The Washington times., 1918-09-30

the swinging fingers OF the left
hand as the horrible thing revolved
upon its pedestal.
The pedestal was moving. set in
motion, probably by a spring hid,
den in the shoulder joint of the
skeleton, and it was so arranged
that in the sharp revolution the
left hand might strike the head of
anyone who, uninitiated, discovered
the secret of the mechanism. And
the left hand was studded-as was
proved by subsequent examination
with little poisonous needles. To
touch it was death-and it was all
too likely that he who worked the
machinery, without proper knowl-
edge, would either touch II in his
retreat or be touched by it.
But the secret was out, and Swan
had escaped the danger. The man
there were several in the room by
now-watched- awe-struck, as the
pedestal moved slowly so as to al
low of a passage between 1t and
the wall. At the same time a door
trived as to be invisible under or
binary circumstances, slowly open
ed, disclosing a black space behind
it
Don't touch the skeleton" cried
Swan, and then, without further de-
lay he pushed past II to the open
door, STOPPING down and striking q
match to see what lay beyond.
board with shelves running round
the three sides Of the central space.
In this, huddled together. lay a man
and by the light of his match. Swan
could see that the floor by his side
was stained with blood. The pale
cadaverouS face was turned toward
closed. and there was NO sign of
life in the distorted limbs.
I'm afraid we're too late" NUT
tered Swan The cursed delay in
finding out the trick OF the door.
Lend me a hand" he cried to the
men in the room. but for Gods
sake be careful"
With the help OF a policeman he
succeeded in lifting the wounded
man from the cupboard and laying
him down on the floor OF the room
at some distance from the skeleton.
all contact with which appeared to
be 1raught with danger. Then he
looked down upon the pale, up
turned face
"Probyn." he cried.
''Probyn. who's he!' asked Mar
shall.
He was once a clergyman" re-
turned Swan. He was even then a
victim Of the drug habit No won
der he found his way to this hole.
But why have they done him to
death?"
rs he dead-'
Swan had undone the wounded
mans coat. and was feeling his
heart 1t was beatinE-but very
feebly.
No." be said, but there's not
much life In him. He has been
stabbed in the side. See here
PSobyn Troaned and made a feeble
effort to move 'rValenski-you
murderer" he moaned.
"Yes-YaIensl1i-it is always VAL
enski-and we have evidence
enough now to hang him-the
DEVIL" muttered Swan. He was
pouring a little brandy down the
throat Of the injured man, and
attending as well as he could to
the wound.
Hurry up he continued. 1--WE
must get him OF to the hospital as
quickly as We can. ] trust he may
live long enough to make a state
ment."
with the smallest possible delay
PrObyn was removed. An ambu-
lance was sent for and was brought
with all expedition.
The ambulance had come to the
door the second time when Prebyn
was removed. A policeman who
had made the first journey to the
hospital was Green-the poor fell
low had been unable to walk-re-
ported that the injured man had
been in a precarious state when the
hospital was reached.
Upstairs Swan and Captain Mar
shall were completing their exam
nations. The cupboard which they
had opened contained books and
several objects which promised to
be OF considerable interest 1t was
plain that the cupboard had been
used as a sort OF safe, and that a
novel plan had been devised for
protecting its contents.
They must be valuable" said
Swan, "or Valenski never would
have attempted such methods to
protect them. Evidently he did not
trust his own people. In a doctors
house IL would seem quite possible
that there should be such a skeIe-
ton. and a room like this, which is
presumably for research. would not
attract particular attention. Oh.
he is very smart. Is Valenski-or
Schonheim. as you call him-a devil.
a devil But we are on his track
now. and fancy that the police
will no longer throw obstacles in
the way OF catching him.
After a while they descended to
the hall. and here one OF the
policemen. who had been making
inquiries in the adjoining street,
presented himself with his report.
1t was quite true, he said. that
the attention of the neighbors had
been aroused by the sudden appear
ance of several well-dressed peo-
pie from the narrow alley that
passed at the back of the houses.
One or two Of them had been recoE-
nized as regular frequenters OF the
smoke shop" as it was called in the
neighborhood. The policemen de-
scribed ValenskI with some accu-
racy, and Tweedledum as we'll
There were some women. also. They
had all FASTENED of, some in one
direction. and some in the other.
and naturally no one had attempted
to interfere with them.
But there were no children
seen7" edNMarxhall. There was
no one seen carrying q chiId?"