The Atlanta constitution. [volume] (Atlanta, Ga.) 1885-19??, 1894-10-22
MYS1ERIOULY DISAPPEARED.
By w. L. ALDEN.

No man can be killed early in the even
Ing I'm a crowded street without attracting
the attention of somebody. Even police
man would notice thing like that. My
fr.ansi had not been enticed into some dark
alley and there murdered. for they We're
not the kind OF men to have that game
played on them. You might as well try
10 entice cat 70 walk into the river. Then,
too il they had been murdered, what had
become of their bodies? A human body.
gentlemen. is Il mighty awkward thing 10
dispose of surrepttiausly, as you must
know. il you eyer tried il. We'll! the more
! thought of the matter. the more certain
l was that the missing men had not been
made away with, and not run away OF
their OWN accord. nor committed suicide.
Then what had become OF them. and dozens
Of other men who had disappeared under
similar circumstances? There didn't seem
20 Doe any answer To this question, and that
aggravated me. The thing beat me- ana
] hate To be beaten. But one day ! was
reading in a newspaper of a new sort of
s.unpowder. and the whole thing was clear
Ia me ~ once. That is 10 say 7 knew l
had the cine. ana when You have the clue
20 anything. you can consider that you
have got the thing. that is, OF course, I'M
less you are detective.
al went around TO the university, to
friend of mine who was professor OF
chemistry. and I said. '3rickerhoT. tell me
II chlorate of potash is an eXplos!vc|
"'well, should smilel' says he. or words
10 that effect. its one Of the most power
ful Of explosives, and when II is mixed with
certain other insredieats-some of which
are rs common rs pors-it beats dynamite
clean out OF sisht. Why. sir. 1 can make
an explosion out Of chlorate Of potash that
would blow the whole citv OF Chicago 10
Paradise, and You could carry enough TO
"a. i'm rtsrHf- HfsE.f Ef k4t
:. Tell me one more thing,' said !. Is
there any explosive which does lot of work
with very little noise%
Is Now I SEE what you are driving at
said srinckerhoff You are wanting 10 in
vent a. uo.seless powder, and are thinking
al calOrate OF potash. II won't do my
friend You can manage chlorate of potash
80 as u give you Il tremendous explosive
force with next 10 no noise. but YOU can
never harness IL 50 as to use it in firearms.
Other men have tried il before you ever
thought of il. bat they have ali failed. Try
something thai IS slower than chloride OF
potash il You want 10 succeed in anything
except blowing your own head of.
Il had learned all / wanted TO learn Of
Briuckcrhofs. and ] knew now for certain
that I was the risht track. l wondered
that the idea had not come To me before.
You remember that the first of my friends
VINO disappeared had been Last seen al a
medicine Tor a sore throat, and that there
WAS some reason 10 suppose that the sec
oud man who disappeared had bought
cnIc.ate Of potash at another druggists.
Looking at these facts in the light Of what
Briuckenhom had said, l felt reasonably
sure that in both cases chlorate of potash
was ~ the bottom OF the my sterious disap-
pearance OF my two friends, and / set 10
work 70 tn 10 prove it.
II bought couple Of ounces of chlOrate
OF potash. and ;n&t evening I gave a good
big dose % the drug 10 my lanulaly's cat.
putting III ina the center of IA meat pill. The
cat holt"i out without the least suspicion
and 3 watched patiently 10 see il The beast
would disappear She dii nothing of the
kind. Lut aiter about half an hour she curl
81 up o. the floor and went into conyul-
sions; and. after freeing her mind as to
tie ;lich that she tou:1 I had played on
ner. she died without the slightest nciina-
ton iJ explode. However that didn't shake
uiy faith IN roy theory. EfinCkeIhon had
sI,I that when chioratc If potash was COM
biueu with some substance, tac name OF
which he would rot sive me- It's explosive
powers were enormously increased. WHAT
was that other SUbslance2 IL seemed 10
m- that This question could 40; be- a very
diicGlt one. The two men = no had disap-
Ecared m'.st l.aye had t'is substance some
where about them, and il must have come in
"hat thousands oil people take
elaborate OF potash or carry il
H .1e.r pockets, ald don't disappear must
mean thaj they don't happen 10 have the
.t-.r mysterious substance about hem. II
was JEr. substance wni y my TWO friends
it- w.ta thcM. bat which the average man
have COME m contact with the chlorate OF
potash Nn4t COULD this substance be:
"Ns.l. ! r.,ed over that problen for
wreas a-t r..iG NOS come 10 any conc-u-
sion. miNsl el3ofa - al potash with every
.rrt ci t'.n= that 7 r3ut faa 2iua a sane
man might POSSIBLY hpvc ia his yoat pocket,
but / could noi produce the terrible eEplo-
sive that BriukcrhaI had spoken of. ~ WAS
not phosphorus nor suiphu nor anything
else that is used in making matches. IL WAS
NOS tobacco. nor sugar NOR comec nor Yea,
nor gum. nor Hour. nor anything elst that
j could think o. : was beginning to get
little dishcartcncd when on, ,!av had 10 20
10 q dentist 10 have tooth TILES. and ,Ecre
/ made my discovery. The dentist was
one Of those men who think that th,y can
distract your attention from dental opera
lions by Perpe;ualIy talking to YOU. The
theory is that the suffering you undergo in
your ear makes YOU forget the suffering
you undergo in your teeth. This particular
dentist mrancered along. telling me al
about The weather and the politics of Amer
ica ANA Europe. and the progress az astro-
Hoini,al discovery. and the last new novel
iiat he sad. and gradually h worked
round 10 my two friends who had disap-
pcaFed, am remarked hov singular Il was
That they had both been under his hands
within the week before they disappeared
This naturally Interested me more than
j cared 10 say. ana / asked him what he
Eaa done for my friends. He said he had
H.-cd TWO teeth for one and seven FOR The
other Filled them with gold. / suppose
said !. though | didn't suppose anything Of
the kind. Not all of them, said the dem
tisJ. There We're several cavities that were
too large Tor gold filings. and i'm them L
used cement
what * your cement made of asked
in a careless sort of way.
"'WcN, mat is a trade secret he re-
plien. TO Jell the truth. { don't precisely
know what all the ingredients arc myself
III snow il 10 you.' So saving he oncncd a
drawer. ana taking out what looked like q
thick sheet of ssiue, he la!d IL on the table
beside me. THAT is IL he said. though. of
course, it has 10 be softcned before being
used
Just then the dentist excused himself
Cor a moment, and went into the other office
to speak to a newly arrived patient and |
improved the opportunity by stealing bit
OF the cement. You see L did il in the
cause of science, and everybody knows that