Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1909-09-21
THE MESSAGE
BY LOUIS TRACY.
J..

in his glance that she had not seen there
before.
1t is hard to say" he answered And.
| indeed. he spoke the literal truth. being
| fully assured that the shriveled parch-
| ment pinEed to tie deck had once covered
| the bones of a white man.
The writing is funny. too" she went
on. with charming disregard for the mean
ing of words.
1T is pricked in with a needle and In
dian ink he explained. THAT is an in
delible method he continued. hurriedly.
seeing that she was striving to recall
something that the phrase reminded her
Of and here was real danger of the
suggestive word which had so nearly es-
capped his lips being brought to her recol-
lection. You see I have been able TO
identify the gentleman who served the
artist as model" and he tapped the gourd
lightly Therefore. l am sure that this
comes from a land where pen and Ink
were unknown in the days when some un-
happy Christian fashioned such a quaint
continuance to carry his screed.
Some unhappy CL6stian! sne re-
peated. You mean that some European
probably fell into the hands or West ARR
can savages years and years ago ana
took this means OF safeguarding q Sc
cret?''
WHO can tell?" he answered. picking
up the calabash and gazing steadfasely at
the malignant visage thus brought again
into the full glare Of the sun. This fell
10" can aihos' speah' ~ Willy "0
could
"Oh. don't" walled the GIRL MY very
| heart stops beating when I see that
dreadful face. Please put 1t away. III
you will not throw 1t overheard. or smash
II to atoms. at least hide II"
Sorry he said, gruff1y. fitting the
loose lid into its place. He disliked hys-
terical women. and, greatly to his sur
prise. Evelyn Dane seemed to be rather
disposed to yield to hysteria-
''The I axQn1ina this thing the
more | am bewildered." he went on. en-
deavoring to cover his harshness by an
assumption of Indifference. Where in
the world did this varnish come from?
1t has all the gloss and smooth texture
and absence of color that one finds on
genuine Cremona violin. The man WHO
mixed it must have known the recipe
lost when Antonio Stradivarius died Are
The suddenness of the question per-
picked her.
DO you mean the sort of dates that
one acquired painfully at school?"' SIC
asked. IF SO. / can give YOU the year
Of the battle of Hastings or the signing
of Magma Charta."
THE period of a great artists career is
infinitely more important" lie broke IN.
"Stradivarius was at the height or ms
fame about 100. Now. If this is tie
varnish he and Amati and Guarncrius
used, we have a shadowy clue TO guide us
In our inquiry.
please don't lnclude me In Inc quest
she said, decisively. Il refuse to nave
anything to do with it. Leave the matter
to me and that nasty calabash floats on
toward the Atlantic or sinks In the SO
lent exactly as the fates direct. Posi-
lively I am afraid of It,"
II really meant to take II out Of your
sight wien | caught a CLINT of the
varn.s.l." | e pleaded.
But his humility held spice OF sar-
casn Rising. he tucked the gourd under
his coat He was half way down the
hatch wren his glance fell on the little
square vi SKIN on the deck. Already the
heat of the sun had affected 1t and two
of the pins had given way. He came
back.
Il may as we'll remove the lot while
am about it, he said. STOPPING to with
draw the remaining pins.
.'Oh. l am not to be frightened by tnat.
she cried. with pOut that was reminfs-
cent of the schoolgirl period,
He laughed. but suppressed the quip
that might have afforded some hidden
satisfaction.
.'Gourd and document are much OF
muchness" he said. carelessly.
Ito be continued tomorrow