Pierre weekly free press. (Pierre, S.D.) 1889-19??, 1916-01-06
CHAPTER x.-(Continued).

aoept calmly.
Where were you at the timer
u was gazing at the sphere"
DO you mean,' asked Goldberger. in
credulously. that you sat for five hours
and more staring at that thing|'
My vigil began at shutdown" said
the adept with a slight smile. Last
night was the White Night of silva. 1t
must be spent in meditation by all who
follow him"
Golberger worried his mustache with
fingers, as he stared at the
adept. plainly at a loss how to proceed.
Perhaps" ventured Godfrey. softly,
your crystal could give us some fur
ther information which we very much
desire"
The adept turned his dark eyes on
the speaker. and it seemed to me that
they glittered more coldly, as though
they recognized an adversary.
VIVA information. sir? he asked.
information as to the manner of Mr..
V%aughan's passing-can you tell us
anything of that?"
The adept shook his head.
II only saw the soul as it passed over.
| knew. however, hat it had been torn
from the body by violence"
How did you know that?" broke in
Goldberger.
adept; n then. when he saw our be-
Eumbed expressions. he explained:
Soul which pass in peace are white;
souls which the body has driven forth by
it's OWL hand are black: souls which
are torn from the body by an alien
hand are red. My pupils soul was
red"
1 could see hat Goldberger did not
know whether to snort with derision or
to be impressed. He ended by smiling
feebly. AS for me. I admit l was i'm
pressed.
"When an alien hand. as you put it,
is used" said the coroner. I'VE call it
tries to get hold of the alien and to
send his soul after his victims. That's
what we are trying to do now. We are
officers of the law"
The adept bowed.
ANY assistance I ear give you," he
said, softly. 1 shall be glad to give;
though to do murder. as You all it.
Is not always to do wrong"
Our law doesn't make such nice dis
tinctions," said Goldberger. drily. May
/ ask your profession?'
Il am q White Priest Of Siva.' aid
the adept. touching his forehead light
ly with the fingers Of his left hand. as
in reverence.
"Who is Siva?"
The Holy One, the Over-soul. from
whom we come and to whom we all
return."
Again GOldDerReF worried MS mus
tache.
We'll" he said. at last. until the
mystery is cleared UP, | must ask you
not to leave this house" :.
II have no wish to cav it. sir
And the other fell-the fellow who
took away the snake-where vas he
last night?'
HE slept in a small room opening
into this one
May / look into it?"
Certainly" and the adept swept
aside the curtains.
The room into which we looked was
not more than 10 feet square and emp
ty of furniture, except for a mat in the
middle of the floor and three or -four
baskets set against the wall. On the
mat vas squatted the attendant, his
legs crossed with feet uppermost, and
his hands held palm to palm
before him. On the floor in front of
him were what looked TO me like a
strip of cloth, a bone and a tooth. He
did not raise his eyes at our entrance,
but sat calmly contemplating these rel
les.
Goldberger's mustache lost a few
more hairs as he stood staring down at
this strange figure.
What are those things? His grand
mothers remains?" he asked. at last.
"Those are the attributes of Kali"
said the adept gravely, as one rebuk-
ing blasphemy.
Very interesting. no doubt" COM
mented the coroner drily. Would it
disturb the gentleman too much to ask
him a few questions"
"He speaks no English, but / shall
be glad to translate for YOU"
The coroner thought this over for a
ment. and then shook his head.
NO" he said; IN wait for the court
interpreter. You might tell him. though,
+l,.+ l-- ,r-iJ1 he offian-e 1f +l~ l~-, ~,
duty below. and that he is not to leave
the house"
~ will caution him" answered the.
adept. and let the curtain fall. as we
passed out.
II p there are some servants
There are three-they sleep on the
floor above
Are they Hindug. too?'
"Oh, no." and the adept smiled. 1.-TWO
of them are German and the other is
Irish
The coroner Redeemed a little, for
the words somehow conveyed a subtle
rebuke.
THAT is all for today" he said:
unless Mr.. Simmonds has some
questions" and he looked at his com
panion.
But Simmonds. to whom all these
inquiries had plainly been successive
steps into the darkness, shook his
head.
"Then we will bid you good morn
added Goldberger, still a little on
his dignity. And many thanks for
your courtesy"
h adept responded with a low bow
and with a smile decidedly ironical. L,
at least, felt that we nae got the
worst of the encounter.
Goldberger, without a word, led the
up the stair that mounted to the
attic story, and there soon succeeded in
routing out the three servants. The
Germans proved TO be a man and wife. |
well past middle age, the former the
gardener and the latter the cook. Erin
was represented by a r~ed-haired girl
was the housemaid. All of them
We're Mortified When told their master
had been murdered, but none Of them
could shed any light on the tragedy.
They had all been in bed long before
midnight, and a not been disturbed
by any of the noises of the night.
h could be more readily UNDER
when, as a little Investigation
showed, we found that they had all
slept with doors locked and windows
closed and suffered. Any sounds
from h house woul really have to
penetrate two doors to reach them,