Evening Star Newspaper, March 29, 1925, Page 76

Prospectors Are Crazed by Lack'.of Water on a Plain of Pitch { The precise location of the great amphalt lake descrlibed in this ar- Wcle, hitherto unknown, is withheld by Mr. Moreno for reasons connected with his activities as a prospector. He vouche: however, for its au- vhenticity and importance. This statement carries weight because of Mr. Moreno’s signal record as an explorer in Central and South America. A native of New York, of Spanish-American ancestry, Mr. Moreno has conducted expeditions in Nicaragua, Honduras, Costa Rica. Peru, Ecuador, Brazil, Colombia, Panama, Jamalca and Turkey BY GEORGE MORENO. SAT in the cafe of Guayaquil Hotel depressed with many fears. The bubonic plague and yellow fever were playing dreadful havoc around u Two of my men already had fallen victims of these terrible diseases— three others were on the point of death. That very morning 1 had ac- companied to the grave the wife of our American consul, a gentle lady, who, but cight days before, had en- tertained us with the most kindly and motherly hospitality Within two days our arrangements would be completed and we would proceed to the more healthful high- lands of the interior. Yet as I thought Now fortunate we were so S00n to be able to pe from the horrors of « plague. 1 could not help but feel Qeenly those unfortunates who must remain within brace of pest-ridden Guavaquil then a strange individual came to my table and introduced himself. “I'm a bum!" he said. He need not have spoken it—it was written all over his face. Barefooted. clad in the soiled, ragged shirt and pajama-like trousers of the tropical beach-comber, his thin, undersized hody topped by a mean, tiny head from which shone two ferret-like eyes circled by signs of 11l health and vice, he stood bofore me and repeated: “I'm a bum, so don’t tell IL to me. The “two-bits customary on such asions, were silently offered—and ously rejected. I don't want that! That's what -y all give me!” Then, with amaz- ng frankness he told me his story. Product of a foundling asylum, he had lived the greater part of his life in the "Bowery” of New York. Here e had become proficient in the trades ¢ pickpocket and sneak thief. Two before he “had gotten in wrong the boss.” In consequence, “the took after him. Peeling he had worked his way on a t to Panama, where, fearing to apply for work in the Canal Zone, because of the American authority which is exercised there, and failing to find it elsewhere, after two or three months he had shipped on & cattle boat down the west coast of- South America. He had deserted the boat on its arrival at Guayaquil Since then he had lived carious life of an outcast, foreigner in a strange country. And now he was not looking for the “price of a drink,” but for work—work would permit him to escape which from certain death in Guayaquil PR N Y better judgment, and the nat- ural repugnance which his per- sonality awakened in me, advised that 1 should not accept his applic tion for work. I was convinced that L should rid myself of him in some charitable manner, vet perhaps it was Lecause of the horror which 1 my £=lf felt at the idea of being com- peiled to remain in Guayaquil for even two more davs, that, without further consideration, 1 took him on. Thus it was that Henry Jones, as I shall call him here, became a member of our expedition We started with 384 men all told. The two-day raliroad trip, with stopover by night in quaint Riobama, In some measure made us forget our heavy dejection $n Guayaquil. What probably coutributed to our present cheerfulness was the fact that in one of the towns we passed we be- held an American fire engine occupy- ing a prominent position high up in a kiosk at the center of the town's principal square. To our astonished questions it was explained that the progressive mu- nicipality of that town, anxious to have a modern fire department, had ordered the englne. On its arrival, however, they found not only that their small horses could not drag it hrough the rough, stony and muddy streets, but that none of the citizens knew how to operate it. Therefore, not finding the engine useful, it had Leen decided to make it ornamental With all honors it had been reared in the public square. Charming Quito, o. fur the pre- penniles: with its superb to the times of Spanish its picturesque streets Indians wearing beau- * and its exquisite so- however, a bitter dis- to my personal vanity. my youthful appearance did not, awaken confidence or respect among the official element. Because this, 1 could not obtain the official rmits and assistance which were indispensable for our explorations. In this dilemma, and casting all vanities aside, the expedient was adopted of presenting the chief ge- ologist—very