The Brandon news. (Brandon, Miss.) 1892-1961, 1916-03-30
CLUB, where Il he offered an 1 explanation

| CLUB, where he offered an explanation
and calculation. $50
"The whole affair."" he said, twas
problem in the connecting up Of loose
ends At the New York terminus we
| had two deaths in the Office of man
| with powerful and subtle enemies.
Some deadly thing is introduced
| through that keyhole. The killing in
| fuence reaches a corner far out of the
direct line Of the keyhole. Being near
the radiator, that corner represents
| the attraction of warmth. Therefore,
the invading force was some sentient
creature -.
Now, at the Bridgeport end we have
a deadly influence loosed. Here. too,
the peril Is somewhat dependent up
on warmth, we know, from Professor
Moseley's agonized eagerness for a
frost. Dogs are killed. Finally a
child falls victim, and on that child is
found a circular; mark, similar to the
mark on Mr.. Doris dogs lip. You
see the striking points of analogy"
old Moseley a cold-blooded murderer"
demanded Mr.. Curtis Fleming.
Far from 1t. At worst an unhappy
victim Of his own carelessness in
loosing peril upon his neighborhood.
You're forgetting connecting link;
the secretive red-dot communications
from New York, city addressed by
Moseley to himself on behalf of some
customer who ordered simply by code
of inkdots. He was the man had to
/ find. The giant luna moths helped to
do it." - s.. -al1en
81 don't see where they come in at
ALL" declared Dorr bluntly. "a moth
a foot wide couldn't crawl through a
keyhole." -.,
mo; nor do any damage If it did.
The luna Is harmless. The moths
were important only AS clues-and
bait. Their enormous size showed
Professor Moseley's line of work; the
selective breeding of certain forms of
life to two or three times the normal
proportions. Very well; had to as
certain some creature which, If magni-
fed several times, would be deadly.
and which would still be capable of
entering large keyhole. Having de-
termined that"
"You found what it was?" cried
Dorr 49,
"One moment. Having determined
that, l had still to get in touch with
York correspondent. I figured that
he must be interested in Professor
Moseleys particular branch of re-
search or he never could have devised
his murderous scheme. So | con-
structed the luna moth advertisement
to draw him, and when | got reply
from Mr.. Ross, who is fellow-ten-
ant of Mr.. DORIS, the chain was COM
plete. Now, you see where the luna
moths were useful If had adver-
tised, instead Of them, the lathrodec-
tus, he might have suspected and re-
Trained from answering 49,
whats the lathrodectus? demand
ed both the hearers at once.
For. answer. Average Jones took
letter from his pocket and read:
Bureau of Entomology,
u. s.. Department of Agriculture.
Washington, D. c., April T.
Mr.. A v. r. Jones,
Astor Court Temple. New York sCity.
Dear Sir-Replying to your letter of in
quiry the only insect answering your
specifications Is small spider Lathrodec-
tus mactans, sometimes popularity called
the Red Dot, from a bright red mark upon
the back. Rare cases are known where
death has been caused by the bite of this
insect. stti ~ r
This bureau knows nothing of any ex-
.periments in breeding the Lathrodectus
for size. Your surmise that specimens OF
two or three times the normal size would
be dangerous to life is undoubtedly cor
rect, and selected breeding to that end
should be conducted only under adequate
scientific safeguards. A Lathrodectus
mactans with fangs large enough to pene-
trate the skin of the hand, and double
or triple supply Of venom, would be, per-
.haps, more deadly than a cobra,
The species is very susceptible to cold.
and would hardly survive severe frost.
1t frequents woodpiles and outhouses.
Yours truly,
L<o. HOWARD.
hf . Chief of Bureau.
"Then Ross was sneaking down
here at night and putting the spiders
which he had got from Professor Nose
ley through my keyhole, in the hope
that sooner or later one Of them would
get me-" said Dorr.
"a very reasonable expectation, too.
Vide, the dogs" returned Average
Jones'. Hs Ii HI
And now" said Mr.. Curtis Fleming,
sswill someone kindly explain to me
what this Ross fend had against our
friend, Mr.. Dorr?"
Nothing" replied Average Jones.
"You see. Mr.. Dorr was interfering
with the machinery of one of our rul-
ing institutions, the Canned Meat
Trust" fM
Nonsense! Socialistic nonsense!"
snapped Mr.. Curtis Fleming. TRUSTS
may be unprincipled, but they don't