The Washington herald. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1906-1939, 1915-06-06


suppose Yvonne has shown you one
Of the letters l am receiving? Here
are dozen or more OF them. l get
one or two every day. either here or
at my town house or at the office"
Kennedy had moved forward to see
them.
"One moment more" Brixton in
terrupted, still holding them. 81 shall
come back TO the letters That is not
the worst. I've had threatening let
tiers before Have you noticed this
room"
We had both seen and been i'm
pressed by it
Let me tell you more about ii" he
went on. at was designed especially
to be, among other things, absolutely
sound proof
We gazed curiously about the
strong room. 1t was beautifully dec
Grated and furnished. On the walls
was a sort of heavy, velvety green
wall paper. Exquisite hangings were
draped about, and on the floor were
thick rugs In all | noticed that the
prevailing tint was green.
81 had experiments carried out, he
explained languidly, with the OBJ
ject OF discovering methods and
means for rendering walls and cell
ings capable of effective resistance to
sound transmission. One of the meth
DDS devised. involved the use under
the ceiling or parallel to the wall, as
the case might be. of a network of
wire stretched tightly by means OF
pulleys in the adjacent walls and not
touching at any point the surface to
be protected against sound. Upon the
wire network is plastered compost
ton formed of strong glue, plaster
of Paris, and granulated cork, so As
to make a fiat slab, between which.
and the wall or ceiling is a cushion OF
confined air"
Kennedy had been listening atten-
lively. A. Brixton proceeded l had
noticed kennedy'S nostrils dilating
almost as if he were a hound and had
scented his quarry shifted, too. Yes,
there was a faint odor, almost as if
OF garlic in the room. 1t was unnis-
taxable Craig was looking about
curiously, as if to discover a window
by which the odor might have enter
ed Brixton, with his eyes following
keenly every move. noticed him.
more than that" he added quick
ly. 81 have had the most perfect sys-
TEN of modern ventilation installed in
this room, absolutely independent
from that in the house"
Kennedy said nothing.
"A moment ago, Mr. Kennedy, l
saw you and Mr.. Jameson glancing
up at the ceiling. Sound proof as this
room is, or as l believe it to be, /
| hear voices, voices from-not
through, you understand, but from
that very ceiling. l do not hear them
now 1t is only at certain times when
am alone. They repeat the words in
some OF these letters-'You must not
take up those bonds. You must not
endanger the peace of the world. You
will never live to get the interest
Over and over | have heard such SEN
fences spoken in this very room.
have rushed out and UP the corridor.
There has been no one there. / have
locked the steel door. Still l have
heard the voices. And it is absolutely
impossible that human being could
get close enough to say them without
my knowing and finding out where
he is"
Next came a close examination of
the ceiling and side walls, the floor,
the hangings, the pictures, the rugs,
everything. Kennedy was tapping
here and there all over the wall, as if
to discover whether there was any
such hollow sound as a cavity might
make. There was none.
A low exclamation from him at
tracted my attention, though it es
capped Brixton. His tapping had raised
the dust from the velvety wall paper
wherever he had tried it. Hastily,
from a corner where it would not be
noticed. he pulled off piece OF the
paper and stuffed it into his pocket.
Then followed a hasty examination
of the intake OF the ventilating appa-
ratus
Apparently satisfied with his exam
ination OF things in the den, Craig
now prepared to trace out the course
OF the telephone and light wires in
the house. Brixton excused himself,
asking us to join him in the library
upstairs after Craig had completed his
investigation.
Nothing was discovered by tracing
the lines back. as best we could, from
the den. Kennedy therefore began at
the other end, and having found the
points in the huge cellar OF the house
where the main trunk and feed wires
entered, he began systematic search
in that direction.
A separate line. led, apparently, to