tall, of a most imposing presence, and delightfully polished n his manners—as the leader of the party, and myself as his secretary and interpreter. By this bit of harm- strategy every assistance and courtesy, most generously given, was obtained from the government. x % x % Al: matters so happily concluded, we returned to Riobanba. This was to be the starting point of our rip into the dark and hitherto unex- plored “oriente.” For weeks we trudged along the bare sides and ridges of the Ande: At times we had to perform real feats of mountaineering, always fighting the cold, strong winds which fre- quently blew with hurricane fury. But we finally conquered the main dating back dominions, rowded with iful “poncho: . proved, intment less Andean scenery, its massive churches | that a 9. Story of Adventure Among Head Hunters, of Escape From Plague, and Experiences in the Region of an Inca Gity. ridge, nd thera before us to the east lay the unknown fleld for future ad- ventures. As is invariably the case, the.men, drawn by personal sympathies, had by this time paired off in couples. Every- body had somebody else to consider as his “pal” or “buddie.” In the course of natural selection the chiet geolo- gist and myself had become chums. I said that everybody had som body else for a “buddy.” That is, everybody but Jones. For while all the others were 80 happily paired, he continued to be an outcast—and de- servedly so. His speech was vile, his ninners gross, and only by force could we compel him to enter into friendly relations with soap and wa ter. The meanness of his spirit was quickly manifested by the selfishness with which he always tried to secure for himself any slight convenlence or comfort which our rough camp life might have to offer. And because of all this, and because he picked our pockets for cigarettes and chocolates, we designated him “the Pig." We descended part way down the trackless east slope of the Andes and marveled at what we found there— the buried remains of an old Indian city, perhaps the Inca nation. The slight excavation work which we were able to do revealed the massive walls of a windowless house—walls of uncemented stones, smoothly and squarely cut. Fragments of stained pottery, which denoted a high degree of develop- ment in that art, were uncovered And s=urrounding these ruins on the barren sides of the hill, whose stony soll produces but a poor scrub veg- etation, we found artifically built ter- races, supported by strong stone walls and filled with rich vegetable soil Several well defined trails led in rious directions from the ruined city. and one of these followed downward the slope of the mountains. Thus, alternating the patural hard- ships of the trail with now and then @ most interesting discovery, we con- tinued on our way toward the heart of the “oriente.” But those hardships increased daily. Two of the porters, having suffered injuries from falls, had to be carried on stretchers. This limited the speed of the entire party to the pace of the stretcher-bearer: In consequence our food supplies be- gan to reach a low ebb. These had been calculated to last un- til we should make the jungles of the lowland—where we hoped to find game and other sustenance in abundance and from where the main train of porters would be returned to Quito and to pro- vide for whose return caches of pro- visions had to be made along our route of march. It was now necessary to put all hands on half rations. And while we suffered thus Jones repeatedly pilfered our scant supplies. For such acts, in our indignation, we punished him with blows. ¥ time we came to the lower slopes of the Andes, where those dreadful little savages, the “Head Hunters" (so- called because it is their practice to decapitate their victims and, by extract- ing the skull, preserve and reduce the head to about the size of an orange commenced to harass us. Small in size, copper-colored and naked, with master- * x ¥ x {1y woodcraft they would approach our camps, or ambush us on the trail, and, from the sheiter of the surrcunding bush, would noiselessly fire upon us with their reed blow-pipes, five to six feet in length. And the little poisoned darts with which they showered us brought death to our midst. Our heavy clothing provided consider- able defense against these blow-pipe attacks, because the darts did not have sufficient force to penetrate through them, but those unfortunates who were struck on naked places, .such as the ‘hands, neck and face, perished. No less than 87 members of our party were killed by these terrible little shafts. Nine more fell befors other weapons. So we were compelled to re- sist these attacks, which we did, In- flicting devastating losses on the little brown men with our modern firearms. On other occasions, while crossing