Pierre weekly free press. (Pierre, S.D.) 1889-19??, 1916-01-13
water, but usually a polished stone. and

water, but usually a polished stone, and
heryl was especially esteemed.
The effect of gazing at these intent
~ 1or a time was to abstract the min
from normal sensory impressions, and
10 !nouce a state OF partial hypnosis,
during which the scryer claimed he
could perceive in the crystal dream
pictures OF great viyidness, scenes at
q instance, occurrences of the past,
and of the future.
was still deep in this. when I
heard a step outside, the loo opened,
and Godfrey came in. He smiled when
he saw l was doing,
How have you been getting along?"
he asked.
Not very WELL" and / threw the
book back on the table. The crystal
gazing isn't 81 bad-one can under
stand that; but the tumble of abstrac-
tons which the Hindus call religion is
too much for me. l didn't know 1T was
SO late" l added, n looked at my
watch; but it was not yet IL o'clock.
I'm earlier than usual" said God
frey. Il cut loose as soon as l could,
because l thought we'd better ak
things over. 1 saw Simmonds in town
tonight"
All" l said; land what did he tell
you?"
Nothing didn't Know already. The
police have discovered nothing new
or, II they have, they're keeping 1t dark
until tomorrow. Simmonds did, how
ever, regale m with his theory of the
case. He says the murder was done
either by II of the Hindus or by
young Swain
What do you Think" l asked.
I'm inclined to. agree with Sim
monds." said Godfrey grimly. with
h emphasis on the Hindus," he add
ed, seeing the look on my face. Il
doEt believe Swain had any hand in
it,"
Neither do l." l agreed, heartily. IN
fact such u theory is too absurd to
discuss"
Just the same said Godfrey, slow
~, I'm glad he didn't touch Vaughan.
If he had happened to seize him by the
neck, while they were struggling to-
gether-in other words, if those finger
prints ~Goldberger found had happened
to be Swain's-things would have
looked bad for him.. I'm hoping they'll
turn out to belong to one of the Hin
dus-but, as l said TO Goldberger, I'm
AFRAID that's too good to be true
Which one of the Hindus?" | asked.
oh, the Thug, of course"
| sat bolt upright.
THE Thug" l echoed.
"Dldn't YOU get that far?" and Cod
frey picked up one of the books and
ran rapidly through the pages. You
remember We found him squatting on
the floor with a rag and a tooth and
a one in front of him?"
Yes"
And do you remember how the yogi
described them, when Goldberger asked
him about them?"
Very distinctly-he called them the
attributes Of Kali"
"NnJv Listen IN thic. s1SIo rl,,,-.
are a religious fraternity, committing
murders in honor of Kali, the wife
of silva. who, they believe, assists them
and protects them. Legend asserts
that she presented her ~worshipers with
three things, the hem of her lower gar
ment to use as a moose. a rib to use as
a knife. and a tooth to use as a pick
ak in burying the Victims" He glanced
at me, and then went on: But the
knife was little used, for the religious
character of an assassination came to
depend more and more upon its blood
less character. and for this a nose was
used. The aversion to bloodshed be-
came in time SO great that many sects
of Thuggee consider it defiling to touch
human blood" He closed the book
and threw it on the table. Don't you
think that prove the case?"
Yes" I said, thoughtfully. And the
yogi-is he also a Thug?"
"Oh, no; a White Priest of silva
could never be a Thug. The worship
of silva and of Kali are the very OBJ
posites of each other. The Saivas are
ascetics. That is" he added, in another
tone, IF the fellow is really a Saliva,
and not just n plain fraud
"All these fellows are frauds. more
or less. aren't they?" I questioned.
No" was GodfIey's unexpected an
swer; the real yogin are no doubt
sincere; but q real yogi wouldn't waste
his time on a soft Drained old man.
and fire skyrocliets off at midnight to
impress him. My own opinion is that
this fellow is q fakir-a jugsler, a
sleight of hand man-and. of course.
a crook"
"Well?' I asked, as Godfrey stopped
n failed 10 continue.
Well that's as far as I've got. oh.
yes-there's Tota. A cobra is one of
a fakir's stock properties"
But, Godfrey" i protested, che is no
ignorant roadside jugsler. He's a Gull
tivated man-an unusual man"
Certainly he is-most unusual. But
that doesn't disprove my guess: ii only
makes the problem harder. Even a
roadside iuggler doesn't do his tricks
for nothins-what reward is it this
fellow is working for? 1t must be a
big one, or it wouldn't tempt him"
Il suppose Vaughan paid him WELL"
l ventured.
Yes; but did you look at him, Les
ter? You've called him unusual, but
that wore doesn't begin to express him.
He's extraordinary. No doubt Vaughan
die pay him well. but it would AXE
something more than hat to persuade
such a man to spend six months in a
place like that. And | think l car guess
at the stake he's playing for"
CONTINUED next week.)