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About The Sunday Oregonian. (Portland, Ore.) 1881-current | View Entire Issue (July 5, 1908)
THE SUNDAY OREGOXIAN, PORTLAND, JULY 5, I90S. mu No. 1 The Mystery of (he Aurovia Lodge Case This l the first of a series of highly lnter oiiiu detective stories by irank Lmell Jiel--n. They e3l with a wide- variety of thrilling incidents ujid mysterious aftairs, the clean 1 1:5 up of which. Is da? to Mr. f :irlton t:irke and hit extraordinary powers cf deduction nml telepathic (suggestion. He co-operates with a newspaper man named jciton in Mtlvlng the problems that make i!p the dally work of a "star" riollce re pa! ter. t course, the latter sets a buib jrr of tlrM-chis "scoop." Each is a com plcte story. This one is concerned with a mystery growing out of an initiation cere mony in a secret society lodge. TTVKRY man who lias been a news paper reporter and survived has "" one case -which he gives the post of honor in memory. This is the story of tlic assignment I like best to re in 'mbrr, not only because it resulted in the solution of one of the most mys terious cases that ever arose in Illinois, hut rather for the reason that it marked my first meeting: with Carlton Clarke, a- meeting- destined to develop Into our Joint excursions into hither to untrodden pathways in the Btudy of crime which have since made Clarke's name famous in two continents. It was in the Summer of 1896 that the word came to the office of the Chi cago morning paper with which" I was then connected that the police of the little city of Aurovia were struggling with a case which seemed destined to prove one of the greatest mysteries of the day. As I had met with consider able success in criminal cases, the man aging editor lost no time in hustling me off by the first train to the scene of action. The brief account in the first paper I picked up, stripped of its glaring headlines, was as follows: Karly this morning a very mysterious tragedy occurred in the hall of the Ancient Order of Persian Knights, a local secret society, which resulted in the almost in stant death of Dr. Arthur W. "Williams, a prominent physician of this city. The. Initi ation of Dr. Williams was in progress at the time. In one portion of the ceremony the candidate, having been condemned to death for invading the sacred domain of tho shah, is ordered to load an old-fashioned dueling pistol with powder and ball, which are furnished him. He Is then placed against the wall and the pistol '.s nred point blank at him by a member of the lodge holding the ofTlce of royal executioner. The powder provided the candidate has always been a clever counterfeit made of pulverized anthracite coal, and the only climax to the thrilling ceremony, heretofore, has been the fizzle of the percussion cap and the shouts of laughter of the lodge members. Dr. Wil liams was an old hand at lodge work. As a consequence, none of the efforts ox the l'erslan Knights to trealt down his nerve or self -possession had been successful. When he had loaded the pistol he faced Dr. Homer Smith, whose duty it was to tire the shot, and gazed into his eycB without a visible tremor. Suddenly the members of the lodge, about 2O0 of whom were present, were startled by a loud explosion. Dr. Wil liams fell forward with blood gushing from a wound in his forehead. Among the first to reach the stricken man was Dr. Smith, who had fired the fatal shot. He tried to stanch the blood, but the bullet had pene trated the brain and Dr. Williams died in his arms without speaking. chief of Po lice Darling, who 1b a prominent member of the order, holding the office of royal astrolo ger, at once thought to secure the cup from which the powder had been poured. A few gialns remained. Ho tasted them. It was unmistakably black gunpowder. Xo arrests have been made and no one seems willing to take the responsibility of saving that the tragedy was anything more than accident duo to the carelessness of someone ir. get ting the counterfeit powder mixed with the real article. "Oh, those country correspondents!" T fairly groaned. There was so much 1 wanted to know. "Who had handled t lie supposed counterfeit powder? What was the customary source from which the lodge procured it? What were the lelalions of the two physicians toward each other? I turned to the other I-apers. One or two gave further de tails of the character of the lodge, the name of which was strange to me, and something of the personality of the principals. The two physicians were prominent in the professional and social life of the city. Pr. Williams had settled in Aurovia two years before. 