some clearings, we suddenly would find ourselves surrounded by large numbers of the Indians, who emerged from the bush and, brandishing their heavy clubs, stone hatchets and spears, rushed upon us uttering hideous shouts. And some of us, conscious of their inability to re- sist our arms and being desirous 1o avold the shedding of their blood, would by friendly signs endeavor to stop them: but Jones, on every such occasion, with curses would protest, saying: “Aw let the come! They an’t hurt us—let's give it to them'" He peemed to have a maniac's love for the cruel, and we hated him for it. And thus we marched and fought and suffered wounds and the sorrow of los- ing some of our friends. And with en- tering the jungles our hardships in- creased, so that now it was but rare smile was seen or a_cheerful word was heard. But we all agreed that our greatest trouble was Jogles. We detested him, and in many wavs we made him feel our hatred. Reciprocat- ing, he would curse us all. Then we came to an asphalt lake. Black, and shimmering in the hot sun, it lay before us as far as eye could see. We knew we had made an im- portant discovery—one which must be investigated in every possible de- tail. So it was decided that at once we must proceed to make a survey of it. It was also decided that a small detachment made up of the strongest and best-conditioned men would do this work, while the main party camped and rested on the shore of the lake. * x ¥ ¥ HAT evening a counell was held for the purpose of determining the best method which should be fol- | lowed in exploring the lake. At that meeting it resulted that, although several of the members of the party had had considerable past experience in travel through fce fields, jungles und sandy deserts, not one of them had ever before seen an asphalt lake. All were inexperienced as to the con- ditions to be faced in traveling over its surface. Based merely on the fact, therefore, that the largest asphalt lake known to exist, as some one recalled, was of some 17 miles in diameter, and that a king party over such a smooth surface should readily be able to ad- vance 20 miles in one day: and con- sidering it to be scarcely probable that the lake before us could be as large s or larger than. that one, which already known as the greatest In the world, we concluded that provisions for five days would furnish an ample supply. At dawn of the following morning the exploring party, made up of the chief geologist, an assistant geologist, Jones and myself, with seven Indian porters, undertook its task During the early hours of the morning, the traveling was quite easy. By noon. we calculated that we had advanced pproximately 10 miles. Yet, that ame hour, we commenoed to experi- ence difficulties. The blazing sun not only exhausted | us, but the glare black, shining asphalt blinded The asphalt. also, softened by heat, became as mush beneath feet. Into this we sank, beyond our ankles. From such a mire one had to struggle in order to free himself and be able to take the next step forward. Soen we realized that it was futile to try to travel during the heat of the day. So, under that blazing sun and on that blistering asphalt. we stretched out and tried to rest in order to be fit to march again after sunset. For two nights we traveled thus On the third day, we knew that our situation was critical. We found as we advanced toward the center of the lake that the asphalt became softer. Even during the cooler hours of the night we sank into it deeply. We made but tife slowest and most fatig ing progress. This was particularly true, as we now were suffering from large, painful blisters and sores on_our legs and feet ‘We deemed it most probable that by this time we had traveled more than half the distance between the shors whera our camp was located and the opposite side. We determined, there- fore, to continue on our course, be- lMeving It to be in all probability the shortest distance between ourselves and land. Half-rations also having been accepted as a measure of pre- caution. we felt that, although our situation was a grave one, with the careful conservation of our supplies. we should be able to work our way out ¥or four more nights we traveled Then we found ourselves at the point of exhaustion. Half-starved, parched with thirst which made us “spit cot- ton” through cracked lips, we stagger- ed on. We were filled with the tervor of that black waste. Our brains, feverish from the heat, the exhaustion and anxiety, brought fantasies to our minds so that, at times, we were little better than half mad. At times some shrisked, pointin forward. “There it is—water, water I damned the black asphalt which did not sustain even a blade of grass. * ¥ % x ITH their bloodshot eyes, crack- ed lips and swollen tongues, the