The Washington herald., 1915-08-01

! iihciS pidSct VI GILL; AAic
We made our way into the grounds
through a gate. and I. at least even
with all the enlightenment of modern
science. could not restrain a weird and
creepy sensation.
Here is the PHELPS tomb" directed
Andrews, pausing beside marble struc-
ture of Grecian lines and pulling out a
duplicate key of a new lock which had
been placed on the heavy door of grated
iron. AS we entered. it was with
shudder at the damp odor Of decay. Ken
needy had brought his little electric
bulrs-eye. and. as he flashed II about,
We could see at a glance that the re-
ports had not been exaggerated. Every
thing showed marks of a struggle. Some
of the ornaments had been broken. and
the coffin itself had hecn forced open
" have had things kept just as We
found them" explained Andrews.
, Kennedy peered into the broken cof-
IN long and attentively With a lit
tie effort I. too. followed the course of
the circle of light. The body was. as
Andrews had said in an excellent. in
deed a perfect. state of preservation.
There were. strange to say. no marks of
decay
Strange very strange muttered
Kennedy to himself
Gould it have been some medical stu
dents. -snatchers?" asked musins-
". ''Or was it simply a piece of van
dalismo"
Craig had dropped on his knees on the
damp, widowed floor. and bringing his
bull's-eye close 10 the stones. was ex-
aiming some spots here and there.
We bent over closer to watch Ken
needy. Apparently he had found a num-
Der of round. fat spots with little spat-
tiers beside them. He was carefully try
ing to scrape them up with as little of
the surrounding mould Is possible.
Suddenly. without warning. there was
4 noise outside. as if a person were
moving through the underbrush. Il was
fearsome in its suddenness. Was it hu-
man or wrath? Kennedy darted to the
door in time 10 see a shadow glide silent
y away. lost in the darkness of the fine
old willows. Some one had approached
the mausoleum for a second time, not
knowing we were there. and had escap-
ed. Down the road We could hear the
purr of an almost silent motor
Somebody is trying to get in @ con-
ceal something here" muttered Ken
NEEDY. sitting his disappointment at not
getting a closer view of the intruder.
Then it was not suicide" I ex-
claimed. 1T was murder
Craig shook his head sententiously.
Evidently he was not prepared yet TO
talk
With another look at the body in the
broken casket he remarked: '"Tomor-
row I want to call on Mrs Phelps and
DR.. Forden. and If it is possible to find
him. Dana Phelps Meanwhile, An
drews. if YOU and Walter will stand
guard here. there is an apparatus which
| should like to get from my laboratory
and set up here before 1t is too late"
II was far past the witching hour of
midnight. when graveyards proverbially
yawn. before Craig returned in the car.
Nothing had happened in the meantime
except those usual eery noises that one
may hear in the country at night any
where. Our visitor of the early evening
seemed to have been scared away for
good. Inside the mausoleum Kennedy
set up A peculiar machine which he at
taChed to the electric light circuit in the
street by a long wire which he ran
loosely over the ground. Part of the ap-
paratus consisted of an elongated box
lined with lead. to which were several
other attachments, the nature of which
I did not understand, and crank han
die.
whats that" asked Andrews curl
ously. as Craig set up a screen between
the apparatus and the body.
This is a calcium tungsten SCREEN"
remarked Kennedy. adjusting now what
I know to be a Crookes' tube on the
other side of the body itself. so that the
order was: the tube. the body. the
screen. and the oblong box. Without a
further word we continued to watch
him.
At last. the apparatus adjusted appar-
emily to his satisfactio he brought out
jar of thick white liquid and a bottle
Of powder.
"Buttermilk and a couple of ounces Of
hismuth subcarbonate.'' he remarked. as
he mixed some in a glass. and with a
pump forced it down the throat of the
body. now living SO that the abdomen
was almost fiat against the screen.
He turned switch and the peculiar
blush effulgence. which always appears
when a Crookes tube is being used. |
burst forth. accompanied by the droning |
of his induction coil and the welcome |
smell of ozone produced by the electrical
discharge in the almost fetid air of the |
tomb. Meanwhile. he was gradually |
turning the handle of the crank attached
to the ohIong box. He seemed so en-
crossed in the delicateness of the oper-
alton that We did not question him. in
fact did not move.
Well along toward morning 1t was he
fore Kennedy had concluded his tests.
they were. and had packed
away his paraphernalia.
Early the next day, in spite of the late
session of the night before, Kennedy
started me with him on second visit to
Woodbine. This time he was armed
with a letter of introduction from An
drews to Mrs. Phelps.
She proved TO be a young woman Of
most extraordinary grace and beauty,
with superb carriage such as only
years of closest training under the best
of the world could give.
Mrs. Phelps did not seem to be over
joyed at receiving us, yet made no open
effort to refuse.
How long ago did the coma first show