Barbour County index. [volume] (Medicine Lodge, Kan.) 1880-current, 1908-12-09

VERY man VINO mas Deen
II a newspaper reporter and
H. survives has one case
I which he gives the post
!. {. !" ]. ]: !. : ! J.
AZ Of honor in memory. This
M4GNSH is the story of the assign
MSN ment 1 like best to remem-
DES9NN Der, not only because it re-
Ill., suited in the solution Of
ET-s7s7 one of the most mysteri-
MN GUS cases that ever arose
ezkHH.1kz9 in Illinois, but rather for
the reason that it marked my first
meeting with Carlton Clarke.
1t was in the summer Of 1896 that
the word came to the Office of the Chi
cago morning paper with which 1 was
then connected that the police of the
little city of Aurora were struggling
with case which seemed destined to
prove one of the greatest mysteries of
the day. AS had met with considera-
bic success in criminal cases, the man.
aging editor lost no time in hustIing
me off by the first train to the scene
of action.
The brief account in the first paper
picked up, stripped of it's glazing
headlines, was as follows:
Early this morning a very mysterious
tragedy occurred in the hall of the An
cient Order Of Persian Knights a local
secret society, which resulted in the al
most Instant death of Or. Arthur w. Will
Hams, a prominent physician of this city.
The initiation of Dr. Williams was in
progress at the time. In one portion of
the ceremony the candidate, having been
condemned to death for invading the sa-
cred domain of the shah, is ordered to
load an old fashioned dueling pistol with
powder and ball which are furnished him.
lie Is then placed against the wall and
the pistol is fired point blank at him by
a member of the lodge holding the Of
nee of royal executioner. The powder
provided the candidate has always been
clever counterfeit made of pulverized
anthracite coal, and the only climax to
the thrilling ceremony, heretofore has
been the fzzle of the percussion cap and
the shouts of laughter of the lodge men,
Ders. DIR. Williams was an old hand at
lodge work. AS a consequence. none of
the efforts of the Persian knights to
break down his nerve or self-possession
had been successful. When he had load
ed the pistol he faced DR.. Homer Smith
whose duty it was to fire the shot, and
gazed into his eyes without a visible
tremor. Suddenly the members of the
IYsere startled by a loud explosion DR.
Williams fell forward with blood gushing
from wound in his forehead. Among
fhe first to reach the stricken man was
DR.. Smith, who had fired the fatal shot
He tried to stanch the blood, but the bull
let had penetrated the brain and Dr. Will
nams died in his arms without speaking.
Chief OF Police Darling, who is a prom
inent member of the order, holding the
ONCE of royal astrologer at once thought
to secure the cup from which the pow
der had been poured. A few grains re-
manned. He tasted them. 1t was unmis-
takably black gunpowder No arrests
have been made and no one seems willing
20 take the responsibility of saying that
the tragedy was anything more than &C
cident due to the carelessness Of some
one in getting the counterfeit powder
mixed with the real article.
ooh, those country correspondents"
fairly groaned. There was so much
wanted to know. Who had handled
the supposed counterfeit powder?
What was the customary source from
which the lodge procured it? What
were the relations of the two physi-
clans toward each other?
ut all depends upon the history of
the POWDER" I said to myself as
stuffed the papers into my pocket
You are right, sir. 1t all depends
upon the history of the powder"
/ turned around half in anger at
this unlooked-for interruption to my
train of thought. Whatever emotion
may have felt was instantly lost in
interest in the face before me. 1t was
q face should have singled out among
a thousand. Clean shaven, the firmly
moulded chin showed by its slight
tinge of blue that the beard, had il
been allowed to grow, would have been
black. The nose was aquiline and Of
perfect proportions. The intelligent
eyes were dark almost to blackness
The complexion was swarthy, but suf
fused with the glow of health. The
hair was of that distingue combination
of colors, black, shading almost tt
white on the temples and over the
forehead. An American, evidently, blu
inheriting through several generation
of New World ancestors the marking
of southern Europe. His height
should have estimated at six feet
Carlton Clarke really lacks three-quaI
. tiers of an inch of the mark.
Then you are a sort of Sherlocl
Holmes?" I ventured.
Sherlock Holmes is an impossible
ity." he said.
Further conversation was interrupt
- By our arrival before the little art