entire party was the embodiment of despair. All superfluous equipment long since had been cast away. Of all our armament, there remained but one six-shooter hung from my belt Three canteens contained all the water that was left. And so the party staggered and stumbled on, the us. the our it produced on now one of its members falling, while | another would give a helping hand, and the helper soon after would fall, to be helped in turn by some one else. Came the heat of the seventh day to add to our torments. Only the slight- est relief was to be had from the handkerchief which, with one corner soaked in the tepid water, was passed around to be sucked. And as I was RUSHED UPON US UTTERING HIDEOUS SHOUTS,” making a réund with the canteen and handkerchief, one of the porters, knocking me off my feet, grasped the canteen from my hands and greedily BY OLIVER P. NEWMAN. N the law of averages Charles G. Dawes has approximately one chance in three of be- coming President of the United States. Out of 30 Presidents, 9 succeeded to the posi- tion through the vice presidency. And several Vice Presidents, includ- |ing some that did not move into the White House, were romantic, pictur- esque figures, who, like Gen. Dawes, kept right on being them entering office and did and said things that made Washington sit up and take notice. On at least one historic, previous occasion the Senate divided evenly on a presidential nomination, but that day the Vice President was in the chalr and cast the deciding vote. The occasion was the vote on the nomi- nation of Martin Van Buren to be Minister to England, Little Van" and all the Jackson cabinet but Post- master General Barry had resigned on account of the quarrel over Peggy O'Neale, the tavern keeper's daugh- ter, whom Jackson had made a “cab- {inet lady,” and whom Van Buren had |defended. Congress was not in ses- sion, so Old Hickory gave Van Buren a recess appointment to the court |of.St. James. When Congress met in | December Van Buren was on the job in London and his nominatign was sent to the Senate again. John C. Calhoun of South Carolina was Vice President, and he and Jack- son had just parted political com- pany. Each was bitter toward the other, so Calhoun took hold of the Van Buren opposition in the Senate and worked up a majority the “Red Fox of Kinderhook. mnti-Jackson peopte, headed by Cal- houn, had three or four votes to spare against Van Buren, but by pre- vious arrangement caused a tie vote —in order to give Calhoun the satis- faction of casting the vote that turn- ed down Jackson's heir to the presi- dency, to which Calhoun himself as- pire “Well, wea've killed Van Buren'™ Calhoun remarked after the voting. {He and the other Senators hostile to Jackson and Van Buren gloated over their victory. But they got scant satisfaction out of Benton of Mis- souri, the stanchest Jackson man in the Senate, who overheard Calhoun’s remark and retorted: “You're mistaken. President.” Gen. Dawes’ first day in the Senate, when he vigorously attacked the rules of procedure, brought to the minds of many the time, 24 years be- fore to the minute, when Theodore Roosevelt was sworn in as Vice Pres- fdent. For some inexplicable reason “Teddy” wore a flaming red necktie, which, in itself, was an affront to the austere, formal Senate of that da: An extra session had been called, as customary, to receive the nominations of the new cabinet, so at 12 o'clock | the new Vice President, his necktie like a headlight, seized the gavel and | banged it down loudly three times on the desk before him. Half a dozen older Senators jumped as if they had been shot. In his stacoato voice Roosevelt sald | he Senate of the U-nit-ed Stat-es will be in order for the transaction such business as the Pre-si-dent of the U-nit-ed State-es may di-rect. The venerable Senator Morgan of Alabama, who had a front seat be- cause he was a little deaf, slowly rose and addressed the colon “Mr, President,” he said, slowly: “The Senate of the United States will be in order for the transaction of such business at it may di-rect.” Thus T. R.s battle with the Senate started the first minute he was Vice President—an omen of an eight-year career full of fireworks. * ok k% ENATOR BENTON turned out to be a good prophet. Jackson first made Van Buren Vice President in 1832 and then President in 1836. In the former year the first national Democratic convention was held. “King Caucus,” composed of the mem- bers of Congress, had been nominat- ing the candidates for President and Vice President since Washington's time. Jackson smashed that system when he defeated the caucus nominee in 1828, and four years later he caused & popular convention to meet In Bal- timore to nominate a candidate for Vice President. The call anhounced that it was a