The Washington times. [volume] (Washington [D.C.]) 1902-1939, 1910-12-17
By
MAURICE
LEVEL

Whln struck his face. he shuddered-
he was bathed in an icy peTspiration-
A natural curiosity and perhaps his
vocation had accustomed him to scenes
OF violence, but never IN all his life
nad ne suffered such agony Until now
ne had always known more or less what
1Tlghtful spectacle he might expect to
see, because the police or his editor
had Iold him For the first time he
raced death unexpectedly-an what
He shook himself The broken mirror
rejected his face He was pale. His
lips were half parted in fright On his
sweating forehead he saw a streak Of
blood at the right temple.
forgetting the fan that followed his
entrance. he thought at first that the
mirror ives streaked with blood He
moved his head The streak moved
also.
Fear seized him. not merely fear Of
death. OF this silence, Of the murder,
but vague fear Of something super
natural, Of madness suddenly bern in
him. He staggered toward the mantel.
placed his hands on the mantel, and
stared at MS haggard face In q fash
ne recalled the wound he had received.
and sighed in relief He felt the pain
N MS head and was even glad that lie
felt It With his handkerchief he
stanched the blood triCklinE down his
cheek and on his collar. The cut was
2 mere scratch not more than an inch
long, from which blood had flowed
freely. At that instant Ole had been
uJe) he thought Of the corpse stretched
out on the bed, OF the hideOus cash
that furTOwed the throat. Of the terrible
race with its upWardly projecting chin
and its neck extended anew for the
knife, as Il were He turned to the
BED. grinding pieces Of glass under his
feet and bent over the dead man
There was unmistakable fright in the
dead lace The eyes. stiU bright starei
with extra ordinary 6Xity- Barton
caught a blurred rejection Of himself
In Mt -H7an =
dead-sC0Re dead. His heart had ceased
70 beat MS ears no longer heard. the
last cry Of pain and terror had es-
capped his lips; his body stin warm
had responded 70 its last carsss, his
throat had ratified and death had come
Suddenly another picture presented
itself TO BartOn-the picture OF the trio
in the Boulevard I-annes- Again he
saw the short man with the blue bun
de the wounded man with his sTvoIle =
eye and heavy jaw and the girl with
the red hair.
The trag .dy was terribly clear to him
now While the woman watched the
street the two men had picked the lock
OF the door and climbed TO the first
story, where they knew the murdered
man kept his valuabies- The old man.
awakened from his sleep, had cried out
and the two had leaped upon him To
defend himself he had seizeI a bottle
struck out a. random and laid open tn
head Of the taller one The struggle
by the SpattereC walls and the over
turned furniture Finally the victim Ia
been forced TO the bed One OF the
men had EripDed him BY the collar Of
his nightshirt (the bloody marks were
still 10 be seen on the linen) and
thrown him on the bed. while the
other had slit his throat with a single
stroke. The room was pillaged IN fe-
veTish haste. Money 5ewelrys plate
were packed Then came the fight
Victor Barton surveyed the room and
tried to imagine every detail Of that
awful scene On the table were glasses
accomplished. the murderers had not
fed Immediately. Certain that the
would not be disturbed, they had drunz
their wine Then they had washed the--
hands and dried them
A sudden rage consumed the reporter
He clinched his fists and svOre at the
CUt-thrOats.
What was he to do now? Seek help
Cal some OneZ All thai would be use
less The murder was done. For q
while he was buried in thought his
mind filed with the vision OF the crime
Suddenly he pictured himself with the
murderers-- Mentally ne saw them IL
some dive, dividing their booty, finger
ing IL with red hands
He was seized with the desire to track
them and to see them again, no longer
triumphant and terrible. as when they
had sat at this table In the presence
Of this dead man. but crushed. Hvid.
L
dsrmes. He imagined how horrible
would be their expression when they
were arrested, with what COWsTGly re-
luctance they would drag themselves TO
the guilIOtne at dawn The law and
the executiOner seemed strong and 5usJ
to him
A sudden reversiOn carried him TO
the other extreme. The same law. the
same exeCutiOner now seemed ridicu-
IOus creations Of society at which Grim
inals laughed The police could not
even protect people much less capture
murderers- Now and then criminal
was caught, but only by some happy
chance or through his own folly The
police were coping not only with stolid
brutes, but also with inteHectsY with
artisxs 10 whom crime was more sport
than q vocation Provided he was nOI
guilty Of making clumsy mistake q
criminal was bound TO escape me mar
who leaves nothing behind him can rob
and kill in safety When the crime IS
discovered the victims past Is dug up
his papers read. his friends peStered
After several months Of alnaless inquiry
some pOOT devil who has been wrongly
charged and kept under lock and Key
is released and the mystery declared in
derers- emboIdened by this failure Of
the notice, ply their calling anew, and
in all probability escape again
And yet, what can be more fasci-
mating than the tracking Of a criminal2
a clue, hardly noticed by unframed
ewes NAV reveal q whole drama II ali
its details An imprint, piece OF
paper. a misplaced object may prove
inks In long chain Of evidence TC
deyfuca from the position OF q body the
gesture Of a murderer; from the char
arter Of the wound. his trade and his
physical strength. and from the hour
Al which the crime was committed, the
habits OF the murderer-iu sort TO re-
construct tragedy from few care
f711lv studied facts as q naturalist re-
constructs a prehistoric animal with
the aid OF a single bone, surely IS
triumph OF science unexCelled by that
~ anv inventor who locks himself in
his laboratory for days and nights and
eventually solves his problem in the
teeth Of ali difficulties. For. after all,
the inventor pursues an immovabie OBJ
iect- Sooner OF later, II he persists,
he must win
The detective. on the other hand. is
matching his intellect against another
His clue may be false Els task al
hut accomplished, may suddenly become
homeless again His life is filed with
hone and despair. with fear and deCeD-
ton He must have the mentality Of 2
Scientist the cunning OF a hunter the
Goodness Of a general. the patience.
courage and higher instinct that con-
stitUte true greatness and lead to great
things
That life" thought Barton, Il should