The Washington times., 1907-11-03
CHAPTER x (Continued).

HAD I yielded 10 my first Impulse
and closed the box-had my suspicious
not already been aroused by certain
aspects OF the case-the matter 50 Tar
as / was concerned would have ended
there and then. AS it was. ] empued
the upper layer Of cigars. and exam
ined them carefully.
Every one lacked the crimson
smudge which my stained fingers had
left there but a short time before
THAT ends my story. Annerly. The
murderer was in the house while the
inquest was in session-he was in the
room destroying. he fancied, the only
evidence Of his crime while we waited
below in the library. He is "A desperate
villain, Annerly," he said, IN a lower
voice. Remember when you have
aim cornered that 1 have warned
you"
THANK YOU, Dr. Dalton" ne said
L do not underestimate the danger,
but I am not afraid. 1 am on my
guard"
II am not going TO ask you to take
me into your confidence" said the
doctor, grimly, but / would like 10
know one thing, Annerly. Do you know
who the murderer is?''
Good God. 1 can give a guess" he
said, moodily. And there is one thing,
Dalton. Even a rat will fight if he is
cornered. It is barely possible that the
murderer is not as bad as the
man whom. in his despair, he
sent to death. am very much
afraid tnat Fairfax was a black
hearted devil, Dalton L wish TO
God that ! had never touched the case
with pair of tongs!'
1T is 100 late now" suggested Dal-
ton simply-
Too late for regTets-yes. I want
to ask you one question. Dalton. How
did the guilty party learn anything
about a poison of the existence of
which even a large part of the medical
world is presumably ignOraRt?"
Dalton smiled.
I was expecting that question" he
said, quietly. 1T puzzled me a little at
first, too. But viii answer your ques-
ton by asking you another, Annerly.
What is the great educational medium
of the world today? Where do the
rank and file of the common people get
their information upon all subjects,
from the style and cost of the christen-
ing robe of the heir of the Great White
Car to the average rainfall for the
Mississippi valley for the last twenty
years? Why from the daily news
paper"
He took paper from has pocket
slipped It across the table 10 AnneFly,
and indicated a certain column with
his finger. It was a short item and
the detective read it slowly aloud:
A MYSTERIOUS POISONING.
An analytical chemist of Balti-
more is authority for the statement
that kurane is "a deally poison that
may be used with effect externally,
the more especially if it be brought
INTO contact with the mouth or
throat. the palms OF the hands or
the soles of the feet, He thinks
that a certain notorious murderer
possibly poisoned his wives by Civ
ing them a tooth brush upon which
had been placed an indistinguish-
ahle quantity of llurane-
This poison is not generally
known 1t Is extracted from the
keaves OF an African plant called
s.rychnOs toxifera. IL was discOv-
cred by the natives. who dipped the
points of their spears in the liquid,
thus making them deadly The
only scientific use to which it has
ever been put Is in extreme and
desperate cases of hydrophObia and
aetanus. when it has been used as
ar antidote
eff an infnitesimal quantity woul
result fatally and no post-mortem in
vestigation could discover the traces o
Pese Tn