convention of Demo- crats “favorable to the re-election of Gen. Jackson.” Prior to the meeting of the conven- tion Jackson had been nominated by & number of State Legislatures and State conventions. The Baltimore convention did not nominate a candi- date for President, but “concurred” in nominations of Jackson that had been made by the States. It also adopted the famous “twe-thirds™ rule, which has governed Democratic conventions ever since. Calhoun's hopes for a third term You've mnade a elves after | swallowed from it. He was shot on the spot as an act of summary justice. But no one else gave further thought to the dead man—all thought of the as Vice President or for the presi- dency as Jackson's successor were thus blasted and must have caused Van Buren many a silent chuckle when he thought of the jibe the Caro- linian had flung at him when the presidential vote of the 1836 election was being canvassed. Van Buren, as Vice President, was presiding at the counting of the vote, and Calhoun, then a Senator, was one of the telle It was a raw, dismal, rainy day outside and the first State returns were heavily against Van Buren. “The weather is very bad today, is it not?” asked Calhoun of Van Buren, with an expression which revealed his double meaning. Van Buren smiled brightly and responded cheerfully: ever fear; it will be a bright day on March 4. John Adams, the elder. and Thomas Jefferson were both Vice President before being elected President, but at that time each presidential elector voted for two men. The man recelv. ing the highest vote became Presi- dent, and the man recelving the next highgst became Vice President. This made possible the election of a Presi- dent and Vice President of opposing partfes, which was just what hap- pened in 1796, when John Adams was elected President and Jefferson Vice President. Four years later it a freak result, when Jefferson and Burr were tied. The intent of the Democratic electors was to elect Jef- also produced spilled water which ran and steamed on the hot asphalt, and they fought to lap it up. Passed the seventh night. Then the ferson President and Burr Vice Pres! dent, o in each Democratic State the electors voted for both, without realizing that when all States were counted a tie would resuit. The House determined the issue by mak- ing Jefferson President and Burr Vic President. Tmmedlately theréafter the Constitution was amended to pre- vent such results in future. Of all Gen. Dawes predecessors Aaron Burr was the most striking aracter. with the possible excep- tion of Theodors Roosevell. Hand- some, brilliant, dashing in spirit and | personality, eloquent and scholarly. |he first distinguished himself as a oung officer in the Revolutionary War and afterward as the first at- torney general of New York State and as United States Senator. The highest official position in the new republic was counted none too great for him to administer with distinction. As he rapldly rose in his public ca- reer (then a profession practically limited to the aristocratic classes) it was freely predicted he would be- come President. He scemed to be headed straight for the White House. When elected Vice President in 1800 (following the tis with Jefferson) he showed no disappoifitment, but, on the contrary. utmost lovalty to Jeffer- son, which increased his popularity. x o % % E and Alexander Hamilton, how- ever, had been quarreling vio- lently for 10 years. Hamilton had | Hamiiton would not reply hell of the eighth day. But two can- teens of watar wexe left. Mindful of the attack which ‘the Indian porter had made on me thie day before, I de- termined to give my gun in turn to each white man as'it came his hour to guard and distrithute the water. In due course came Jomes’ turn, As the gun and water passed into his hands, I felt that surely I had made a great mistake and thdt this man, already proved mo despicable, would not hesitate: to abuse the power which the gunt now gave him. He would steal from|us the remain- ing water. In this heavy anxiety I lay as close as I possibly could to dones. Without awakening his susphions, and by shifting now and then, I endeavored to get within reach af the revolver by his side. He sat there, between the gun and canteems, alternately looking from one to thwe other, while now and then he lifted his head and gazed intently at us abll. This atti- tude of Jones increased mny suspicions. I cursed myself for thus stupldly having imperiled the engire party. Intently I continued te watch Jones from under the cover of my hat. I saw him lift the canteems and assure himself that the stoppars were firmly fixed. I saw him lift the revolver and wipe It with his dirty Mandkerchief. I saw him take his nofebook from his shirt pocket and sczibble some words in It. And I saw him lift