The central record. (Lancaster, Ky.) 18??-current, 1922-10-05
The
Loose String
D HUBERT RAY

The sacred lutte Of Tsms. the 10.
dian goddess Of death. Old Major
kitchener took II from IN Indian ten.
pie. lie brought II home with him
and died i've moaths later"
And his nephew. George Titchener.
how long had he b~n In possession VI
the placer
Two months. lie was only thirty.
one doesn't expect to die Of apopIery
at thirty"
"No chance Of polsonr'
Absolutely none. Poison was sus.
pected st nrs,. but the bodies and the
instrument were submitted to the
most careful analysis"
Yet there IL q legend that posses
sion Of this lutte means deathY'
1T was once taken from the ten
pie. centuries ago. BY the conqueres
Bsbur. His player died. His second
player died. His favorits wife died-all
playing the instrument. Then II was
returned 10 the temple"
Old falconsr mused. lie knew 4
good deal about Indian mythology. and
he was trying 10 recall something he
had once read. lie examined the lutte
for the twentieth time. II had four
strings Three Of them were tuned.
the fourth. when plucked. gave out no
sound nj all. II was quite loose-yet
II was meant To be loose. for II was
fitted In It's grooves In such way
thu, 4, ua. tun.s.thta O. .at,,., a,
Yes, that string was meant TO b.
loose" said III. younger man. mo
one knows why. It's something con.
nected with the worship of Tsms."
"a deadly poison that IL communl.
Gated 60 the hngers!' Fzlconer sug.
gested.
Absolutely not. That strings been
scrsped and analysed" replied the
other.
"I'll solve the problem by morning"
said falconer. I'm trying TO remem.
Der something. 90 to bed. simpson"
Il hope there won't be . third fatal.
i'y." suggested simpson. Il think
you'd better not play with the thing.
falconer. As you know. the coroner
insists II MAS all q coincidence. that
both deaths were due To spoplexy.
Let's burn the bsastly thing"
Don't worry about me. old man."
Fslconer returned. ~ think I'm on
IN. track % the mystery. LISTEN" He
plucked the mute string. Can you
hear snythinsr
"Of course I can hear something"
answered simpson. 1T sounds exactly
- II one were pluckinS q piece Of
string"
Nothing musicsii'
'Of course not. Can your
"Not a sound. All right. I'm on the
track. simpson"
See here. old man. I'D Infinitely
It's dangerous. I'm convinced you're
In peril"
lin going TO solve this thiag BY
morning" answered falconsr.
simpson went to bed. but for q long
time he was unable to sleep. He lis
tened to old Falconer moving about
in the room underneath him. Some
times he fancled he heard the soft
tinkle Of the lutte strings And gradu.
ally. rs the night wore on. an awful
terror began to Cypress him. Prssentl'
m~nt Of evil grew 30 strong that at
last he put on his dressing gown and
went softly down the stairs. deter
mined To stop fslconer from playing
with the internal thing.
lie had jus, reached the door when
he heard u sharp. stranglsd cry. fol.
lowed by the sound Of . heavy body
failing lie rushed In.
falc"ner lay upon the floor. and =
single glance show I'd Simpson that he
~s> dead
Some papers on the table drew Simp.
sons attention. falconer had been
writing Mechanically he picked them
up and read
II have discovered the mystery Of
the NUT. string and Il IL the most
de,ilish invention ever made by hu-
manity.
"Just as there are sounds 80 high
that the human ear cannot distinguish
them. M there are sounds composed
OF such heavy vibrations that they are
inaudibl~. Such Is the mute string.
Plucked at q certain point Il gives out
vibrations heavy enough 10 destroy
life-as conclusion does.
The two men who died must have
plucked at the string until they
touched just the point that calls out
these vibrations. I have had a lucky
escape. I shall not touch the string
any mar. exeenf iiisf pnea tn AMI