The Yale expositor. (Yale, St. Clair County, Mich.) 1894-current, 1911-10-12

|
run or did so with exasperating un-
punctuality. We went straight to the
house and called Mr.. Clayton out of
bed. Crewe held up the cigars.
| Now, Mr.. Clayton, we must act
quickly" he said, "or you will find
that the quarry will have flown. Can
you bring Selim to the house as soon
as possible?"
II will do so at once" said Mr.. Clay
ton, much mystified.
IF he refuses to GOMEZ said.
He will not refuse. I can procure
a warrant from Mr.. Tighe, our near
est magistrate. But may l ask"
81 would rather say nothing" Crewe
| answered. 1T Is a desperate hope,
and yet it seems built upon something
of foundation. At any rate 1t will
do no harm. May l be allowed the
| setting of the little drama?"
by all MEANS" Mr.. Clayton an
| swered.
He set off as soon as he had
snatched hasty breakfast Of bread
and milk, and, after two hours of wait
ing, Crewe and saw him reappear
| with Selim. The servant came in
blandly; he was as suave In his de-
meanor as he had been pictured;
nevertheless l thought l could discern
an uneasy glance in his eye.
"Sit down, Mr.. Selim," said Mr.. Clay
ton. These gentlemen are friends of
| Claude BamwelPs and wish to inter-
rogate you"
II shall be delighted to do every
thing in my power to assist Them"
said the Indian, seating himself easily
at the table. IF only 1 could believe
that the unhappy young man was not
guilty of my dear masters death"
"Do you smoke, Mr.. Selim?" asked
Crewe abruptly.
The Indian started violently; then,
recovering his composure, replied:
II am not much of smoker, SIR"
| but you have smoked? Will you
oblige me by smoking a cigar with
me?" And he produced the box of
| Bornoes.
| I never saw such a change come
over human countenance as came
|
gasped like a fish out of water. Be-
fore he could regain his self-posses-
sion Crewe had placed before him a
sheet of paper and pencil. Upon the
paper was written:
| Il swear that I and I alone am re-
sponsible for the death of my master,
Sir George Bamwell."
CAS- an alternative to smoking, per-
haps you will sign this" said Crewe.
you may do BOTH" he added.
The Indian collapsed into his chair
with a CHASTITY smile.
mo, l will smoke" he said, pushing
the paper away.
| Crewe calmly lit cigar, and then
applied match to the Indians. And
there they sat, smoking in perfect ST.
| lence, while we others gathered
around in strained expectancy.
Come, throw away your cigar,
Selim, and sign that paper" said
Crewe, after a pause. The Indians
cigar now had an inch of ash on it;
| Crewe's was hardly trimmed.
Suddenly, as If inspired by some
invincible determination, the Indian
began smoking furiously. The smoke
came from his mouth in puffs. His
cigar was half consumed. The ST.
lence deepened. Some dreadful trag
edy seemed to depend upon the issue
of that smoking match.
"Selim," said Crewe, laying down
his cigar, Sign that paper" And he
removed the cigar from the Indians
mouth.
/ saw the Indian shoot out trem-
| bling claw. He grasped the pencil and
wrote his name almost illegibly be-
meath the paper. Then he glanced in
| to our faces with a pitiful smile. 1T
is finished" he said, and picked up
the cigar again.
Crewe leaped toward him and tried
| to wrest the cigar from his mouth. But
| the Indian, with grip of steel, held
Crewe's wrists, all the while drawing
in and putting out the smoke in thick
clouds. The ash was lengthening
| Still none of us stirred. We were
fascinated into inertia by this strange
drama.
All at once the end came. I saw an
ashen pallor overspread Selim's
swarthy face. He choked; he beat the
air with his hands; then, without a
sound, he toppled over to the ground.
Mr.. Clayton raised him quickly, but
one look into Selim's face was suffi-
cient to tell us all that life was ended.
"You sec, gentlemen" said Crewe,
cas- had suspected, those cigars were
highly charged with a volatile poison,
variant Of prussic acid. Selim had
given the box to Claude to present to
his father, or rather, had cunningly
contrived that Claude should purchase
the box at the store in Tilbury, where
he had 1t placed on sale. The reason
why no poison was found in the cigar
butts was that ii had already been
drawn out Of the cigars into the lungs
of the victims.
you know that as one smokes a
cigar toward the butt the stump con-
stantly becomes warmer and damper,
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