The enterprise. [volume] (Harlem, Mont.) 1899-1926, 1908-12-02

Tie reason tndC IL marked Ill! LISI
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 l 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-
BILE success in criminal cases. the man.
aging editor lost no time in hustling
me off by the first train to the scene
of action.
The brief account in the first paper
l picked up stripped of its glaring
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 DR.. Arthur w VIII
liams, 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 furnished him.
He is then placed against the wall and
the pistol is fired point blank at him by
a member of the lodge holding the Of
flee of royal executioner. The powder
provided the candidate has always been
a clever counterfeit made of pulverized
anthracite coal, and the only climax to
the thrilling ceremony, heretofore, has
been the fizzle of the percussion cap and
the shouts of laughter of the lodge men,
bnr TAV 1,op aid hny Nd at
lodge work. AS a consequence, none Of
the efforts of the Persian knights to
break down his nerve 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
lodge about 200 of whom were present.
were startled by loud explosion. DR..
Williams fell forward with blood gushing
from a wound in his forehead. Among
the first to reach the stricken man was
Or. Smith, who had fired the fatal shot.
He tried to stanch the blood. but the bull
let had penetrated the brain and DR.. Will
1iams died in his arms without speaking.
Chief of Police Darling, who is prom
inent member of the order. holding the
Office of royal astrologer, at once thought
to secure the cup from which the pow
der had been poured few grains re-
NAMED He tasted them. 1t was unmis-
takably black gunpowder. No arrests
have been made and no one seems Wiling
to take the responsibility of saying that
the tragedy was anything more than &C
cident due to the careessness OF some
one in getting the counterfeit powder
mixed with the real article.
ooh, those country correspondence
fairly groaned. There was so much
ho hod 1od
the supposed counterfeit powder
What was the customary source from
which the lodge procured it? Wha
were the relations of the two physi
clans toward each other?
ut all depends upon the history o
the powder" l 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 a
this unlooked-for interruption to M
train of thought. Whatever emotion
may have felt was instantly lost il
interest in the face before me. It wa
face should have singled out anon
thousand. Clean shaven, the firml
moulded chin showed by it's Sigh
tinge of blue that the beard, had
been allowed to grow, would have bee
black. The nose was aquiline and {
perfect proportions. The intelliger
eyes were dark almost to blacknes
The complexion was swarthy, but su
fused with the glow of health. Til
hair was of that distingue combinatiC
of colors, black, shading almost
white on the temples and over IL
forehead. An American, evidently, b.
.inheriting through several generation
of New World ancestors the markinl
OF southern Europe. His height
should have estimated at six fec
Carlton Clarke really lacks three-qua
tiers of an inch of the mark
"Then you are sort of Sherlot
Holiness" | ventured.
Sherlock Holmes is an impossib
ity." he said.
Further conversation was interruI
ed by our arrival before the little ar