Rock Island Argus. (Rock Island, Ill.) 1893-1920, 1906-03-03

lying against the door, the count
great carcass spfawied upon the tabi
and at a glance 1t was evident tn,
both men had been dead some hour
The old Camorrist had the stem of
liqueur glass between his swollen blu
fingers, one of which had been cut /
the breakage, and the livid flesh wa
also brown with the last blood that
would ever shed. His face was on tn
table, the huge mustache PROTECTING
from under either leaden cheek, We
looking itself strangely alive. Broker
bread and frozen scraps OF macaron
lay upon the cloth and at the bottom o
two soup plates and a tureen. Tn,
macaroni had a tinge OF tomato. anC
there was a crimson dram left in tn,
tumblers, with an empty fiasco to
show whence il came, but near the
great gray head upon the table another
Hqueur glass stood, unbroken and still
full OF some white and sinking liquid
and near that tiny silver flask, which
made me recoil from Raffies as I had
not from the dead. for knew IL to be
his.
Come out Of this poisonous air." he
said sternly. "and will tell you how 1t
shas happened"
So we all three gathered together in
the hall, but il was Raffies who stood
nearest the street door, his back to it.
his eyes upon us two, and though it
was to me only that he spoke at first
he would pause from point to point and
translate into Italian for the benefit of
the one eyed alien to whom he owed
his life.
You probably don't even know the
name, Bunny" he began, 'of the dead
lest poison yet known to science 1t is
cyanide OF cacodyl. and have carried
that small flask OF it about with me
Tor months. Where / got it matters
nothing. The whole point is that
mere sniff reduces flesh TO clay / have
never had any opinion of suicide, as
You know, but 1 always felt it worth
While to be forearmed against the very
worst. Well, bottle of this stuff is
calculated to stiffen an ordinary room
full of ordinary people within five min
utes, and L remembered my flask when
they had me as good as crucified in the
small hours of this morning. 1 asked
them to take it out of my pocket. /
begged them to give me a drink before
they left me, and what do you suppose
they did?-
thought of many things, but sug-
gested none, while Rallies turned this |
much OF his statement into sufficiently |
fluent Italian. But when he faced me |
again his face was still flaming
THAT beast CorbuccfI" said he. How
can pity him? He took the flask He
would give me none. He fiIcked me in
the face instead. My idea was that
ne at least should go with me-to sell /
my life as dearly as that-and a sniff
would have settled US both But, no.
lie must tantalize and torment me. He
thought it brandy He must take it
DOWNSTAIRS TO drink to my destruction.
AN you have any pity for hound
Ike that?"
Let us Co." I at last said hoarsely
s Itaffies finished speaking In italian,
nd his second listener stood open q
louthed
I'VE will CO." said Rallies, land we
ill chance being seen. If the worst
1mes to the worst this good chap will +
rove that 1 have been tied up since 1
clock this morning, and the medical
will decide how long those
ogs have been dead r
But the worst did not come to the
'orst, more power to my unforgotten
-iend the cabman, who never came
,rward to say what manner of men
e had driven to Bloomsbury square at
'p speed on the very day upon which :
lie tragedy was discovered there or
hence he had driven them. To be =
Ire, they had not behaved like MUIR
erers, whereas the evidence at the in
lest all went to show that the de- F
met Corbucci was the little better
is reputation. which transpired with
$ identity, was that of Il libertine and =
renegade, while the Internal appara-
IS upstairs revealed the fiendish arts
the anarchist to boot. The inquiry
suited eventually in an open verdict L
Id was chiefly instrumental in killing r
Ich compassion as is usually felt for
e dead who die in their sins
But Rallies would not have passed
Is title for this tale. -------- -