Forest City press. (Forest City, Potter County, D.T. [S.D.]) 1883-19??, 1919-05-01
Hardy stared at the papers. but did

Hardy stared at the papers. but did
not interrupt the speaker.
Then. joysuliy waiting the erect of
The charm. she sits IL front Of the
mirror 10 watci: ne. features become
beautiful. This is why she said to her
own reelection, Tomorrow 1 shall be
freed forever from this homely facet
She gazed at the picture OF Cleopatra
above her dressing table. and said,
Yours is the most beautiful face l
have eve seen. | wish mine were as
beautiful. The reniark concerning
Count Charlier were addressed to the
glove which she held in her hand, u
sentimental part of the whole pey-
formance."
Mighty Interesting. Mr.. Stone. but
pretty fantastic, so far.
Fleming Stone gave his slow. grave
! smile, that always betokcned Il surety
of his own statements. wait u bit.
Hardy. before you condemn this no.
ton. 1 haven't finished yet. Now
Cleopatra figures pretty strongly i'll
this scheme. Look at these photo
graphs taken after death. They show
the lady exactly as she looked when
she sat there. See, she is gazing at
the picture of Cleopatra, too intently
to be merely a casual glance. And,
what do you think of thiso She gazed
at Cleopatra. and, holding the counts
glove, her mind and heart full of the
count, who would adore her when she
achieved this looked for beauty, she
said. You are the Mark l aim att
meaning. as Cleopatra had her Mark
Antony. she. Lucy Darlington. aimed
at the mark of her chcice-the count"
"If that's true. Mr.. Stone. you are
the wizard Of the ages! How did you
dope ii out! WHAT"
Now, wait a minute. This isn't the
pipe dream you think 1t. But listen
while l tell the rest in my WI way"
Listen! should think l would!
Go on"
You know, these takers give out
these charms with all sorts OF fool di-
rections to impress the duped cus
toner. AS 1 say, I'm not sure yet
whether it was a professional of the
clairvoyant type, or \ regular beauty
doctor. But in eithA case. I've no
doubt that Miss Darlington paid him
enough to compensate for giving up
his practice and leaving for parts un-
known. For after the charm failed to
work. OF urse she would expose the
fraud"
But the poison"
Never mind that for the moment.
Mr.. Hardy. Surely, If We can discover
for certain how and why the dose was
taken. it will go far to help us trace
the criminal who added the deadly
element to the powder. Now. continu-
ing the Cleopatra idea. l am sure that
the clever clairvoyante-well assume
that's what she vas"
"She!" IN
Merely to designate this faker per-
son. Somehow I seem to see her as
one OF those crystal gazing. frowsy
headed. kimonoed females, who prey
on tho %credulity OF rich and foolish
women-well, let's call her that for
the present, this clever c%lairvoyante
somehow conceived the idea of Offer
ing to make Miss Darlington as beau
tiful as Cleopatra. Perhaps she had
been here to see Miss Darlington on
the subject. and that beautiful picture
of Cleopatra put 1t into her head.
But. assuming something OF this sort,
assume further that she directed Miss
Darlington to robe herself. in a gen.
eral way. like the queen in the picture.
Note the pearls! Wouldn't this ex-
plain Miss Carrington's getting her
pearls from the bank for this occa-
sion? And wouldn't it explain her
speech. You love pearls as being ad-
dressed to Cleopatra, to whom she was
talking?"
&c on. Mr. Stone! Go on!"
Il will go on! Wouldn't that ex-
plain, as nothing else on this green
earth can the purchase Of q paper
snake by the woman who feared and
abhorred the reptiles? Supposing the
fool c%lairvoyante had told her that to
become like Cleopatra she must have
a semblance of a snake at her throat,
as Cleopatra had the asp"
Good heavens!"
"I tell you. Mr.. Hardy. nothing else
would account for that snake! And
any Of these things might seem the
result Of a lunatic Imagination by it.
self. but taken all together, the theory
holds water! Why think OF the orien-
tai scarf, the embroidered robe, the
mass OF jewels in addition to the sig.
nifcant pearls. and the scarabs! All
point to the type of Cleopatra. II
there had been a picture on the wall.
say. of Helen Of Troy. and Miss Car