'Dr. Smith had been born and reared there. Dr. Williams left a widow, but no children. Dr. smith was unmarried and made hi home with a maiden aunt. "It all depends upon the history of tho powder.'- I said to myself as I i-tiiffcil tile papers into my pocket. "You are right, sir. It all depends upon the history of the powder." 1 turned around half i anger at this unlooked-for interruption to my train of thought. Whatever emotion I may have felt was instantly lost in interest in tile face before me. It was a face I should have singled out amcng a thou sand. Clean shaven, the firmly nioldi d chin showed by its slight tinge of blue that the beard, had it been al lowed to grow, would have been black. The nose was aquiline and of perfect proportions. The intelligent eyes were dark almost to blackness. The complexion was swarthy, but suffused with a glow of health. The hair was of that distingue combination of col ors, black, shading almost to white on the temples and over the forehead. An American, evidently, but inherit ing through several generations of New World ancestors the markings of Southern Europe. His height I should have estimated at six feet. Carlton Clarke really lacks three-quarters of an inch of the mark. "Ycu were saying that it all depends upon the history of the powder and I nureed that you had estimated the case correctly." repeated my neighbor. "I have no recollection of saying anvthing of the kind, although I admit I was thinking it," I replied. "May I ask how you denned my thoughts so readily?" "Oh. I noticed that you were studying the case from the papers. It took no sec ond sight to see that you were not sat isfied with the information you gained. 1 am going down on the case myself and doubtless I followed your chain of ideas which I am sure came to the only logical conclusion. I trust there is nothing un canny e.bout it. But permit me to share your scat with you. It is hard to con verse over one of these high backs." "Whom do you represent at Aurovia?" 1 asked, when the change had been ex ecuted. "No one. I am unofficial and am going solely upon my own hook." "Then you are a sort of Sherlock Holmes?" I ventured. "Sherlock Holmes is an impossibility. With all due respect to his literary pro-f'-itor, Dr. Doyle. I have very little respect for his methods, although I ad mit I employ them at times. Crime Is ivsycholoeieal and must be approached psychologically regarding both its pre vention and its detection. It must be omihatted by the study of men, not by the analysis of cigar ashes. It may be prevented by Improving the breed of human beings rather than that of blood hounds. Put I tire you, perhaps?" "No. no, go ; I beg of you." "There is scarcely time for further discussion, for if I am not mistaken wa are Hearing Aurovia. By the way. you tiinihllc.ss can procure me an lnterview with Dr. Homer Smith in the jail, as you have the backing of a big news paper." ' iict Dr Smith lias not been arrested, according to the papers. 1 had tne very latest :itioiis.'' "He haul not when wo leil Chicaao. MAM BeinS the Chronicles of Garlton Glarke, but unless I am greatly mistaken he is now behind the bars and with a pretty black case against him." "You certainly have information on the case which the newspapers have not been able to obtain," I replied, rather nettled. "No. I know no more about the case than you. Perhaps I merely jump at the conclusion as the finality of a theory which my mild suggested. I may be mistaken." Further conversation was interrupted by our arrival before the little artificial stone building which serves for a rail way station at Aurovia. The evident topic of conversation on all sides was the tragedy of the night before. I scorned unofficial information until I had ex hausted the official. However. I could not resist turning to one of the groups on the platform and asking: "What is the latest in the Williams case?" "Doc. Smith gave himself up about two hours ago," was the answer. "So my theory was correct," murmured my companion. "Yes, and the mystery knocked out of another godd story. But let's see what the police have to say." When we reached police headquarters we found Chief Darling in his office and at leisure. As we entered my companion slipped me his card with an apology for having omitted the formality on the train. The name I read was "Mr. Carl ton Clarke." Chief Darling was willing to talk but protested that he had no knowledge which was not already public property In the city. He had arrested Dr. Smith upon his own request and after a con ference with the state's attorney. The most damaging evidence against liim aside from the known details of the tragedy, was a powerful motive. The