The Ely miner. [volume] (Ely, Minn.) 1895-1986, 1912-11-15
William
Johnston.

of it. Their greatest pleasure Is in
the torture of their victims, in the
agony they suffer from the time the
nameless dread Of the Black Hand
first seizes them until finally they are
put to death for refusing the socief Us
exactions. 1t Is this evil spirit that
kills kings, burns witches, destroys
property and lynches negroes. The
Parrish mystery, however, is of the
second class-the crime of the pair.
l am certain Of It,"
THE important thing then for us
to do" said I, trying to bring him
from the abstract to the concrete, "is
to find Hugh Crsndall and also to dis
cover who was his closest associate
man or woman"
DO you think so?" he asked enig-
matically, adding a second later,
Cant you take NE to see Miss Far
rish?"
Hardly another word passed be-
tween us as the taxicab whirled us up
Madison avenue to the generals home.
| was thinking about Davis strange
theories Of crime and his opinion that
this was crime Of the pair. l felt
sure that he, as well as /, must be
convinced Of Crandall's connection
with the matter and surely his fight
did not argue innocence. But If this
was crime Of the pair, who was the
other guilty person? Whom did Davis
suspect? He had said that it might be
either two men or a man and a wom-
an. A woman? Could it be that he
suspected Katharine Parrish of snar-
| ing Crandall's guilt?
No, no it was impossible. too alb
surd. Yet certainly the yellow letter
seemed link between her and Elser.
1t was she who for long time had
been Crandall's closest associate. That
association apparently had been re-
| Gently renewed in secret. Was it pos
sible that back Of the mystery there
was some crime and that Katharine
was guilty?
For a moment I was tempted to or
der the chauffeur to stop. 1t seemed
almost dissertation TO take this heart
less analyzer of crime into the home
where death stalked so close. Sup
post Katharine was-No, had pledged
my word to Louise that / would
solve the mystery and I would keep
my promise, no matter where 1t led
me. After all, the important thing
was my beloved ones peace of mind
AS long as the shadow hung over her
father and sister, her happiness must
be marred. Better the knowledge OF
evil than the terror Of mystery.
Davis wasted little time in cere-
mony. AS soon as l had introduced
him to Louise, he said abruptly:
I'D like to see the room where 1t
happened-alone."
AS Louise called one of the sery-
ants to escort him upstairs / was re-
joicing at the opportunity to be alone
with her. The cold formality of her
| greeting would have troubled me had
l not attributed it to the inspectors
presence. AS soon as he had left us.
with the memories Of the evening be-
| fore glowing in my mind, turned to
embrace her.
Don't, please dont," she said cold
ly. .uH ua s...
why, dearest!" stammered In
amazeiuent.
She offered no explanation but said
| in the most matter-of-fact tones-too
matter-of-fact to be natural, thought
TELL me, Mr.. Kent, what Won
learned at the place where Mr.. Elser
| lived"
was dumfounded What had
come over her? What could have
happened to make this sudden change
in her attitude toward me? Could
this cool, distant young woman be the
same girl who only few hours before
had chung so desperately to me and
had wept out her sorrows in my arms?
Had she overnight forgotten the kiss
with which We pledged our joint eff
forts to solve the mystery?
Tell me, Mr.. Kent" she persisted
quietly, lis there yellow letter in
that case, too? Do you believe there
can be any connection between Mr..
Elser and-and what Katharine did 2"
Greatly perturbed, yet trying to con-
| vince myself that her attitude was
only girls natural reaction as she
recollected the events of the evening
before, | was Just beginning to rehearse
what little we had learned in ths
clearinghouse when Davis came rum
| ming down the stairs.
Tell me-" he said abruptly to LOU
Use, what color are Mr. CrandaIls
| eyes?" 90
Blue" said Louise, "gray-hlue."
"Humph!"
/ could see she was as much puzzled
| at his question as / had been, but he
offered no explanation and made NO
comment.
WAS Crandall left-handed?" he
snapped
II don't think So" said Louise after
"a minutes thought 81 never noticed
that he was" aH
"Humph!" he repeated, his eyes row.
Ing about the room. Take me in to
see General Parrish"
The young doctor whom Doctor Will
cox had left in charge happened to be
passing through the hall. and stopped
as he heard the request.
at can do no HARM" he said, in re-
ply to Louise's look Of inquiry.
The four OF us-the doctor, Davis,
louise and myself. In the order named,
siptoed into the generals room. Twas
prepared for great change in him.
but his appearance was really terrify-
ing. Perceptibly thinner, aged as by
many years, all shriveled and shrunk-
en-, he lay chained to his bed by his