The evening times. [volume] (Grand Forks, N.D.) 1906-1914, 1910-03-01

ache-terriblc, piercing, intense. A half
hours reposc, and it will be gone. But until
them"
And he shook his head sadly.
As he passed out, Mr. Willoughby glanced
up, pushed back his chair, and in hearty
voice exclaimed:
LET us adjourn to the billiard room and
continue the discussion there. What you say
is most interesting, Mr.. Kingston, most inter-
esting"
Zone moment" said Kingston; "befcre
We 60 have a little trinkct would like to
show you. 1t is connected with an extremely
romantic episode in real life."
He held the silver hammer so that all could
sec it.
This hammer is souvenir Of banquet
which attended in London just before
sailed. There were only six guests, and
every one Of them. except myself, was mil
lionaire. The host was Tallmadge Mac
Intyre.
you have not heard of Tallmadge, i'm
agine. He is man about my age, and an in
innate friend Of mine We have this in COM
mon that Ne are both of us Adventures in the
strange places of the earth. seek scientific
discoveries, Tallmadge hunts for wealth.
Two years ago he drifted to the Cobalt re-
gion Of Canada. Wandering its length and
breadth. he sought in vain to find mine that
would give him the fortune he craved. He
. became penniless. in rags, almost starving.
One evening, after wearisome and fruitlcss
days labor, he was returning to camp, when
startled rabbit flashed across the trail in front
of him. ,..... ...,.....
Instinctivcly, Tallmadge hurled his pros
pecting hammer at the fleeing rabbit. 1t
struck nowhere near the little creature, but
fell with force against the rocky hillside.
STOPPING to pick it up, Tallmadge's eye
caught familiar CLEAN beneath the earth it
had scraped away. He fell on his knees and
went frantically to work. Within week he
knew beyond the shadow of doubt that his
chance blow had opened up one Of the richest
silver properties in the Cobalt country. A
month or 50 ago he sold his rights for fabu-
lous sum to syndicate of London capital
lists"
Lucky dog!" calculated Dick Willoughby.
"The dinner" continued Kingston, "was
given to celebrate his triumph. Silver ham,
mcrs and silver rabbits were distributed as
souvenirs. was toying with this hammer
against the side of goblet and noticed that in
striking it against the glass it caused singu-
larly musical sound. Investigating, found
that when brought into contact with the
proper substances it had an uncanny quality
of Stimulating different expressions Of human
emotion-love, hatred, fear, and so forth.
Let me illustrate what mean. You have a
gong on the sideboard@"
With deft motion he struck the gong
smartly half dozen times. The room was
filed with clamor that rose to piercing
shrillncss and then mournfully died away.
Some one cried in horror:
The vail Of lost SOUL Oh, don't do that
again, Mr.. Kingston"
Il am very sorry" and Kingston slipped
the hammer into his pocket; I" really had no
idea the effect would be so unpleasant"
There was general movement toward the
door. Crossing rapidly to Dick side, King
sion muttcrcd:
Make an excuse to bring your father to
my room at once. have sprung the trap,
and fancy VIC shall not find it empty"
4 minute later Kingston, Dick and Mr..
Willoughby were standing together in the
darkness Of his room. He was speaking to
them earnestly: "Do not be shocked by any
thing you may sec. The situation is most
serious, but, as promised, everything will
come out right. Let us go to the den by
way of the piazza"
"The second window to tho right, +" whis-
pcred Dick, "where you see the glimmer of
light"
Look for yourselves" he said, tersely.
Father and son rccoilcd in amazement and
dismay. The room, as Dick had told Kings.
ton, was but dimly lighted, by single lamp
covered with red shade Yet its every de-
tail could be seen with sufficient clearncss.
Midway between the window and the door
stood mahogany writing table, pushed back
against the wall. By this table, crouched in a
most extraordinary attitude not unlike that of
asprintcr at the mark, was the form of a man.
One hand rested on the table. or rather on a
bag which it held with tenacious grasp. The
other was outstretehed toward the window.
The face was plainly visible, eyes wide open
and staring, features fixed in an expression OF
deathly fear. 1t was the Count dc Sacran.
."There gentlemen" said Kingston. 'is the
writer Of your Black Hand letters, the man
who has SO greatly troubled you with his
demands, and his threats"
1& e 5seesay ;