prisoner had every reason in the world to be the enemy of the dead physician, although there had never been an open rupture and they met as friends in so ciety and lodse work. When Dr. Wil liams came to Aurovia Dr. Smith had a flourishing practice. Within the two years his practice had dwindled to prac tically nothing, most of his wealthiest patients having fallen under the spell of Dr. Williams' engaging personality. , But it was over an aiffalr of the heart that the most serious clash in their for tunes had occurred. Dr. Smith for years had been "keeping company" with pretty Quelle Burton. Everybody in the city oetievea litem iu ue mcmy uiKtvgcu. -i nc society sensation therefore was sprung when the cards came out about a year before announcing the marriage of Dr. Williams and Lucile Burton, "Has their married life been happy?" asked Carlton Clarke, the first words he had spoken during the interview. "Well, yes, as far as anybody knows. Dr. Williams was a hard drinker at times what you might call a period ical drinker but few people knew It, as he always went home and locked himself in the house for three or four days and it was given out that he was sick. But my men have taken him home many a time just before one of those 'sick spells.' " "That's Just what puzzles me. He will make no confession and yet he wanted to be locked up. X said to him. 'Look here. Doc, you're not guilty of this thing, are you?' and he said, Technically I am." and not another word can I get out of him. But I shouldn't be surprised if he makes a full confession at the Inquest tomor row." "Now, Mr. Darling," continued Clarke, "you have, of course, investi gated fully the history of the pow der?" "That was the first move I made, and that's one thing that makes it look bad for Doc. The fake stuff never left his hands from the time it was ground until the shot was fired. The lodge has been getting its Imitation made at Burpee's drugstore, where a clerk by the name of Wilbur Paget, who 'is a j member of the lodge, grinds it up on the quiet as we need it. On the after, j noon of the initiation he had made up a quantity. Doc Smith dropped into the store about half-past 5, and Paget gave him the powder wrapped up in a package. As far as I can find out jio body but Paget and Doc handled it or saw It." "Have you inquired whether Dr. Smith has purchased any gunpowder lately?" "Oh, it wouldn't be necessary for him to do that. All the doctors here hunt a good deal, and Doc Smith always has plenty of ammunition in his house. If he wanted to make way with Doc Williams It would be the easiest thing in the world for him to have changed the powders and then said it was ac cident. But if that's the case, I can't understand what he wants to give him self up for. "Don't you suppose the clandestine meeting he had with Mrs. Williams this morning had something to do with it?" "Now, look here, who has leaked?" angrily exclaimed Darling. "I was sure no one knew of that but myself and one of my men who happened to see them together." "You have leaked, my dear Mr. Darling," answered Clarke. "It was a chance cast and I'm surprised that an old hand like you should have taken the bait. But you may rely upon our discretion, and I trust you will pardon my lucky stroke and give us your full confidence." Clarke's good humor seemed par tially to mollify the angry officer, but I could see that the shot rankled. "I guess I was pretty easy," said Darling, "but I'll take It as a favor if you won't say anything. Of course it will all come out at the inquest, but I don't know what passed between them, and in the meantime I'm saying noth ing about it." "We may see Dr. Smith, I suppose?" I asked. "I'll see if he will receive you," an swered the chief. , In a few minutes he returned with the Information that the doctor would grant us an audience. When we entered his cell Dr. Smith was seated upon the board which did duty as a bed. He was quite my ideal type of a typical physician. I waited a few seconds, expecting Clarke to take the lead in the conver sation as he had seemed inclined to do with the chief. He, however, seemed to prefer the study of Dr. Smith's eyes. The pause was becoming awkward and so I broko it. "I assure you, doctor." I said, "that our duty is a painful one. but you are aware that the newspapers tomorrow will print all the Information which the ingenuity of their reporters can acquire. I believe it will be to your advantage to give me your story and let our paper, at least, put you before the public in the very best light. Dogged silence on your part will, I believe, tend to change the popular verdict upon your admission of technically guilty' from