Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1917-12-09

III air. On. 1 fnlnn Euidi.e anu /
~ shall both go mad.
The soft. pleading voice OF Anitra Bar
rios and her big. appealing brown eyes
filed with tears were doubly anectihs
as. in spite of her own feelings, sne
placed her hand on that OF somewhat
younger girl who had accompanied her
TO the laboratory.
I'VE were to have been married next
month"; sobbed Eulalie sandoval can
you come and see Jose. frof. KENNEDY
There must be something you can 90
We fear he is dying-yes. dying.
Poor little girl murnured Anitra, sun
patting her hand affectionately; then
to US, You know, Euialie is the sister OF
Manuel Sandoval, who manages the Ne"
York business of my brother. sns
paused sOh. 1 can't believe II, myseh.
It's all so strange. so sudden
What is the trouble soothed craig.
what has happened? How can heip
you
With an effort Anit-a began again. IT
was last night-quite late-at his office al
the foot of Wall street.-the was there
alone she strove to connect her broken
thoughts. Some one-l think 1t must
have been the janitor-calied me up al
home and said that my brother was very
ILL., Eulalie was there with me. We hur-
ried down to him. When we got there
Jose was on the floor by his desk. un-
conscious, struggling for breath. just as
he is now
What could we do. just two girls. all
alone: IL was late. The streets were de-
serted. You know how they are down
town at night. We took him home. 10
the hotel, in cab. and called the hotei
physician. DIR. Scott"
Both girls were again weeping silently
in each others arms. II there was any
thing that moved Kennedy to action 1t
was distress OF this sort. Without
word he rose from his desk. and ! fol-
lowed him. Anitra and Eulalie seemed
to understand. Though they said MOTH
ing they looked their gratitude as we
four left the laboratory.
On the way down to the hotel Anitra
continued to pour out her story in a
fraEmentary way Her brother and
she. it seemed. had inherited from their
father a large sugar plantation in
Santa Clara, the middle province OF
Cuba.
Jose had no: been like many of the
planters. He had actually taken hold
Of the plantation after the revolution
had wrecked il, and had re-established
il on modern, scientific lines. Now II
was one of the largest independent
plantations on the island
To increase its efficiency. he had later
established a New York office to look
after the sale of the raw sugar and had
placed 1t in charge of friend. Manuel
Sandoval. A month or so before he had
come to New York with his sister to
sell the plantation. to get the high
price that the boom in sugar had made
it worth. 1t was while he had been
negotiating for the sale that he had
fallen in love with Eulaile and they
had become engaged
/, DIR. Scott met us in the sitting
room of the suite which Anitra and
her brother occupied. and. as she intro
duced US, with an anxious glance in
he 1sra nf ho n
room. he shook his head gravely.
Its a case of poisoning of some
kind. fear. but 1 can't quite make out
just what it is"
room. Euiaiie had preceded Us and
had dropped down on her knees by the
bed, passing her little white hand
caressingiy over the pale and dis
He was still unconscious. gasping and
fighting for breath. his features
pinched. his skin cold and ciammy.
Kennedy examined the stricken man
was barely perceptible, rapid. ,fhready
and irregular. Now and then there
were muscular tremblings and con-
vulsire movements of the limbs
room, away from the two girls. where
DR.. Scott was standing
Sometimes heard the doctor ven-
ture. Il think ii is aconite. but the
!.
There's no mark on him that might
have come from hypodermic. no
wound, not even scratch. He couldn't
have swallowed it. Suicide Is out Of
the question. But his nose and throat
are terribly swollen and innamed- It's
beyond me-
As we left the sickroom we found
that another visitor had arrived and
was standing in the sitting room. 1t
WIS Manuel Sandoval.
Sandoval was a handsome fellow
tau. straight as an arrow. with busny
dark hair and mustache which gave
him q distinguished appearance. Born
in Cuba. he had been educated in the
United States, had taken special work
in the technology OF sugar. knew the
game from cane to centrifugal and the
ship to the sugar trust. He was quite
as much scientist as a business man.
He and Eu,alie talked for a moment
in low tones in Cuban Spanish, but 1t
needed only to watch his eyes to guess
fairly devour every move that Anitra
made about the apartment.
A few minutes later the door opened
again and striking-iooking man en-
tered. He. was a bit older than Sando-
val. but stiil young. AS he entered he
bowed to Sandoval and Eulalie, but
greeted Anitra warmly
, Mr.. Burton Page" introduced Anitra.
turning to us quickly. with just the
trace of a flush on her face. MFR Page
has been putting my brother in touch
With people in New York who are in
terested in Cuban sugar plantations
A call from DIR. Scott for some help
took both girls into the sickroom for a
moment
: rs Barrios any better" asked Page.
turning to Sandoval.
Sandoval shook his head in the mega
tive. but said nothing. One could not
help observing that there seemed to be
a sort Of antipathy between the two
Page was a typical, breezy westerner
who had ftrsf drifted to New York as a
mining promoter From that he had
gone into selling ranches and. b" natural
stages. into the promotion of almost
anything in the universe.
Sugar being at the time uppermost in
The mind of the street" Page was nat
"raily TO be found crammed with facts
bout that staple One could not helm
being interested in studying a man Of
HIS type. as long as one kent his grin
on his pocketbook. For he was a VERT
table pied piper when IL came 10 en-
ticing dollars to follow him. and in his
promotions he had the reputation ~
having amassed an impressive pile of
dollars himself
No important change in the condi-
stson of Barrios had taken place. excent
that he was trifie more exhausted.
and DR.: Scott administered a stimulant.
Kennedy. who was eager to take mn
the investigation of the case on the
outside. in the hope OF discovering
eomething that might be diEnifled into
i,eing a clue, excused himself with a
cd to Anftra to follow into the hall
Il may look over the office2, Craig
Nentured when we were alone with her
Surely" she replied, frankly. OMEN
ing her handbag which was lying on a