Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1907-07-04
III.
The Cache.

Outwardly the book accorded Ill with its
surroundings. In that place of desolation
and death it typifled the petty neatness Of
office processes. Properly placed, 1t should
have been found on a desk, with pens,
rulers and other paraphernalia forming
exact angles or parallels to 1t. 1t was a
quarto. bound in marbled paper. with black
leather over the hinges. No external label
suggested its ownership or uses, but
through one corner, blackened and for
midable in its contrast to the peaceful pur-
poses Of the volume, a hole had been bored.
The agency of perforation was obvious.
bullet had made It,
Seen something Of life, reckon" said
Trendon, as the captain turned the vol
ume about slowly in his hands.
And of DEATH" returned Capt. Parkin-
son solemnly. do you know, Trendon, I
almost dread to open this"
"Pshaw" returned the other. what Is
1t to us7''
He threw the cover back Neatly letter.
ed on the Inside, in the fine and angular
scholar, was the legend:
Karl Augustus Schermerhorn,
Philadelphia, Pa.
The opposite page was blank Capt.
Parkinson turned half a dozen leaves.
German he cried, in a note Of disap-
pointment. Can you read German script
go Ar s.s fsshion .. replied the othsr
sss Tead Whs Ssst IT.
the man running haberdashery? What
thls?"
"A memorandum for Quitting, probably. >.
suggested the captain. TRY here
Chemical formula said Trendon.
Pas. Pages 5, Of .em. The devil! Can't make
Well, here's something in English"
Good" said the other. by combining
the hypersulphate of iridium with the fumes
arising from oxide OF copper heated to LOU
and combining with picric acid in the
proportions described in formula eighteen.
reaction, the nature of which have not
fully determined, follows. This must be
performed with extreme care, owing TO
the unstable nature of the benzene COM
pounds"
"Picric acid? Benzene compounds? Those
are high explosives" said capt. Parkin-
this
Here's name under the formula. Dr.
A: Mardenter, Ann Arbor, Mich. That ex-
plains plains f Its being in English Probably
This must have been one Of the expert
ments In the valley that Slade told US of. -
said the captain thoughtfully. why, see
here" he cried, with something like exulta-
ton. That's what DR.. Schermerhorn was
doing here. He has the clue to some ex-
plosive so terrific that he goes far out of
the world TO experiment with Its manufac-
ture. For companions he chooses a gang
of cutthroats that the world would never
miss in case anything went wrong. Pos
sibly 1t was some trial Of the finished
Do you seer
Don't explain enough" grunted Trendon.
Deserted ship. BILLY Edward. Mysterious
lights. slade and his story. ANY explosives
in those? Good enough, far as it goes.
Don't go far enough"
1T certainly leaves gaps" admitted the
Other.
He turned over a few more pages.
Formula. formula. formula. What's
this? Here are some marginal annotations."
"Unbehasslich," read Trendon. Lets
see. That means highly unsatisfactory,
or words to that effect. Hi! Here's where
the old man loses his temper. Listen: May
the devil take Carroll and Crum for care
less'-h' m.well. pig-dogs.'. Now. where do
Carroll and Crum come IMP
They're firm of analytical chemists in
Washington" said the captain. when 1