involuntary man slaughter to that of wilful murder." "I care little for the verdict of the public. Let them call it 'wilful murder" if they wish." "Then that is the Inference which you wish me to give your silence in my story of the case?" "Give it whatever inference you wish. This is a matter solely between me and the law. and I cannot see that either the public or the newspapers have any rights to my confidence." ) During this conversation I could see Urn eyas oX lha doctor constantly, re- 4 verting to those of Clarke as if he found there some irresistible fascination. Then Clarke suddenly broke in. "Whom are you shielding?" he cried. "No one," fairly shouted the doctor. "Who are you that you should come here to catechise me?" Clarke Ignored the question. "Are you going to carry this farce to the end, even though it be an igno minious death?" he asked, quietly. At first the doctor seemed to lose con trol of himself and then he gathered him self together and cried: "Jeave this room instantly, both of you! I have answered all the imperti nent and frivolous questions I am going to." "We have all the information we shall get here," said Clarke as he took my arm and beckoned to the chief who had watched the interview through the small glass-covered aperature In the door. I did not know whether to be angry with. Clarke or with myself, but I felt that one of us had blundered. Clarke, On his part, was taciturn. "We had better see the drug clerk who mixed the fake powder before we inter view the widow," was all he would vouchsafe. The drug clerk, Wilbur Paget, cor roborated, all the chief had said re garding the fake powder, but by far the most important piece of information which he was able to give us was that on the afternoon he gave the package to Dr. Smith he had also handed the doctor a small purchase which Mrs. Williams had ordered by telephone, ask ing him to leave it at Dr. Williams home, which he must pass on the way to his own. When we evidently had all the Infor mation we wanted from Paget we turned into the shady residence street in which was situated the cozy home of the late Dr. Williams. In. our efforts to gain an audience with the widow, however, we met our first serious obstacle. After sending messages in repeatedly, we at last got the doubtful assurance that Mrs. Williams might possibly see us for a few minutes about 9 o'clock the next morn ing. It was getting along toward 6 o'clock and I decided that I must go to the ho tel, and get my story on the wires. Just as I was turning off the last pages of copy with the messenger at my elbow to rush it to the wire Clarke entered with a steaming cup of coffee and a gen erous plate oi toast. "I knew you'd missed your supper," he explained. While I wa3 munching the toast and sipping the coffee Clarke sat on the edge of the bed idly blowing rings of smoke from his cigarette. "Well, Mr. Clarke, what do you think by this time?" I ventured. "I think that if I had told you what I think before you wrote your story you might have written a better, but no one would have believed it. Which I consider is enigmatical if not grammat ical." "Read me the riddle, then," I said. "I confess my brain is too blank to solve it. What is your theory?" "If what I have to tell you was merely theory, I would offer no apology for it, but as I claim It is a fact I only ask you to reserve your Judgment and trust to the future to corroborate me. "Here is the "case. Dr. Smith did not commit that murder. There was no more surprised person in the lodgeroom when the pistol went off. He gave himself up for two reasons. First to shield the wo man he loves and whom he believes to be guilty. Second, he feels that he is teehaiMlla KUiltx. because, bis haaii did. THE Criminal ysiencs. "I WANT TO PUT THIS BOY IN EVIDENCE." the act, and his mind has exulted over it. This latter motive would not, however, have been sufficient to cause him to place his neck in jeopardy were it not coupled with the stronger one of love. This is Dr. Smith's entire connection with the case morally. Circumstantially, he is more closely connected, as I will show later. "Wilbur Paget, the drug clerk, might have committed the murder. He has for several years been desperately and hope lessly in love with Mrs. Williams, and has cherished a secret hatred for her husband. Thus the motive was there. The only reason he is not guilty is that the idea did not occur to him. This eliminates the drug clerk." "And now for the woman," I inter polated. "And now for the woman. She has two strong points against her at the start motive and opportunity." "MotivS perhaps, but the evidence has not shown opportunity," I objected. "Do