabinet against the wall.
14"Roosevelt is speaking at Miami Beach!" he cried.
15He ran to the radio, turned the dials. A confused roar, then a voice, an excited voice, could be heard, the voice of the radio announcer at the very scene:
16"An assassin has just attempted to kill the President-elect! Mr. Roosevelt is unharmed, but Mayor Cermak of Chicago and several others were struck by bullets. The man is being overpowered! A gun is taken from him. He is screaming: 'I kill all Presidents! All the officers! Too many people are starving to death!'"
17In her father's arms the girl slowly crumpled. He picked her up, held her inert little form close to his breast. Over the radio the excited voice of the announcer was still pouring out the whole amazing story.
19Nat and Tyler faced each other across the flat-topped desk in the library. Spread before them were the extras of the newspapers. Upstairs at last, Ruth was asleep.
20"Well?" Tyler asked.
22His face had grayed, aged in the last few hours. His lean hand shook as he raised it to brush back his heavy white hair.
23"Don't be so upset," said Nat gently.
24"I—I know it's foolish of me," said Tyler. "I—I'll try not to be."
25"That's the way to talk," said Nat. "Now…. As long as I have seen and heard this thing myself, do you feel able to tell me about the other times? I assume there have been other times?"
26Tyler put one hand over the other, held it firmly. His quivering nerves quieted. He nodded, slowly. "I'll explain as well as I can. It began several months ago. She was playing for me alone. And suddenly, just as she did tonight, she stopped—and was deathly afraid. Of what she did not know. It was as if something were in the air."
27Nat nodded but was silent.
28"Always it happened the same way," said Tyler. "At night, when she was playing, sometimes downstairs for me, sometimes when she was alone in her room. And always it terrified her. I got so I lay awake nights listening, afraid to hear that music begin—and then stop. And then, a week ago, it broke through, much clearer, much more definite. She knew that a man had been shot."
30He told Nat, then, of the murder of Klauss, and the strange coincidence in time. And of the girl's dreadful certainty, two nights before, that a woman named Martha had been strangled—of the confirmation through the radio and Doc Crandall, and later the newspapers.
31Nat sat quietly, drinking in every word. Tyler stopped and regarded him soberly.
32"Then—" he said. "Tonight!"
33Nat fought to control the excitement which possessed him. He must be very calm, very cool and detached, scientific. He did not speak for a moment. Then he said, as quietly as he could:
34"Mr. Tyler, we may be on the threshold of something so big—so important—so far-reaching in all its implications—"
35"You—you don't think it's anything—anything—" Tyler stammered.
36"It's nothing supernatural, you can rest assured of that," said Nat.
37"Oh, I know that," said Tyler quickly. "But it's—uncanny, to say the least…. And it frightens me. For her I mean. I—I wish you could—explain."
38"It's something that science has not
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