The Washington herald., 1914-03-01

AA1c-f AhoAuCtehs haAf gOu nave b0Ccce0eu
in doing that have no doubt you
hoped that you were safe at last. you
short-sighted fool! The mills Of God
grind slowly. but they grind exceeding
fne-your sort they grind to powder. You
are already being slipped between the
stones; your course has rum"
The grimace which distorted his face
was rather a grin than a smile as he
asked:
''In the name OF all that's marvellous,
from what madhouse have you been per-
mitted to escape?'
when you planned that grand coup.
putting the onus of all your guilt upon
an innocent man and shutting him up for
fourteen awful years. you overlooked one
small point: that all men are not devils.
that to some is given the saving grace OF
repenting their sins. And so poor a
judge Of character are you that you were
unaware that your own partner, your
first victims unhappy father, was one
Of them
He interrupted me, speaking. for the
first time. savagely:
Have you been talking to old Hut
ton? Has he been coaching you in this
tissue OF nOnSenSeE
As before, 1 left his questions unan-
swered; simply went on.
Fortunately for himself, your partner
was one of those who cannot know hap
piness unless his conscience is clear and
he is at peace with God. You had his SON
in your mind. BY melting him to self
murder you believed yourself to have es-
capped one danger. You hoped. by induc-
ing the father to initiate his son, you
would escape another. Today-only a
very little while ago-you murdered him.
His skin became lfvid, his lips trem-
bled. words stuck in his throat, fear
touched his heart.
"What-what do you mean?r
/ believe he meant to say more, but
could not He shrank back from me as
IL in physical terror. i gave him no
quarter. held out my right hand, palm
uppermost. On il was the small blue
vial
"Do you recognize that?"
He looked at It as il It were some dread
ful thing; again he stammered his ques-
ton:
'What-what do you mean?"
This morning saw you give that vial
to your partner, Michael Hutton. I saw
you give him this vial few hours ago,
In the public gardens. He said to you.
What is it,? You replied. 'Mandragora'
He asked. WY it give me sleep?' You
said, If you choose. sleep which will
know no waking You let him take the
vial between his shaking fingers. and you
walked of. knowing that you had left
death behind you"
Suddenly realized that he was cycling
the tiny glass bottle with a new express
sion in his glance.
'T don't believe It's empty" He said
II almost as il he were speaking to him
self. He drew closer. st don't believe
the contents have been touched"
He made 4 sudden grab at the vial. ]
withdrew it just in the nick of time.
There was the sound of an unmusical bell.
who is that?' he asked.
I said: Had you not better go TO the
door and see?"
something in my face which set his own
thoughts travelling.
rs it some one for yoU?"
''It is some one for you-at last"
rs that so? Some one for meat last"
He stopped: there was silence. The bell
rang again. l was just about to suggest
again that he should go and see who was
at the outer door when-he leaped at me.
And I was unprepared. He had me by
the throat before had even realized that
danger threatened.
am a woman. but no weakling. have
always felt it my duty to keep my body
in proper condition, trying to learn all
that physical culture can teach me.
only recently had been having lessons in
jiu-jitsu-the Japanese ART of self-defense.
had been diligently practicing 4 trick
which was intended to be used when a
frontal attack VS. made upon the throat.
Even as. dare say, he was thinking that
was already as good as done for, 1 tried
that trick. His fingers released my
throat, and he was on the floor without,
I fancy, understanding how he got there.
I doubt if there ever was a more amazed
man. When he began TO realize what had
happened he gasped up at me-he was
still on the floor: "'You-you-"
While he was still endeavoring to find
adjectives sufficiently strong to fit the
occasion the inspector for whose attend
ance l had telegraphed to Scotland Yard
came into the room. In the note I had
left at the hotel I told him to follow me
at once. and IL he was not able to obtain
instant admission to the house. then he
was to use means of his own to get in
quickly. The Inspector mad some skele-
ton keys in his pocket which had once
been part of a skilful burglars outfit:
when there came no answer to his ring
ing he promptly opened the front door
with them.
Mr.. Thomas Walker understood what
the newcomers presence meant; he need
ed no explanation. In the struggle I had
dropped the blue vial, fact which he
realized quicker than I did. Before
knew it had fallen he, still on the floor.
had snatched II. had the cork out, was
putting the bottle to his lips.
stop him. I cried. TITS poisonr'
I cried too late: before We could reach
him he had empt'ed the vial. He was
dead. as quickly as II he had been struck
by lightning. The vial had contained suf-
ficient cyanide of potassium to kill fifty
men. The death he had meant for his
partner was his instead.
Representations were made to the au-
thorities. Michael Hutton's confession
was placed before them, together with
certain facts which came to light when
was made of Thomas Wal
ker's papers. George Young was par
doned-for what he had never done. Old
Mr.. Hutton was arrested: he died before
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