not interrupt, my dear Sexton. I will show you the opportunity later. Her motive was a double one. She suffered in silence the constant abuse of a drunken husband. She loved another. Thus she had the strongest motive which can actuate a woman to murder, the desire to rid herself of -a man who was ruining her life and to be free to marry a man she loved. "Now for the opportunity which you doubt. When Dr. Smith stopped at the Williams' home to deliver the package from the drugstore Dr. Williams was out. Common courtesy demanded that the wife ask Dr. Smith into the house, even had her heart not prompted her to snatch every moment with him that she could. When he entered the house he handed the one package to Mrs. Williams. It was his excuse for calling. The other, the powder, he laid down with his hat on the hall tree. "I cannot conjecture the nature of their conversation. That is a point on which I will be able to tell you more to morrow. But here is one of the vital points of the chain. Mrs. Williams knew the nature of the ordeal which her hus band was to go through that night. I would stake my reputation that Dr. Smith told her, for he is Just the type of man who is unable to keep anything from a woman. So we will set it down as reasonable that Mrs. Williams knew. ".Now for the opportunity. When Dr. Smith left the house he did not take the powder with him. Whether it was con nivance, intent, or merely absent-mindedness I cannot say, but I incline toward the latter. At any rate, the Imitation powder was in the possession of Mrs. Williams for some little time. She knew its purpose. What is there to prevent her from making the substitution? It Is her great temptation. A moment and It Is done. Now the man who has merited her concentrated hatred and scorn for a year of wedded life will pass out and she will be free. Who will be the wiser? Who will attribute it to anything but accident?" "Or to her lover?" I objected. "That, my dear Sexton, would be. a fatal objection were woman a reasoning creature. It is doubtful if she thought of that possibility." "No, no, you are all wrong," -I ex claimed. "I would have to lose all my faith in womankind before I could credit it. I would rather believe it of the doctor." "But I know he Is innocent. I may be mistaken about the woman," answered Clarke. "But how do you know?" "I would hesitate to tell you,"- said Clarke, turning hia eyes lull, tuon mc. MASTER TcIcbaiho-DcduciiVe Solver of BY "were it not for the fact that I foresee that we are destined to work together In the future. It is only fair that you should know something of my methods. To insure against your skepticism of what I am going to tell you I wish first to give you a little demonstration of what those who know me are pleased to term my powers. "In the first place you are consider ing giving up active newspaper work and devoting your entire time to work that is more congenial. Since coming to Aurovia you have fully decided to take the step, give up your position, withdraw from the club on Huron street where you are living, and where quiet work is out of the question, and take a little flat which you have in mind, with possibly one congenial com panion. This will be your best plan, my dear Sexton, and I am sure you will make a success of the great work which you have outlined." I was literally stumped. Here was a man relating to me ideas which had formed in my brain within the time I had been talking to him and of which there could be no possible external evidence. "I am ready to believe anything," I said. "Now, what is the. system?" "Of course you are familiar with tel epathy," replied Clarke, "and are suf ficiently liberal-minded to admit the possibility of a thing which even cold blooded modern sicence credits." "Then you are a mind-reader and have aeen the workings of my brain pictured in your own, just as you have seen the thoughts of the chief. Dr. Smith, and the drug clerk." "Not exactly. I see, my dear Sexton, that you know very little about tel epathy. Mind reading is too strong a term. I have met telepathists who claimed to be developed psychically to the extent that they could see a pic ture of the thoughts of others. I have seen .them perform some wonderful feats. But telepathy, as given to me. Is not an exact science by any means. It merely amounts to this: When I am listening to you, my mind is fol lowing your words. Suddenly there may flash across my brain an entirely different sequence of ideas. Many per sons experience this sensation, but fall to recognize the thoughts which spring into being as emanating from the ex terior." "But you don't mean to say thac you can secure evidence In a erise of this kind which will be valid in a court of law?" I asked, recurring to the mere practical side of the question. "Certainly not, but telepathy will in dicate the lines on which to search for more tangible evidence. When my sys tem is developed -in its entirety crime will become an impossibility, because detection will become an actual science. You remember Blackstone's rule that not the severity but the certainty of the punishment is a deterrent of crime." "Then it is your belief that our in terview with Mrs. Williams tomorrow will disclose her guilt?" "If she is guilty I have no doubt I shall be able to find It out" "But how will you substantiate her guilt in a manner acceptable to a Jury?" "Esther by causing her to break through her self-possession and make a full confession, or, failing in this, by gaining some indication of where to look for material evidence. Now, for fear that you may still entertain some liflgerilis; skejpticism. of my. poor pow FRANK LOVELL NELSON. ers, I want to tell you what you have been thinking within the last few min- I utes. You have been thinking: "I be lieve this man would make a good working companion for me. I wonder if he is so situated that he can share that little flat on Oak street. I wish I dared ask him.' I will spare you the embarrassment of acknowledging that I am right, my dear Sexton, and will say that I am alone in the world, with out ties of any. kind, and doubtless when we return to Chicago we can ar range to Join interests." In the midst of my astonishment and the "good nights" Clarke slipped away to his room. After breakfasting the next morning Clarke and I set out to fulfill our ten tative appointment with Mrs. Williams. The streets were already crowded, and I marked several rivals from other papers. They gave me pitying glances when they saw me leaving the square. The Coroner was expected momentarily, and they thought I was going to miss the inquest. When we reached the Williams cot tage we were ushered into the parlor and the maid assured us that Mrs. Williams would be down in a few min utes. "You lead In the conversation. Sexton. I want a chance to study her," said Clarke. "Question her Just as if every thing I told you last night was fact and as if you knew all about the doctor's stop here and the meeting yesterday morning" "You must come to my rescue if you see me getting into deep water." He nodded, and further talk was inter rupted by the entrance of the widow. She was a petite little body, with a face pretty, yet full of character, framed in a mass of dark hair, defiant of pins and fastenings. Caste was written in the finely arched eyebrows, the well-formed nose and the firmly modeled chin. She was of the type which loves much, but suffers in silence. Women of her class do not turn to murder to. escape trouble. "Mrs. Williams," I began, rather lame ly, after her acceptance of our apologies, "I will spare you, as far as possible, all reference to the terrible tragedy, but I would like to ask you a few questions relating to the events of the afternoon previous to it. In the first place, I un derstand that Dr. Smith stopped here on his way home to eupper." "Dr. Smith stopped to leave a package which I had ordered by phone from the drugstore." "And I understand that he came Into the house and sat a few minutes, leaving his hat and another package which he carried, in the hall." Mrs. Willliams started, grew a shade paler, but quickly recovered her com posure and nodded in acquiescence. "And when Dr. Smith left," I con tinued, "I understand that he neglected to take his package with him." Again she started, bit her Hps, but nodded an affirmative. "How long did the package remai here after Dr. Smith left?" "About half an hour." "Did he call for it in person?" "No, he sent a boy who works around his stable." "Are you aware of the contents of that package ?" "I am," and there was a little choking catch in her voice as she said it. "Now, Mrs Williams, I want to remind you that neither Mr. Clarke nor myself Is an officer of the law and thus we have no right to ask you to make any state ment which will tend to Incriminate any one; but I wish to ask one more ques tion, which I leave to your discretion whether or not to answer. Were you aware of the contents of that package during the time it was in your posses sion?" "I was. Dr. Smith had told me of the work of the lodge, and when he laid down his hat and the package he re marked: 'There is the fake powder for your husband tonight.' " I could not but admire her courage as she made this statement, certainly a damaging one if brought before a jury. I cast a furtive glance of appeal at Clarke. "Mrs. Williams," he began in his whirlwind fashion, "I will ask you what passed between yourself and Dr. Smith at the early morning meeting you had with him yesterday. Walt a minute. Is it not a fact that Dr. Smith called you to the back door before the neighbors were up and while the watchers were all in the front part of the house with the body, and cohfessed to you that he had executed the fatal change in the pow ders?" "Did Dr. Smith tell you that?" she asked in a tense voice, while she con vulsively clasped and unclasped hei hands. "Dr. Smith has told me nothing. It is a fact, is it not?" "Yes." "But despite his confession to you ant the fact that he gave himself up to the police, you believe him to be innocent?" "O, sir, I more than believe. I know he is innocent." "How do you know it?" snapped Clarke, with his eyes riveted upon the frail bit of femininity before hitn. 1 - "I know it because because I changed the powders." I couM scarcely believe my senses. I glanced at Clarke expecting a furtive look of triumph. Instead he seemed com pletely nonplussed and sat looking into Mrs. Williams' terrified eyes as if his' whole soul was seeking to drag forth her secret. When he finally broke the spell his voice took on a tone of deepest earnestness. "Mrs. Williams, why do you, who are not of a caste given to falsehood,, de liberately tell me what I know to be un true? Dr. Smith would not ask this sac rifice at your hands. He is innocent, and his innocence alone will save him." She arose and grasped the back of her chair for support. She seemed about to fall, but she gathered all the energy of a mighty spirit in a frail body, and cried appealingly : "O, I will save him! You shall not prevent me! Even though he be guilty I will save him. Mine was the first guilt. Prove that he is innocent, and I will thank you with my whole lire. If you cannot, do not stand in my way, for I am the guilty one and on my head alone should the punishment fall. You have dragged out my secret and made me lay my heart open before you who are strangers. Do not betray me but let me work this problem out in my own way, I beg of you, gentlemen." "You may rely on our discretion, Mrs. Williams." said Clarke, as he took the cold hand of the woman to help her to her chair. "But I hope that there will be some other way out of it, and that no sacrifice will be necessary." Just then the telephone bell rang vio lently. . "Answer it, If you please, Mr. Sex ton." said the woman, who seemed too weak to rise. I went to the telephone. . "Coroner has arrived. Inquest Is be ginning. Mrs. Williams wanted at once at the Courthouse." I turned and gave the message ver - batim. With a i hurried promise to keep our counsel, let Mrs. Williams take her own course, but to do all in our power to aid her, Clarke and I left the house. "What do you think of it, Clarke?" I 1 asked. , AMND "I don't know what to think. They're both innocent. She told the truth. You noticed how I led her -Into it. She has a remarkable psychic mind, and I knew the storm was coming before it broke." "She is innocent, but I have my doubts about the doctor. He confessed his guilt to her. He wouldn't have done that if he were innocent." "He would be more likely to If he were innocent than if he were guilty. He thought he was saving her from confessing to him. Each believes the other guilty. I'll be hanged if I be lieve either of them Is. See here, you go back to town and keep an eye on the inquest. Do all in your power to keep Mrs. Williams from making a confession. I have an intuition which leads me in the direction of Dr. Smith's barn." When I reached the courthouse the .proceedings already had commenced. I was in plenty of time, however, as much time was being wasted with the history of the lodge, and the evidence of about 20 of those who were present at the time of the tragedy, each of whom told exactly the same story. I slipped Into a vacant seat inside the bar and directly behind Mrs. Williams, who was flanked by two "Job's com forters" in the persons of elderly fe male friends. When I had the chance I whispered to her: "Do not make any confession "until Mr. Clarke comes. He is on the trail of new evidence." The first evidence of real importance was that of the drug clerk, who swore to the facts he had told . Clarke and myself. Chief Darling's policeman swore to the early morning meeting and the effect seemed to be to turn the tide of sentiment dcidedly against Dr. Smith, who was preserving his com posure admirably during the trying or deal. Finally Mrs. Williams was called to the stand. There was a buzz of ex citement and then a hush as-the little woman took the