The Washington herald., 1914-12-06
- BY
T. w. Hanshew

| and rising in a sort OF panic, made her
! wayertng way across the room and threw
4 herself not upon the bosom OF Lord St.
Just, but upon that OF her brother Jack.
And all in a moment as a lightning fash
| illuminates a night sky. CIeek under
stood why she had objected 10 the inter-
Not that she herself was guilty, even
| in the remotest degree; not, as he had
been told that she believed her lover
was, but that like Eugene Brand she,
too, suspected her brother Jack
There has been no crime-tnere Is no
one guilty. Tell him that there Isn't,
voice OF fright and faintness. 1T is
all a coincidence-but strange, horrible
colncidence!''
Her state Of agony and apprehension
bear appeaslng it
MY dear Miss Arbuthnot." he said
gently. Il am quite as sure Of that now
as you yourself are; but there are GER
tain forms Of the law which must be
followed out. and IL some one of the
gentlemen present will kindly conduct
me towel. upstairs. ! have not the
slightest doubt I shall be able to make
report which will do away with any
further legal interference"
''Oh. can you? Will your" she asked,
swallowing the foolish bait and brighten
ing perceptibly oh. take him up, Gene
take him up and let him see
Better let me do that" interposed
Lord St. Just. moving hastily forward.
or speak. Come along. Mr. -er, what's
your name. I'll show you"
May l ask this gentleman to do that
said Cleek, indicating Jack Arbuthnot.
He appears to be the head of the fam
lily"
The explanation of his choice was at
once so natural and so well calculated
to allay any suspicion of an uIterior mo-
tive that both Brand and st. Just
cepted II unquestioned, while Arhuthnot,
believing Cleek to be acting in his Serv-
ire nd n
accept the position and to lead him to
the death chamber as he had desired.
You covered your tracks nicely. hr;
C1eek,'' he said as he closed the door and
turned up the gas. None Of them sus-
pects-none."
Give me but a moment to examine
the poor little fellows body. Mr. Arbuth-
not" he replied. And will turn all sus-
picions-evep- my own-intO certainty.
Then he crossed the room, passed round
behind the screen which had been drawn
round the bed where the dead child lay.
and for two or three minutes Jack Ar
buthnot. standing in the middle Of the
floor and squeezing his hands until the
knuckles cracked, saw nothing OF him.
At the expiration of that period, how
ever, he reappeared. his lips set. his whole
face as hard as iron What he had eN-
pected to find he had found. and the
mystery OF the means was a mystery no
longer.
Il know how. Mr. Arbuthnot." he said.
Now let me see if can discover who.
to him He stopped. biting his words
OF short and sucking his breath sharply
and stood silently staring.
On his entrance into the room he had
seen-in that vague. disconnected. half
conscious way in which one does see
and note such things-that there wero
there was a queer. squat earthen figure
of uncouth modelling and inhuman as
pect on a low pedestal near the window.
and within reaching. distance from the
cd IN ina "a q nj a N
idol OF some description-was that OF
grinning monster, part man, part toad,
with a huge undershot jaw. close shut,
protruding mouth and two bored-out
holes. which were meant for nostrils. and
led down into the hollow interior Of the
hideous thing. Ard deep down behind
the opening OF those nOsIrfls-revealed by
the position of the gas jet overhead-he
now saw a fullenlike mass of dusty I'll
ament that had some faint. dull CLEANS
Of light in 1t, and was as soft as raveled
silk.
Tell me something" he said. switch
ing round and looking at ATbuthnot.
Who owns that thine. and how did It
oh. that 1t belongs to Brand. It's
an Aztec idol. He got it from Mexico.
Got lots more OF such things. Brought
'em with him when he came to take mp
his quarters with US. This one was pack
ed away in a box. and he was for mailing
il up again and having the beastly thing
kept in storage somewhere until he could
UP in the grounds. He would have done
so. too. only that my sister said il was
absolutely fascinating, and persuaded him
to set it up indoors, and buy that Un-
canny pedestal.
You are certain Of that? You can
swear that it never would have been TN
packed but for your sister,
Yes; certainly. They will all swear
to that
Then call them UP and let them swsa~
to ii here and nov" said Gleek. ga.
minute or two later. Arbuthnot returned
in company with the others.
Tell me something" CIeek said.
screwinE round and walking up to En-
that that Aztec thing is yours
Why. yes, Of course. Anybody can
Mexico few days before left America,
and had it boxed and sent here"
You never willingly unlocked it? YoT
would have kept it hidden. kept it l1
sirc?''
Certainly. he would-I'u swear tr
that chimed in Lord 81. Just. Il was
present at the time. wasn't ]. Kat T.
your wrim."
NO, it never would" she agreed.
You want to know the answer to this
imsge s That's that sit accmrSed 10 thfns
there, You want to know whose hand
brought the horror Of the laughing death
did. Mr.. Eugene Brand
Mine, he cried. jumping back as
though hit. My God. man. are you in
sane? Are, you daring TO suggest that
am a murderer
NO" said CIeek. For there is no muir
derer. No man is guilty; Do You want
to know what is? Then look and see
With that he lifted the image from its
pedestal. raised il above his head, and
then with all his strength dashed II to
the floor. 1t broke into twenty fragments.
and as these scattered, out from a filmv
mass OF web which had lined the whole
interior Of the figure there darted sud
denly the shape of a huge. CrablilIe spider
that was half the size or mans hand.
Good God A taTantula-a Mexican
tarantula." cried out Brand in a voice OF
horror.
Yes. a Mexican tarantula-the dead
lest insect in all the world" said CleCk.
as he sprang like a leapinS cat and
trampled the thing to pulp beneath his
feet. ''Tarantism is the name thev give
The wild state of eXhilaration Of laugh
ing mania and dancing madness that
comes from the bite OF 1t. 1t is so vio-
lent state Of delirium that. in the dayS
Of old. when they could think OF nothing
more appropriate for the barbaric capcr-
ngs of a savage people. they named their
lance the tarantella in commemoration OF
/. No crime has been committed. for the
leaths that have come have come through
accident. No doubt the victims noticed
1t some time, I noticed. that funnel
of web in tho nostrils of the figure and
hidden horror and TO receive its incurable
bite. The riddle is solved. my friends.
Ind, thank God. the laughing death has
passed you by forever"
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