up the gun and blow his brains out! . . . In the notebook we readl this mes- sage “Beloved Chieft “Den't blame me. I'm mo quitter I do this o that there may be one mouth less to feed. “The Plg.” That night, when we again took up the march, we left him there, stark upon the black asphait. * x % % TTHE ninth day again we rested and suffered and wished for death. But ons canteen remained to us and at that the men glared with eyes which were Iike those of flends. I ordered that the water now be miven even more sparingly than it had been be- fore, because I knew that, once we ware through with what we had, our finish would follow shortly, and I wanted, if possible, to carry through the next night's march, which I also knew would be the last effort we would be able to make to save our- seives The men were desperate; ready to &0 to any extremes in order to get ipossession of our one canteen. I also been a distinguished Revolu- tionary soldier. He was also a New Yorker, looked upon as brilliant, ac- complished and destined for great success in public life. He had made a phenomenal record as Secretary of the fTreasury and was the head of the Federalist party. Between him and | Burr there developed bitter rivalry| and intense jealousy, which culmi- nated in personal enmity, following| Burr's defeat for Governor of New York, which he correctly attributed | to Hamllton's opposition. A letter written by Charles D. Coo- per fell into Burr's hands. It quoted| Hamilton as declaring Burr “despic- able” and unfit to bs Governor. Burr wrote to Hamilton, demanding either an admission or a denial of the state- ments attributed to him. A corre- spondence covering three weeks en- sued, durlng which Willlam P. Van Ness acted as courler for Burr and Nathanie! Pendleton acted for Hamil- ton. DBurr continued to demand a definite answer, and Hamilton, who did not believe in duelling, sought to evade the issue and write in such terms as to avold a challenge. Burr woul be satisfled with noth- ing less than “Yes" or “No,” and as in such terms, Burr issued a challenge. Ham- iiton reluctantly accepted it, ate din- ner with his beautiful wife and seven | children, made his will and in the| evening wrote a.long, farewell letter to Mrs. Hamilton, expressing pra could ses that ons of the whits r was far gone out of his mind. | no longer could be trusted. I turned to another white mau whom I thought I could trust, an said to him: “It's up to us to stretcl this out as long as possible.’ He took the canteen to do his tur and, shaking my hand, sald: “¥c have my word for it.” An hour later this whits ma poured down his throat the last hal canteen of water which remalned t us! Staggering on that night, with final expenditure of all that was in us, wo came to land at 2 o in the morning. We found oursa at once in a rich tropical jungle wit an abundance of water closs by was with the utmost difficulty t the whites could restrain the India: from dangerously overdrinking. For 15 days we camped to recove from our exhaustion. When ficlent energy had returned to u hunted to obtaln meat for smok and skins for new water bottles. With an adequate supply of bot We set out upon the same routs and safely recrossed the lake. The whols expedition, main part as well as the smaller exploring units lost 23 men from sickness, exhaustior drowning and other causes, in add tion to the 76 who fell vict{ms to 1} head hunters (© ‘opyright, 1925.) - Indoor Hunting. IND()HI’. quail hunt with bird dog in season an 1s the 1 sport at St. Louis, Mo. State Gar and Fish Commissioner Wiel turned two dogs loose In the post office and express offices of St Louir and the alacrity with which the dogs “pointed” out the packages contain ing contraband game has prompted the commissioner to order the pur chase of four or five more dogs. Thev will be tralned and eventually w make dally searches in the post of flce and express offices for out-of-seas game birds. Japan's Telephones. TELEPHONE s a lucrative vestment in Japan, owing to government's policy of issuing c @ limited number of new instrument each year. After a certain period subscriber may sell his telephone This buying and selling has beco; recognized business large the Individuals thus employed known as te bein Roosevelt and Dawes as Presiding Officers tical certainty of death. He aross early the next morning, July 11, 1304, and crossed the river in a rowboat to Weehawken, where the duel was to be fought. Burr, 2 widower, spent the evening at home alone, and wrote far Into t night to his absent daughter The dosia. Evidently his thougits not as morbid as Hamilton's epistle was cheerful. He m his coat and boots and slept soundlv the remainder of the night on a couch in his library, and was rowed across the river at half-past 6 in the morning. The