Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1909-10-31


] Impotence. He recalled that the same ques-
| ton had been repeatedly asked by the insinu
| ating prosecuting attorney, and this still further
convinced Menlo that it was of first Importance.
IT often seems as if Fate mercilessly withholds
| the dawning of the day of promise until the
shriveling threads of hope about to slip from
| the enfeebled grasp of the stricken. On night
of fearful depression, when he had fully made
up his mind to seek no further, to give up the
| fight, and enjoy at least the dull comfort of
acquiescence, a revelation came to him. He
remembered
1t was this On the night of the murder of
| Alice he had Just finished his evenings expert
mentS, when the telephone in his private office
gave an insistent ring. The instrument was
one of those ingenious modern contrivanceS
| that may be shut within the desk of up to
| date business man. He had gone into his pri-
vate office to answer the call with the poison
vial in his hand He had just corked and her
| metically sealed it with hot wax. AS 1t had
been necessary to roll back the flexible top of
his desk to get at the telephone. he had placed
| the vial for the moment on the broad top The
telephone message had puzzled HIM at the
| time and now as he remembered it, it took
on a new significance. A strange voice had
asked him if Alice was there. He had replied
no, and when about to ask who had made the
inquiry communication had been peremptorlly
cut off In some impatience and considerable
preoccupation he had slammed down the top
of the desk only vaguely conscious that the
vial had been upset by the impact, and had
fallen between the wall and the desk He was
now certain that unless his former place of bust
ness had been thoroughly rearranged, the vial
must still be there.
For the rest of the night he dwelt long over
the discovery of the vial, and sought to ex-
plain the secret of the mysterious telephone
message. Menlo's faculties fully
awakened. He came to the conclusion that
Baxter had telephoned, fearing that Alice was
| on her way to reveal to her husband some in
| suit that Baxter had placed on her. This belief
grew to a conviction. To prove this, he knew,
| would not clear not only his name, but hers.
WITH the dawning of the next day and the
w resumption of his work at hard labor, the
degradation of his lot seemed less overpowering.
Yet with his full awakening, the practical OBJ
stacles in his path became hourly more APP
parent. He knew his first step was to COM
| municate his discovery to his solicitors. The
utmost secrecy was necessary. lie knew that
every letter a prisoner wrote was scanned by
prison warden, and that often through those
mysterious understandings and channels which
| exist between prison officials and newspaper
offices private communications made by prIs-
onerS to LAWYERS found their way into the morn
ing editions Made doubly cautious by his dis
trust of mankind, Menlo set about to devise a
way to get his message outside OF prison to the
proper persons. He knew that the safest way
was by word of mouth. He also realized that
conversation between prisoners was dungeon
offense. For many days he sought way.
Then kindly Fate once more IN the restless
| hours of the night pointed his path. The means
he had devised were simple and so safe yet
| SO tedious and peculiar that he feared for their
success Their efficiency depended primarily
upon finding at the other end of his line Of COM
| munication prisoner of quick and divining in
| telligence, possessing acute powers of dissimu-
lation imagination, and above all persistence
| and honesty. He must also find a prisoner
| whose term of imprisonment was soon to ex-
pire What Menlo now hoped to do was to send
| his whole story to his yet undiscovered as
sistant on the disks of leather which in his
prison shop passed through his hands one at
| time He realized that it was to be long and
difficult undertaking. The novelty of it awak
ened once more his love of experimentation,
and stimulated his powers of ingenuity
The morning after his Sunday of idleness and
| intense reflection came at last
He took his place in the long line of sullen
convicts and felt none of their disgrace nor his;
| for his heart was lighter than it had been in
| months His machine was number one in the
| long line, and he looked swiftly along the row
| of pallid faces. The glance threw chill over
him; for none of the faces seemed responsive;
| none bore the look of intellectual understand
| ing of which he stood sorely in need.
| Throughout the day he continued his furtive
quest avoiding the risk of attracting to him
self the attention of the vigilant omnipresent