The Idaho Springs siftings-news., 1907-01-26
[ll2 lXTNl0IY


wailing. crying. pleading. supplicating,
weeping. sobbing. like human voices
in a death chamber-or shouting,
screaming. and defiant. like the battle
cry OF an army-the great four string
harmonies. the matchless cantabile
passages. the cackling staccato. and
the great detached movements. shout
ing and clamorous. had died away, fol-
| lowed by a widowed tone. and then
some sweet fugitive melody. with a
wailing portemento-that seemed to
have escaped the cruelty OF the furi-
| Gus bow-plaintive and appealing
| twined itself about my heart and car
| ried me as it were to heaven. The
| finale died plaintively away, and all
was as still as death, save for the
heavy breathing OF the small audience,
over whom the spell still fingered.
heard a low sob-a soft laugh,
and vaguely l saw Marie with her
arms about the old mans neck, weep
ing.
The great house of Mr.. De Tavenier
was alive with visitors, strange men
were coming and going; most Of them
speaking in foreign accent.
On the fifth day after we had sent
out the kilograms and cablegrams,
warning the several committees who
had been chosen to participate in the
removing Of the treasure from the cav
erns, there arrived at the house a band
OF FIVE men, whose peculiar duties
| shudder to recall
These men formed what was known
as the Death Committee, or the
| Thirteenth Committee of The In
visible Hand
l was presented to these, one by
one. by Mr.. De Tavenier himself. who
had received them with marked cor
| diality
The chief OF this committee was
man who had passed three-score years,
and though his face was marked by
trials and sorrows, his form was
erect, his eyes were bright, and his
step firm. 1t was he, with his four
associates. who had received Hersh-
burg. the traitor, on the borders of
the Russian Empire 1t was he who
had been summoned as a last and un-
falling resource to relieve THE In
visible Hand" of the vigilance of Vic
tor Deneau. He was an alchmeist,
some had called him a sorcerer, others
a magician.
There was no subtle poison in the
annals of toxicology with which he
was unfamiliar. His face was habitu-
ally sad in expression; his voice deep
and mellow in tone; his personality
| bespeaking dignity which command
ed admiration and respect: his asso-
ciates were ever ready to obey his
slightest order with an exactness and
prcmptness which admitted only of
success, and such bold spirits as
Hershburg, or others who had OBJ
stYucted. or sought to obstruct the
path Of THE Invisible Hand" who
had fmpeded the great machinery of
the Order disappeared one by one
| from the face of the earth-and thus
the Death Committee performed its
silent, CHASTITY duties of destroying in
its germ every vestige OF evidence
which pointed to the existence of the
Order, removing every unfortunate
being, who by chance or otherwise
had become possessed of the slightest
knowledge which would turn the eye
OF the Car toward his unseen enemy,
thereby preserving the inviolable
secrecy which governed its personnel
and its vast machinery, which was
rapidly reaching such proportions as
to render it the most formidable cabal
| which ever threatened a throne or an
| empire.
II seemed that
| the eye Of the Death Committee. It's
| means were infallible its methods
| swift and terrible, and now, as held
| the cold still hand of its leader in
mine, | shook as with an ague; | felt
an inward thrill of horror as | looked
into his cold bright eyes.
Partially concealed by the long
| white hair which parted near the cen
ter of his massive forehead, | saw
the great scar of the Siberian convict
which had been burnt into the flesh.
leaving the ghastly burrows of the
cruel instrument with which the hu-
man monsters had branded their help
less victims.
And then came the wiry form Of a
most devilsh-looking mana hunch-
| back. whose spine had been broken by
the cruelties of his keepers In his
big black eyes there was wealth Of
evil, horrible, inhuman, feverish, burn.
ing; constant glitter; on his brow a
frown; frozen curse on his pale lips;
a nervous tremor in his long hands.
He could not stand still for one mo-
ment; his words were inpatient; he
seemed in haste to kill; he looked an
anarchist-I discovered he was once
nobleman, and was now one of the
richest. the most rabid, members of
THE Invisible Hand"
He turned suddenly away, and met
the third member, tall. soldierly