Pierre weekly free press. (Pierre, S.D.) 1889-19??, 1914-11-19
assed before he came back.

some one OF the stewards Will recos-
nize his photograph. There were three
Adriatic and Cecelie from Cherbourg,
and La Touraine from Eavre There
is nothing else that l know OF" he
added thoughtfully. except that Frey
%linghuisen thinks he has discovered the
nature of the poison. He says it is
acid"
Yes" 1 said, II heard him say
something of the sort last night.
Il had a talk with him this after
noon about it. and he was quite
learned" Godfrey went on. This is a
great chance for him to get before the
public, and he's making the most of
it. l gathered from what he said that
ordinary prussic acid. which is deadly
enough. heavens knows, contains only
2 per cent of the poison; while the
strongest solution Yet obtained con-
tains only 4 per cent Freylinghuisen
says that whoever concocted this par
tlcular poison has evidently discov-
cred a new way of doing 1t-or TedlS-
covered an old way-so that it is at
least so per cent effective. In other
words. If You can get a fraction of a
drop of it in a mans blood, you Kill
him by paralysis quicker than il You
put a bullet through his heart
Nothing al saw a man. them l
questioned.
NOtlllllS on eaTlI. oH, l. uON | Say
that il somebody had an ak handy
and chopped your arm off at the
shoulder IN instant after YOU were
struck on the hand, you mightn't have
q chance to live; but it would take
mighty quick work, and even then. it
huisen thinks it is a new discovery. 1
don't. L think some one has dug up
one Of the old Medici formulate. Maybe
it was placed in the secret drawer, so
that there would never be any lack of
ammunition for the mechanism"
Godfrey" l said, ARE you still bent
on fooling with that thing"
More than ever; I'm going to find
that secret drawer. And if the fangs
strike-well. I'm ready for them. See
here what l had made today
He drew from his pocket something
!. that looked like a steel gauntlet, lei
, as one sees on suits of old armor. He
4 Slipped 1t oVer his right hand.
i You see it covers the back OF the
hand completely" he said. half way
down the first joint of the fingers. 1t
v is made of the toughest steel and
would turn a bullet. And dc you see
how 1T is depressed in the middle,
Lester?"
g Yes" ] said. IT was wondering why
you had it made in that shape"
! II want to get a sample of that
q poison. My theory is that when the
e fangs strike the hand. the shock drives
r out q drop or two of the poison.
d don't want those drops to get away:
e want them to roll into this depression
n and | shall very carefully bottle them
S Think what they are, Lester-the poi
son of the Medici!"
e sat for a looking at him
e half in amusement, half in sorrow. Ii
seemed a pity that his theory mus
come tumbling down, it was SO pic
turesque. and he was so interested anc
Ill G0IlllSliC11r nNpr hJl r-,. Il
IS make such a good story! He caugh,
D my glance. and put the gauntlet bach
into his pocket.
$. Well. what is it?" he asked quietly
d For answer, l got out the cable.
gram and passed 1t across to him. II,
g read it with brows contracted.
D. That seems to put q punctlre IL
le our little romance. doesn't it?'
ID asked. at last
He nodded thoughtfully.
Yes. it does" and he read the mes,
A. sage again, word by word. "Armand'i
to man hasn't called yet?"
NO, 1 didn't get the message til
about 3 O'Clock. L suppose he'll b.
,e around tomorrow
I'd "You will have to turn the cabine
o. over to him, of course?"
id Why. yes, 1t belongs to him. A
ly least. 1t doesn't belong to Vantine."
t. He slipped the message into it's en-
ny velope and handed it back to me.
I>Sulu Y IIdl lc Was peTplCAcu AM
upset.
u We'll, In spite OF this he said fin
he ally, Il am still interested In that cabi
lie net, Lester. and 1 wish you would kee
Of possession Of it as long as you can. A
least, l wouldn't give it up until h
delivered to you the other cabine
which Vantine really bought"
ly oh. I'll make him do that" l agree
er quickly. That will no doubt take
er few days-longer than that if Van
so tines cabine is in Paris"
Godfrey raised a finger to the waite,
or asked for the check and paid it.
he And now let US go down and nave
he look at this one" he said. as we in
he tended doing. You will think me fool
to ish, Lester. but wen that c~ablegral
hasn't shaken my belief in the exist
ence Of that secret drawer
ce And all the rest?' ! asked.
is Yes" he answered slowly. land a
the rest He said nothing more ant
we stopped before the Nantine hous
cd but I could see, from his puckere
IN, brows, how desperately he was tryin
to untangle this quirk In the myster
we THE siege seems to have been lift
ad ed" remarked, as we alighted.
The siege?"
we Parks telephoned me that YOU
esteemed contemporaries had the plac
he surrounded. 1 told him to hold II
IN fort!"
ris Poor boys!" he commented, smilin
ITO think that all they know is VIII;
Grady is able to tell them!" Then /
STOPPED before the house and made
L." careful survey of it.
lar Which room is the cabinet IMP" /
&C. asked.
ob- The ante-room is there at the lie
ers where those two shattered windov
,ht are. The cabinet is in the corner roo
to there is one window on this side al
two on the other"
ort Wait till 1 take a look at them" ]
said, and, %vaulting the low railing, ]
walked quickly along the front of Il
house n around the corner. He W;
of gone only a minute They're {
Ids right" he said. in a tone of relief.
he "Of course they're all right. "
ew didn't suppose"
me IF that cabinet contains what
i'm thought it did. Lester-yes," he adde
De- a little savagely. as he saw my loo
and what l still think it does
wouldn't be safe In the strongest vat
n" of the National City bank" and
ust motioned for me to ring the bell.
ect / did so, in silence.
M ~ , ar1yG arcyuavo1 ~ a1v,1~t i,,to ~