Evening star., 1922-07-08
The Tango Thief
BY Arthur b. Reeve.
One of The Stars Weekend Fiction Series.
Each story complete in three installments.

on whom q stunning blow was about
to descend.
Thus we can tell" proceeded
Kennedy, whether there is such a
ferment in blood serum as would be
produced by a certain condition. for
when the ferment is there blood from
the individual possessing 1t will
digest a similar proteid in a dialyzing
why" cried Kennedy, swept along
by the wonder OF the thing. this
test opens up a vista Of alluring and
extensive possibilities The human
organism actually diagnoses it's own
illnesses automatically. 1t Is infinite
ly more exact. more rapid and more
certain than all that human art can
attain. Each organ contains special
ferments in its cells in the most
subtle way attuned to the molecular
conditions Of the particular cell sub
stance and with complete indifference
to other cells.
Don't you see? 1t diagnoses at
the very first stage. You take a
small quantity of blood. derive the
serum. then introduce a piece OF
tissue such as you wish to find out
whether 1t Is diseased or not. The
thing is of overwhelming Importance.
One can discover a condition even
wardfy. 1t means a new epoch in
medicine. AS for me, l call 1t the
new police service of the organism
working with perfect, scientific ac-
curacy."
"wh-what do you ind?" reiterat-
ed Seabury.
II have made tests for about
everything l can suspect" returned
Kennedy, taking the tubes and pour
ing the liquid from No. into No. ]
until they were eQualized in color,
thus testing them. while we watched
every action closely.
You see." he digressed, "to get the
two the same shade 1 have to dilute
the FIRST by the second. Now, the
dialyzers are not permeable to al
bumin. Therefore the violet color in
dicates that the blood serum in this
case contains ferments which the
body is making to split up some for
suspected and obtained from the
hospital The test is positive. Mr..
Seabury, how long have you felt as
you say that you do?"
Several weeks" he man returned
"That is fortunate" cried Kennedy.
fortunate that 1t has not been sew
eral months"
He paused. then added the startling
statement: Mr.. Seabury. 1 can find
no evidence here of poison. AS a
matter Of fact. the wonderful Adder
halden test shows me that you have
one of the most common forms of in
ternal disease that occur for the most
part in persons at or after middle
life. about the age of fifty. more COM
mon in men than in women-a disease
which taken in time. as it has been
revealed by this wonderful test. may
be cured and you may be saved-an
et< n ~
Kennedy paused a moment and
listened I fancied 1 heard some one
in the hall. But he went on, The
person whom you suspect OF poison
ing you"
There came a suppressed scream
from the door as it was flung open
and Agatha Seabury stood there,
nedy. then at her husband. Mechani-
cally I looked at my watch. 1t was
precisely s. Kennedy had evidently
prolonged the test for purpose.
THE person whom you suspected?'
he repeated firmly. "is innocent"
as the thing dawned on her, she
uttered one cry. "Judson!"
She reeled as Kennedy with quick
step or two caught her.
Seabury himself seemed dazed.
And 1 have he calculated, then
stopped.
Kennedy raised his hand. Just a
moment, please" he interrupted. as
he placed Mrs. Seabury in chair,
then glanced hastily at his watch.
She saw the motion and seemed sud
denly to realize that 1t was nearing
the time for Sherburne to call up.
With a mighty effort she seemed to
from one peril only to fall victim to
another-the one she already feared
Was Sherburne to escape, after all.
and ruin her?
The telephone tinkled insistently.
Kennedy seized the receiver.
who is it?" we heard him ask. Mr..
Sherburne-oh. yes"
Mrs. Seabury paled at the name. /
saw her shoot a covert glance at her
husband. and was relieved to see that
his face betrayed as yet no recogni-
ton of the name. She turned and
listened to kennedy, straining her
ears to catch every syllable and in
terpret every scrap OF the one-sfded
conversation.
Quickly Craig had jammed the re-
ceiver down on a little metal base
which we had not noticed near the in
strument. Three prongs reaching up
ward from the base engaged the re-
ceiver tightly, fitting closely about it.
Then he took up a watch case re-
ceiver to listen through in place of
the regular receiver.
"Sherburne, you say?" he repeated.
H. Morgan Sherburne?"
Apparently the voice at tho other
end Of the wire replied rather peev-
ishly, for Kennedy endeavored to
smooth overNthe delay. We waited
patiently as he reiterated the name.
Why was he SO careful about it? The