The Washington times., 1918-08-04

workers realized that he was the
man to which the little secret service
Operative had referred. Then they
seized him, and at the touch OF the
captors' hands the miscreant threw
himself into a desperate struggle,
which suddenly ceased with yells OF
anguish from him. Extra cylinders
1 of acid which he carried in his coat
pocket had been broken in the strug
gle and the acid was soaring his
flesh.
Leaving it to others to relieve his
suffering Dixie thrust her hand into
the center of the cotton which had
already been, placed in the compress.
A few seconds of cropping and her
hand reappeared clutching a glass
tube filled with a cloudy white liquid.
Taking out the cork gingerly she
placed a few drops on a handful OF
cotton. In a moment the fiber was
eaten away and nothing remained but
a damp bunch of wastage.
While the spy was being taken to
the county Jail Dixie vhirled away
! to the nearest telegraph station In
the automobile of the superintendent
of the compress. There she sent code
messages to the offices of the secret
service In every Southern city, telling
them of her discovery and advising a
simultaneous raid on each COM
pressor in the cotton fields This
work completed she returned to the
| open air to be confronted by the
young superintendent OF the compress
/ who had driven her to the telegraph
/ station.
"I don't want to bother you Miss, {"
he said, "but / have got something
l = A. 1n
wondering. and I thought IL probable
that YOU, being used to puzzles and
such likes could explain IT right off.'
Dixie examined curiously the OBJ
ject he had taken from his pocket
and handed to her while he was
speaking. The object appeared to her
f., to be a part of q cotton boil similar
/ to thousands of others she had seen
| IN such abundance since her arrival
| in the cotton belt.
| T don't see anything puzzling
about this" she said. There must
be a million of these in sight from
here"
Guatemala Cotton.
mot that kind, ma'am." said the
| superintendent. THAT is Guatemala
cotton, and it's been mighty puzzling
| to me as to how that boil came to be
! in the lower field of my plantation.
! know for a fact that there hasn't
been any of that in this section for
nigh on to five years. l kinder wish.
now that the weevil has found my
fields. that had made a greater effort
to cultivate that"
In response to Dixie's question. the
superintendent explained that Guate-
male cotton was the only known hber
that was impervious to ravages Of
the boil weevil.
You see, the Government brought
some of the bolls and seed here for
free distribution" said the superin-
tendent, in ending the talk. "to en-
courage American planters TO culti-
vate II. There isn't anything yet
known that will stop the weevil. But
we didn't try very hard, for the aver
age spread of the weeyil would not
make it reach here for six years yet,
but IL is already here. You know
the weevil is supposed to have come
direct from Guatemala here by mi
grating an average OF sixty miles a
year It was in Mexico when FIRST
notice was taken of it Then It
spread into Texas. and is gradually
spreading through the whole cotton
belt"
And you say IL Is already here?"
asked Dixie. why il seems TO me
that the cotton around here is pretty
healthy"
This right around here is early
cotton" rejoined the superintendent.
land was pretty well developed. II is
the buds that suffer from the weeyil
Once the weevil has drilled into a
bud that bud is gone. 1t shrivels and
drops off. 1t is the later cotton which
will be affected this year. and next
year all of il. II plans go through.
however. won't have to worry about
| next year. but l am afraid Colonel
Moulton's syndicate won't buy. now
that the weevil has already come"
"You were thinking OF selling -
asked Dixie interested in drawing the
young man out in hope that some
clue might be uncovered in regard to
the boil from thousands of miles
away.
well. not exactly selling" ex-
planned the superintendent. Colonel
Moulton's syndicate was going to
guarantee US our average income for
the last five years Tor the next fif-
teen years"
Didn't Colonel Moulton make any