duel was fought on a ledgs about 20 feet long and a dozen feet wide, cut into the steep cliff abour 30 feet above the river. Burr ar Van Ness arrived half an hour ahead of Hamilton and spent the time whi walting in pulling up weeds and ur derbrush to provide a clear space for the duel. Hamilton arrived wi Pendleton, and the principals bowed formally to one another The seconds had previously agreed on the conditions of the duel, which were that the duelists were to stand 10 paces apart and fire at the wor “Pre-sent!” A coin was tossed to d termine the choice of position. Per dleton won and selected a spot look ing partially toward the river. Ar oiher coln was tossed to determine give the signal th Page) The Adventure of the Illustrious Client (Continued from Second Page.) compressed, inexorable and terrible. He was {ll-advised to train his mustache away from it, for it was nature's danger signal, set as a warning to his victims. His voiee was engaging and his man- ners perfect. In age I should have put him at little over 30, though his record afterward showed that he was 42. * ok x * (\/ERY fine—very fine, indeed!” he said at last. “And you say you have & set of six to correspond. What puzzles me is that I shouid not have heard of euch magnificent specimens. I only know of one in England to match this, and it is certainly not likely to be in the market. Would it be indiscreet if I were to ask you, Dr. Hill Barton, how you obtained this?" “Does it really matter?” T asked, with as careless an air as I could muster. “You can see that the piece is genuine, and as to the value I am content to take an expert's valuation.” “Very mysterious," said he, with a quick, suspicious flash of his dark eyes. “In dealing with objects of such value one naturally wishes to know all about the transaction. That the piece is genu- ine Is certain. 1 have no doubts at all about that. But suppose—I am bound to take every possibility into account— that it should prove afterward that you had no right to seli?” “I would guarantes claim of the sort.” “That, of course, would open up the Guestion as to what your guarantee was worth."” “My bankers would answer that." “Quite s0. And yet the whole trans- actlon strikes me as rather unusual. “You can do business or not,” said T with indifference. “I have given you the first offér, as I understood that you were a connoisseur, but 1 shail have no difficulty in other quarter: “Who told you I was a connols seur?"” “I was aware that you had written a book upon the subject.” Have you read the book?" *“No. Dear me, this becomes more and more difficult for me to understand! You are a connoisseur and collector with a very valuable piece in vour collection and vet you have never troubled to consult the one book which would have told you of the real meaning and value of what you held. How do you explain that? T am a very busy man. I am a doctor in practice.” “That is no answer. If a man has a hobby, he follows it up, whatever his other ‘pursuits may be. You said in your note that you were a connols- seur.”, “So'T am. “Might I ask you a few questions fo test you? I am obliged to tell you, doctor—If you are indeed a doctor— that the incident becomes more and more suspicious. I would ask you what do you know of the Emperor Shomu and how do you associate him with the Shoso-in near Nara? Dear me, does that puszle you? Tell me a little about the Northern Wei dynasty and its place in the history of ce- ramics.” I sprang from my chair in simulat- ed anger. You against any “This is intolerable, sir,” said I * came here to do you a favor, and not to be examined as if I were a school- | boy. My. knowledge on these sub- jects may be second only to your own, but I certainly shall not answer questions which have been put in so offensive a way.” The * ok ok ox HB, leoked at me steadily. languor had gone from his eye: They suddenly glared. There was a gleam of teoth from between those cruel 1ips. “What is the game? You are here as a spy. You are an emissary of Holmes. This is a trick that you are playing upon me. The fellow is dying, I hear, so he sends his tools to keep watch upon me. You've made your way In here without leave, and, by God, you may find it harder to get out than to get in!" He had sprung to his feet and I stepped back, bracing myself for an attack, for the man was beside him- self with rage. He may have suspect- ed me from the first, but certainly this cross-examination had shown him the ‘truth, but it was clear that T could not hope to deceive him. He dived his hand into a side drawer and rummaged furiously. Then some- thing struck upon his ear, for he stood listening intently. “Ah!" he crled. “Ah!" and dashed into the room behind him. Two steps took me to the open door, and my mind will ever carry a clear