oath. The Coroner, in questioning her. showed an absolute lack of sympathy, although In no point did he exceed his legal rights. ."Now, Mrs. Williams," continued the Coroner, after a few formal questions, "I want you to tell the jury what 'passed between you and . Dr. Smith when you met early yesterday morn ing." "Dr. Smith simply came to ask me if there was any assistance he could render in my trouble. I expected no less of one I have known since child hood." Doubtless she told the truth, but I trust the recording angel overlooked the fact that it was not the whole truth. "Why did he come to the back door?" asked the Coroner. "After' his close connection with my husband's death I suppose he wished to avoid publicity." "Did Dr. Smith offier you any ex planation as to the cause of the trag edy?" Mrs. Williams hesitated and looked anDealinelv at me. I endeavored to instill strength into her wavering courage with all the power of my eyes, but the poor, har assed little woman was unequal to the strain of the ordeal. And perhaps to her mind it seemed that she was be ing led on to give incriminating evi dence against the man site loved. With a pathetic out-throwing of her hands toward her inquisitor she rose to her feet. "No! No!" she cried in a pitifully shrill voice. "He had no explanation to offer. I alone know who killed Dr. Williams. It was I who " "Stop!" commanded a voice in the back of the hall. The sudden interruption broke the tension under which everyone was la boring, and all eyes were directed to discover its source. I turned with the crowd and saw Clarke forcing his way up the aisle half dragging a frowsled, freckled, tow-headed lad of about 13, whose violent sobbing became the only sound in the room as he was led to the Coroner's desk. "Mr. Coroner," said Clarke, reach ing the railing with his prisoner, "I wish to put this boy in evidence be fore Mrs. Williams finishes her testi mony. Here is the instrument of Dr. Williams' death." Everybody in the hall was on his feet, and there was a great craning of necks to see Clarke's captive. "Mrs. Williams is excused for the present. You will be sworn, Mr. " "Carlton Clarke," answered my com panion, taking the oath. "Now," said Clarke, "this boy Is In no condition of mind to be examined. but when he sees that he has not com mitted a crime and that no harm will come to him, he will corroborate what I have to say. I found him in the far thest corner of Dr. Smith's hayloft,' praying for dear life. He is the boy that Dr. Smith sent after the package of ImP tation powder which he had left at Mrs. Williams' house when he called there the afternoon previous to the tragedy to deliver another package at the re quest of the drug clerk, Paget. This boy intended going rabbit hunting the next day and on his way to Mrs. Williams' he stopped at Toby's gun store and bought a nickel's worth of gunpowder. This he slipped into his left pocket. When Mrs. Williams gave him the package Dr. Smith had left, he put it in his right pocket. Being an absent-minded youth,, he had forgotten all about his errand when he returned to pr. Smith's house. The doctor asked him suddenly for the package and being left-handed, as may be proved, he reached for his left pocket. The next morning when he heard of Dr. Williams' death and found what he had done, he hid the other package in the hay, where I found it. He has been in a condition of absolute terror and in hiding in the hay ever since. Isn't that so, Timothy Dolan?" "Y-ty-yes, thir," sobbed the boy. Then the court room broke into cheers, and whatever formalities the court took to free Dr. Smith were lost in the excite ment. As Clarke and I watched the spires of Aurovia fading In the distance that even ing. I could not help wondering If Dr. Smith greatly regretted the mistake of his freckled .stable boy. More than a year after the events re corded In the foregoing narrative Clarke and I were idling in our rooms one morning when the mall brought a square envelope addressed to Clarke. "Here," he said, as he tossed the card over to me. "This will recall to your mind the mystery of the famous Aurovia Lodge case." It was an announcement of the mar riage of Mrs. Lucile Williams to Dr. Homer Smith. (The second of the series of adventures of Carlton Clarke, entitled "The Mystery of the Trust Builder," a complete story, will appear next week.) (Copyright, 1908. by W. G. Chapman. Copy right In Great Britain.) A Phantasy. Phyllis stood like a sweet Naiad Down by the stream, on verdant sod, Holding a slender bamboo rod. Her shriek then rent the ambient air- A catfish big had left its lafr Xa ohase the rat tucked in her hair. Harper's Weeklx.
