The times. [volume] (Washington [D.C.]) 1897-1901, 1900-11-04


put becomes so great that the market is flooded.
gold loses lis value, and a panic follows At an
international congress Of fnanciers DIR. Syx in
PRODUCES a peculiar metal called sr,c;nisium to
take the place Of gold. DR.. Syx conducts the
party 10 his mines and furnaces in the Grand
Teton in the Rocky Mountains. The wonderful
metal is accepted by the finaneiers, adopted as
a common monetary standard. and commerce Is
revived. Andrew Hail. mining engineer, tries
to solve the mystery of the wonderful discovery
N-TBE DETECTIVE OF SCIENCE.
The morning CT my arrival at Grand
Teton STATEN on my return from the East
Andrew Hall met me with warm greet
ing.
II have been anxiously expecting you,
he said, for / have made some progress
toward solving the great mystery. nave
not yet reached a conclusion, but l hope
soon to let you into the entire secret. In
the meantime you can aid me with your
ccmpanionship. If in no other way, Tor,
since the defeat of the mob, this place has
been mighty lonesome. The Grand Teton
is a spot that people who have no particu-
lar business out here carefully avoid.
am on speaking terms with DR.. Syx, ana
occasionally, when there is party to be
shown around l visit his works. and MAKE
the best possible use of ny eyes. Captain
Carter. OF the military, is a capital fell
low and / like to hear his stories OF the
war in Luzon forty years ago, but want
somebody to whom 1 can occasionally
confde things, and so you are as welcome
as moonlight in harvest time.
IN. n WONDER
full fight with the mob. Did you see it!''
Il did i had got wind of what Bings
intended to do while ! was down at Po-
cotello. and l hurried up here to warn
the soldiers, but unfortunately l came TOO
late. Finding the military cooped up IN
the guard house and the mob masters CT
the situation, l kept out OF sight on Inc
side of the Teton and watched the siege
with my binocular l think there was
very little Of the spectacle that missed
What OF the mysterious force tnat me
doctor employed to sweep oil the as
sailants?"
"of course, Captain Carriers suggestion
that Syx turned molten artemisium from
his furnace into a hosepipe. and sprayed
the enemy with it, is ridiculous. But 1t
IS much easier to dismiss Carriers theory
than to substitute better one. saw
the doctor on the roof with gang OF
black workmen, and noticed the nash OF
polished metal turned rapidly this way
and that. but there was some intervening
obstacle which prevented me from getting
a good view of the mechanism employed 1t
certainly bore no resemblance to hose
pipe. or anything Of that kind No ema-
nation was visible from the machine, but
It was Supplying to see the mob melt
down.
How about the coating OF the bodies
with artemisium?"
There you are back on the hosepipe
again." laughed Hall. But, to tell you the
truth I'd rather be ez cused from express
ing an opinion on that operation in whole
sale electro plating just at present. I've
the ghost of an idea what it means. but
let me test my theory a little before
formulate it. In the meanwhile. won't
you take stroll with me?"
Certainly; nothing could please me bet
ter replied. Which way shall We go?"
TO the top of the Grand Teton"
What. are YOU Seized with the noun
tain climbing fever"
Not exactly, but ! have particular
reason for wishing to take look from that
pinnacle"
Il suppose you know the real apex OF
the peak has never been trodden by man"
Il do not know it, but it is just that
apex that / am determined to have under
my feet for ten minutes. The failure of
others is no argument for u.s.
Just as you say" 1 rejoined. But 1
suppose there is no indiscretion in asking
whether this little climb has any relation
to the mystery"
IF II didn't have an important rela-
ton to the clearing up OF that dark thing
i wouldn't risk my neck in such an un-
dertaking" was the reply
Accordingly, the next morning we set
out for the peak. All previous climbers,
as We were aware, had attacked it from
the west. That seemed the obvious thing
TO do. because the westward slopes Ct the
mountain. while very steep, are less alb
rupt than those which face the rising sun
In fact, the eastern side of the Grand
Teton appears to be absolutely unclimb-
able. But both Hall and / had had ex-
perierce with rock climbing in the Alps
and the Dolomites and We knew that what
looked like the hardest places sometimes
turn cut to be next to the easiest Ac-
cordingly We decided-the more particu-
larly because we yielded TO the common
desire to Guido our predecessors-to try
TO scale the giant right up his face.
We carried very light but exceedingly
strong rope, about 500 feet long wore nail
shod shoes and had each a metal-pointed
STAFF and small Ratchet in lieu of the
regular mountaineer's ak. Advancing at
first along the broken ridge between two
gorges. We gradually approached the steep
er part Of the Teton. where the cliffs looked
go sheer and smooth that it seemed no
wonder that nobody had ever tried to scale
them. The air was deliciously clear and
the sky wonderfully blue above the noun
tains. and the moon, few days past its
last quarter, was visible In the southwest.
its pale crescent face slightly blued by the
atmosphere as IL ALWAYS appears when
seen in daylight
SLOW westering. phantom sail
The lonely soul Of yesterday"
Behind US, somewhat north OF cast Law
the Syx works. with their black smoke
rising almost vertically in the still air,
Suddenly. as we stumbled along on the
rough surface, something whizzcd past
my face and fell on the rock at my feet.
j looked at the strange missile. that had
ccn1e like meteor out of open space,
with establishment.
1t was a bird, beautiful specimen Of
the scarlet Hangers, which ] remember
ed the early explorers had found inhahi-
tating the Teton canyons, their brilliant
plumage borrowing splendor from con-
trast with the gloomy surroundings. II
lay motionless, It's outs;retched WINS
having curious shriveled aspect while
the flaming color Of the breast was half
ohiiteratcd with sElutty patches Stoop-
ing to pick IL up noticed a slight bronz-
ing which instantly recalled to my mind
the peculiar appearance of the victims
of the attack on the mine
Look here,' ! called to Hall. who was
several yards in advance. He turned and
held up the bird on a wing
Where did you get that he asked
III fell at my feet moment ago."