Rock Island Argus. (Rock Island, Ill.) 1893-1920, 1912-01-06

lions for trains which either did not |
run or did so with exasperating I'M
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, cor you will find
that the quarry will have flown. Can
you bring Sellm to the house as soon .
as possible?'' [
'I will do so at once" said Mr.. Clay /
ton, much mystif1ed.
"If he refuses to comet said.
HE will not refuse. can procure /
a warrant from Mr.. Tighe, our near /
est magistrate. But may I ask"
'I would rather say nothing" Crewe |
answered. ct is q desperate hope, i
and yet it seems built upon something
of foundation. At any rate 1t will
do no harm. May I be allowed the
setting of the little drama?'
by all means" Mr.. Clayton an
swered.
| He set OF; as soon as he had
! snatched q hasty breakfast Of bread
and milk, and, after two hours of wait
ing, Crewe and I saw him reappear
with Selim. The servant came in
blandly; he was as suave In his de-
meanor as he had been pictured:
nevertheless I thought could discern
an uneasy glance In his eye.
"Sit down, Mr. Selim," said Mr.. Clay
| ~ dc nf
| Claude Bamwell's and wish to inter
rogate you"
1T shall be delighted to do every
thing in my power to assist Them"
said the Indian, seating himself easily
at the table. "If only I 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:
"I am not much of a smoker, sir"
But you have smoked? VIII you
oblige me by smoking q cigar with
met" And he produced the box Of
Bornoes.
never saw such q change come
over q human countenance as came
over the Indians. For a moment he
gasped like fish out of water. Be-
fore he could regain his self-posses-
sion Crewe had placed before him a
sheet of paper and a pencil. Upon the
paper was written:
II swear that and I alone am re-
sponsible for the death of my master.
Sir George Bamwell."
"As 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 q CHASTITY smile.
mo, will smoke" he said, pushing
the paper away.
Crewe calmly lit cigar. and then
applied q match to the Indians. And
there they sat, smoking In perfect ST.
lenee. 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
I cigar now had an inch of ash on it;
Crewe's was hardly trimmed.
Suddenly, as If inspired by some
invincible determination, the Indiar
began smoking furiously. The smoke
came from his mouth in puffs. His
cigar was half consumed. The 81
lence deepened. Some dreadful trag
edy seemed to depend upon the issue
Of that smoking match.
"Selim," said Crewe, laying dowr
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 pitiful smile. "I
is finished" he said. and picked VI
the cigar again. y
Crewe leaped toward him and triet
to wrest the cigar from his mouth. Blu
the Indian, with grip Of steel, hell
Crewe's wrists, all the while drawing
in and putting out the smoke in thicl
clouds. The ash was lengthening
Still none of us stirred We wer,
fascinated into inertia by this strang
drama.
All at once the end came. I saw al
ashen pallor overspread Selim'
swarthy face. He choked; he beat tn
air with his hands; then, without
sound. he toppled over to the ground
Mr.. Clayton raised him quickly, bu
IA one look into selim's face was suff
10 cient to tell us all that life was ended
"You see, gentlemen" said Crewt
o. "as 1 had suspected, those cigars wer
e. highly charged with a volatile poison
" a variant of prussic acid. Selim ha
given the box to Claude to present t
d, his father, or, rather, had cunningl
" contrived that Claude should purchas
,e the box at the store in Tilbury, wher
he had it placed on sale. The reaso
a why no poison was found In the ciga
" butts was that 1t had already bee
a drawn out of the cigars into the lung
of the victims
"You know that as one smokes
r cigar toward the butt the stump col
ID stantly becomes warmer and dampe
ID the fluids being driven back by tn
p. flame. There was no danger in tn