picture of the soene within. The win- dow leading out to the garden was wide open. Beside it, looking like some terrible ghost, his head girt with bloody bandages, his face drawn and white, stood Sherlock Holmes. The next instant he was through the £ap, and I heard the crash of his body among the laurel bushes outside. With 2 howl of rage the master of the house rushed after him to the open window. And then! Tt was done in an instant, and yet I clearly saw it. An arm— a woman's arm—shot out from among the leaves. At the same instant the baron uttered a horrible cry—a yell which will always ring in my memory. He clapped his two hands to his face and rushed round the room, beating his head horribly against the wall Then he fell upon the carpet, rolling and writhing, while scream after scream resounded through the house. “Water! For God's sake, water!" was his cry. I seized a carafe from a side table and rushed to his aid. At the same moment the butler .and several foot- men ran in from the hall. I remem- ber that one of them fainted as I knelt by the injured man and turned that horrible face to the light of the lamp. The vitriol was eating into it everywhere and dripping from the ears to the chin. One eye was already white and glazed. The other was red and inflamed. The features which I had admired a few minutes before were now like some beautiful paint- ing over which the artist has pussed & wet foul sponge. It was blurred, dlscolored, inhuman, terrible. * ok %k JN & fow words I explained exactly what had ocourred so far as the Some vitriol attack was concerned. Lcould I guess what the little packet had climbed through the window and others had rushed out onto the lawn, but it was dark and it had begun to rain. Between his soreams the vic- tim raged and raved against the avenger. “It was that hell-cat, Kitty Winter,” he cried. "“Oh, the she devil! She shall pay for it! She shall pay! Oh, God in Heaven, this pain {3 more than I can bear! I bathed his face in oll, put cotton wadding on the raw surfaces, and administered a hypodermic of morphia. | All suspicion of me had passed from his mind in the presence of this shock, and he clung to my hands as it I might have the power even yet to clear those dead-fish eves which gazed up at me. I could have wept over the ruin had I not remembered very clearly the vile life which had led up .to so hideous a change. It was loathsome to feel the pawing of his burning hands, and I was relleved when his family surgeon, closely followed by a speciallst, came to relieve me of my charge. An inspector of police had also arrived, and to him I hand- ed my real card. It would have been useless as. well as foolish to do other- wise, for I was nearly as well known by sight at the yard as Holmes him- | self. Then I left that house of gloom and terror. Within an hour 1 was at Baker street. Holmes was seated in his familiar chair, looking very pale and exhaust- ed. Apart from his injuries, even his iron nerves had been shocked by the events of the evening, and he listened with horror to my account of the baron's transformation. “The wages of sin, wages of sin!" said he. “Sooner or later it will always come. God knews, there was sin enough,” he add- ed, taking up a brown volume from the table. ‘“Hers is the book the woman talked of. If this will not break off the marriage, nothing ever could. But it will, Watson. It must. No self-respecting woman could stand . It s his love diary?" “Or his lust diary. you will. ‘Watson—the Call ft what The moment the woman told us of it I realized what a tre- mendous weapon was there, if we could but lay our hands on it. I sald nothing at the time to indicate my thoughts, for this woman might have given it away. But I brooded over it. Then this assault upon me gave me the chance of letting the baron think that no precautions need be taken against me. That was all to the good. I would have waited & little longer, but his visit to America forced ,my hand. He would never have left so compromising a docu- ment behind him. Therefore, we had | to_act at once. | Burglary at night is fmpossible. | He takes precautions. But there was | a chance in the evening, if T could | only be sure that his attention was engaged. That was where you and your blue saucer came in. But I had to be sure of the position of the book, and I knew I had only a few minutes In which to act, for my time was limited by your knowledge of Chi- nese pottery. Therefore, I gathered the girl up at the last moment. How was that she carried so fully under her cloak? I thought she had come altogether on my business, it seems she had sorue of her ow “He guessed I came from you “I feared he would. But you held him In play just long enough fo me to get the book, though not lot enough for an unobserved escape “Ah, