The Washington herald., 1916-01-02

n SentFaf AFRICAN disease. It's
unknown in England. Why should
he carry the antidote about with
-him!"
Have his serum. examined"
I That's been done. No trace of
the disease has been found. But the
Empire doctor claims that Jonasson
must have thought he had the dis
ease, and therefore he committed
suicide. A book on the subject was
found at his country qNttage. Our
side will have to prove some other
reason for his carrying that vial of
atoxyI. That's one point on which
I want your help"
Magnum pulled out disgraeefuily
malodorous pipe from his baggy,
shapeless working jackets, and pro-
ceeded to stuff it with smoking
mixture Of his own blending, strong
to the point of rankness.
Meredith hastened to their library
above the office, and returned with
one of the twenty bulky volumes Of
Watts" Dictionary of Chemistry. His
chief took it, and turned thoughtfully
to the half-column description of the
chemical properties of the drug, one
of the arsenic derivatives.
Presently he remarked: Have YOU
considered the possibility of foul
play?" ...
thoughts" returned Stacey. "But
Jonasson was seen alone in the COM
partment at Tonbridge Junction, only
FIVE miles from the tunnel, and there
were no traces on the footboard of
any one clambering along from one
compartment to another"
"Windows?"
"All shut"
"a man under the seat1"
mo traces" ..-.--
when was the discovery nader"
"As soon as the train came out of
the tunnel into the Seven-Oaks sta
ton. The door of Jonasson's COM
partment was open and banging to
and fro. All the evidence
goes to show that he was entirely
alone in the compartment; that he
opened the door himself-hnger
prints on the hsndle-and fell out.
We claim that he must have become
suddenly frightened-he was a ner-
vous old man-and that he lost his
head, opened the door to call for
help, and was thrown out by the
rush of wind against the open door"
Sounds very probable"
The Empire Company say that IL
he wanted help he could have pull
ed the alarm cord. There was no one
else in the compartment-that's GER
tain from the footprints in the dust.
He had nothing to be afraid of,
they claim"
Equally plausible"
"Can you tell me why he carried
that stoxyl with him?"
Magnum was not a man to con-
fess openly to ignorance. He replied
curtly: "Iim not a theorist. Ask me
practical questions"
his pocket a blank manuscript-size
much-ereased sheet of folded paper
blank
II found this in Jonasson's study
while hunting for his will. have a
strong feeling that it contains a mes
sage written in invisible ink. Miss
Gerard tells me that he was the kind
of eccentric who would do that Will
you try to get the message out?"
Suppose" asked Magnum shrewd-
ly, "it were to say that he intended
to commit suicideH
AIN that case" laughed the law
yer. 81 shouldn't call you as a wit
ness"
you young scoundrelt'
"But it won't be that" answered
Stacey, returning to seriousness.
Miss Gerard knew him well-he was
very fond of her in his queer, angu-
lar way-and she is perfectly certain
that he had no intention of commit
ting suicide"
Magnum, don't count on me to keep
silent in a case of fraud" He pass
ed the sheet of paper to Meredith,
who examined it eagerly, his eyes
a-light at the thought Of pitting his
chemical knowledge against this en-
igma.
Meredith's first move was to cut
the sheet into four quarters, so as to
avoid the risk of spelling the whole
of it in the course of experimenting.
The heat test gave no result; nor
did the iodide test; nor the sulphur
reted hydrogen test.
Magnum, suspecting that they were
in for a long session, looked at his
watch, found it marking seven
o'clock, and sent out for three por-
terhouse steaks, Stilton cheese and
bread and lager beer. -%1 -. -.
81 should prefer oysters, a fried
sole, and bottle of claret," suggest
ed Stacey.
You'll have what's good for YOU"
retorted Magnum, who had unaesthe-
tic views on food.
1t was close to nine o'clock before
Meredith at length triumphed. Fitting
together three quarters of the sheet
Of paper-the other quarter had be-
come spoilt in the course of testing
the following wording stood out in
roughly written capital letters:
g TO A. ].
80 FROM THE EARTH