The Hattiesburg news. (Hattiesburg, Miss.) 1908-1917, 1915-05-29

| away. The captain watched her anx.
iously.
Il can't help IT," she explained. Il
! don't know whether you've had any
| talk with Mr. Quest, but we've been
| through some queer times lately. l
! guess this death business is getting
| on my nerves"
The captain was startled.
| you don't for a moment connect
Mrs. Foston Rowe's death with the
criminal you are in search of" he
exclaimed.
Laura sat quite still for moment.
THE bouillon was offered first to
Mr.. Quest" she murmured.
The captain called his steward
where did you get the bouillor
from you served-that last cup, espe-
cially?" he asked.
From the pantry just as usual,
| sir" the man answered. at was all
served out from the same caldron."
ANY chance of anyone getting at
it?"
Quite impossible, sir"
| In Quests stateroom the doctor,
the professor, Quest and Lenora were
all gathered around two little tubes,
which the criminologist was examin-
/ ing with an electric torch.
mo reaction at ALL" the latter NUT
tered This isn't an ordinary poison,
anyway"
The professor, who had been stand
| ing on one side, suddenly gave vent to
a soft exclamation.
Wait" he whispered wait!
have an idea"
He hurried off to his stateroom.
The doctor was porting over volume
of tabulated poisons.. Quest was still
watching his tubes. Lenora sat upon
the couch. Suddenly the professor
| reappeared He was carrying small
notebook in his hand, his manner be-
trayed some excitement. He closed
the door carefully behind him.
II want you ALL" he begged, "to
listen very carefully to me. You will
discover the application of what I am
going to read when l am finished.
Now, if you please"
This" he began, sis the diary of a
tour made by Craig and myself in
northern Egypt some fourteen years
ago. Here is the first entry of i'm
port:
MONDAY-Twenty-n miles southeast
of Port Said. We have stayed for two
| days at a little Mongar village. 1 have
| today come to the definite conclusion that
! anthropoid apes were at one time deni-
| Zens of this country.
TUESDAY-Both Craig and have been
a little uneasy today. These Mongars
| into whose encampment we have found
our way, are one of the strangeSt and
| fiercest of the nomad tribes They are
descended. without a doubt, from the an
| cient Mongolians, who invaded this coun-
| try some seven hundred years before
| Christ, but have preserved in a marvellous
way their individuality as a race. They
| have the narrow eyes and the thick nose
! base of the pure Oriental: also much of
I bis cunning. One of their special weak
! nesses seems to be the invention Of the
most hideous forms of torture, which
they apply remorselessly to their enc
miles,
w ELM has Dctu a Wptl-
/ derful day for us, chiefly owing to what
/ 1 must place on record as an act of great
| bravery by Craig, my servant Early this
/ morning, a man-eating lion found his
| way into the encampment. The Mongars
| behaved like arrant towards They fed
right and left, leaving the chiefs little
! daughter, Feerda, at the brute's mercy.
/ Craig. who is by no means an adept in
| the use of firearms. chased the animal as
I, H. o,,5
| more by good luck than anything else,
managed to wound it mortally. He
brought the child back to the encamp-
ment just as the chief and the warriors
of the tribe returned from a hunting eX-
petition. Our position here is now abso-
lutely secure. We are treated like gods,
and, approaching my weakness for all
! matters of science. the chief has today
explained to me many of the secret mys-
teries Of the tribe. Amongst other things,
he has shown me q wonderful secret poi
son, known only to this tribe, which they
call Veedemzoo. 1t brings almost instant
| death, and is exceedingly difficult to trace.
| The addition Of sugar causes a curious
| condensation and resolves ii almost to a
! white paste The only antidote is SUBJ
| stance which they use here freely, and
| which is exactly equivalent to our cam
phor.
The professor closed his book.
Quest promptly rang the bell
Some sugar." he ordered, turning
to the steward.
They waited in absolute silence.
| The suggestion which the professor
| disclosure had brought to them was
| Supplying, even Quests fingers. as a
moment or two later he rubbed two
knobs of sugar together so that the
contents should fall into the tubes of
| bouillon, shook The result was
| magical. The bouillon turned to a
strange shade of gray and began
| slowly to thicken.
at is Mongar poison!" the profess
| sor cried, with breaking voice.
| They all looked at one another.
Craig must be here amongst u.s."
| Quest muttered
And the bouillon," Laura cried,
| clasping Quests arm, 'the bouillon
| was meant for you!"
There seemed to be, somehow,
among all of them, curious indis-
position to discuss this matter. Sud
denly Lenora. who was sitting on the