The Huttig news., 1909-03-20

ahn'S rich customer and bought 1t
 nd carried 1t off The Rt Hon. Josiah 'undy was as rich as Croesus. and
 ad as little taste as a Fiji islander:
 was now furnishing up big coun- " place most gorgeously and elab- 1rately. Aid among the great load
 f things that left Knotter and Dahn's lig store fer the country place of Mir. sundy, was the bejeweled Mahadeva. was to stand in the front hall where Ill visitors were to be blinded by it's na eniticence
 It sat there, glaring in it's ugliness, for two or three weeks. and in the meanwhile, MT Rundys household got swiftly into running order. The sec ond seemed-to the outside world at least. for the Mahadevd kept it's ugly frown and said nothing terrible yet A great festival was in prepara- tien at the Bundy place. and the world was being turned upside down, 1t seemed, 70 secure for the Bundy man sion all possible stunning and stupefy- ing glitter and splendor. On the third morning before this stupendous ocea- sicn the parlor-mad descended the steps into the front hall She had al most reached .aeir foot when she sud denly stopped, turned pale, and clutched the banister She looked down at the floor only once, and ran back upstairs. She came back with the butler and the janitors assistant.
 They found that it was the footman, and the s de of his head was smashed n. Reside him lay half made-up bundle of the Bundy plate and jewels; most wonderful haul it would have been. His horse was tied to the front curb.
 eHm." said Mr Bnndy. But NJ 8nady hated to worry, so he hired ! detective to worry for him.
 Mrs. Rundy was a nervous soul. The ugliness of the bronze Mahadeva made her shudder worse and worse every time she beheld it. The affair of the footman upset her worse than ever.
 Mrs. Bundy refused to let the idol as she called it, stay in the house an. other day. Sc Mr. Bnndy made suit able arrangements with Knotter & Dahn, and it was returned to the store
 MT Holt was naturally painstaking in things, but even had it not been his nature, he would have been pains taking in telling Miss Worth things. So when Miss Worth wanted to know about Mahadeva and felt inclined to talk about the Bundy tragedies, he felt thrilled beyond measure.
 Do you think 1t is a real idol?n asked Miss Worth
 It looks like one" said MT. Holt: I've read the strangest stories about those things-the wonderfully costly idols in the temples of India where they are regarded with superstition and reverence; and all sorts of wild, mystic things are told about them. un- earthly powers and doings attributed to them
 And isn't it strange coincidence that Mahadeva should be the Hindoo god of destruction?" interrupted Miss i Worth Do you think it really came ] from India?'
 1 ooou lutd. Sdlu NIT. f1Olt. WE must find out where it came from
 Mir Dahn could tell nothing about it. Perhaps it's coming to the store antedated his connection with the firm; at least ita had been there sev- eral years, and he knew nothing about it save it's value Mr. Holt deter mined to see Mir. Knotter The senior partner seldom came to the store; he was old, and somewhat of an invalid. and spent good deal of his time in an easy chair on his shady veranda Here he received Mir. Holt. and gladly told him what he knew about the Hin doc image.
 T bought it in with tot of other Hindoo things, he said, mostly jew els. The rest If them are all gone now. The rascal that had them wanted a ridiculous amount for the thing. and I never would have bought it, but he would not sell the rest of the things without it, and saw a good profit in them. He was a small dark fellow, a Hindoo I'm sure, and wicked-looking enough He came in on a merchantmen and brought his stuff in teak chest. I remember dis tinctly that l wondered whether his queer manner was due to an effort to conceal his eagerness to dispose of his goods, or to his embarrassment with the English language. Save perhaps a wild look in his eyes. did not notice anything queer about him at first, when he came in in a sailors costume, with some other rags show ing beneath it around his neck, and big urban around bis head. But when he came in a second time with derby bat on, 1 had to shudder at the appearance of the top of his head, as he removed his hat. Ii actually seemed as if a piece of it had been knocked off or flattened in; all scared up and knocked out of shape, it was nearly sickening Then I noticed that his actions seemed inconsistent, even furtive at times. I wondered if the senses had been frightened or knocked out of his head. The sailor from the Indian merchantmen told me about