Coulee City dispatch. [volume] (Coulee City, Wash.) 19??-19??, 1937-04-01
sured him. cts puzzlin'. I admit;
but it's quite lucid"

but it's quite lucid"
Markham shifted specifically.
What, in the name of Heaven
have a professor and sodium ano
the Aeneid to do with one another?'
Vance was frowning as he reached
into the humidor for one of his
beloved cigarettes with a delibera'
ton which indicated a mental ten.
sion. Slowly he lighted the cigarette
After a deep inhalation he an.
swered.
"Ephraim Garden, of whom you
surely must have heard from time
to time, is one of the best-mown
men in chemical research in this
country. Just now, / believe, he's
professor of chemistry at Stuyve-
SAINT university-that could be veri-
fed in Who's Who. But it doesn't
matter. His latest researches have
been directed along the lines OF
radioactive sodium. An amazin' dis
covery, Markham. Made by Doctor
Ernest O. Lawrence. of the Univer-
sity of California, and two of his
colleagues there, Doctors Hender-
son and Mcmillan. This new radio
active sodium has openec up new
fields of research in cancer thera-
py-indeed, it may prove some day
to be the long-looked-for cure for
cancer. The new gamma radiation
of this sodium is more penetrating
than any ever before obtained. On
the other hand, radium and radio
active substances can be very dan
gerous if diffused into the normal
tissues of the body and through the
blood stream.
"That is all very fascinating, "
Markham commented, sarcastical-
ly. "But what has it to do with you,
or with trouble in the Garden home?
And what could it possibly have to
do with the Aeneid? They didn't
have radioactive sodium in the time
of Aeneas."
Markham, old dear, I'm no Chal-
dean. I haven't the groggiest no
ton wherein the situation concerns
either me or Aeneas, except that I
happen to know the Garden family
slightly. But I've vague feeling
about that particular book of the
Aeneid. AS I recall, it contains one
of the greatest descriptions of a
battle in all ancient literature. But
let's see
Vance rose quickly and went to
the section of his book-shelves de-
voted to the classics, and, after a
few moments search, took down a
small red volume and began to riff
file the pages. He ran his eye swift
ly down a page near the end of the
volume and after minutes perusal
came back to his chair with the
book, nodding his head connpre-
hensively, as if in answer to some
question he had inwardly asked
himself.
"The passage referred to, Mark
ham," he said after moment, sis
not exactly what I had in mind. But
it may be even more significant.
It's the famous onomatopoeic Quad
rupedumque putrem cursu quatit
ungula campum-meanin', more or
less literally: "And in their gal
Looping course the horsehoof shakes
the crumbling plain
Markham took the cigar from his
mouth and looked at Vance with
undisguised annoyance.
you're merely working up a
mystery, You'll be telling me next
that the Trojans had something to
do with this professor of chemistry
and his radioactive sodium"
''No, oh, no." Vance was in an
unusually serious mood. ''Not the
Trojans. But the galloping horses
perhaps"
Markham snorted. ''That may
make. sense to you"
'Not altogether, returned Vance,
critically contemplating the end Of
his cigarette. "There is. neverthe-
less, the vague outline of pattern
here. You see, young Floyd Gar
den, the professors only offspring,
and his cousin puny chap named
Woode Switches quite an intimate
member of the Garden household,
believe-are addicted to the ponies.
Quite a prevalent disease, by the
way, Markham. They're both in
terested in sports in general-prob-
ably the normal reaction to their
PROFESSIONAL and ecclesiastical fore
bears: young Swift father, who has
now gone to his Maker, was DID.
of sorts. I used to see both young
Johnnies at Kinkaid's Casino occa-
sionally. But the galloping horses
are their passion now. And they're
the nucleus Of a group of young
aristocrats who spend their after
moons mainly in the futile attempt
to guess which horses are going to
J come in first at the various tracks. :"
no BE CONTINUEDJ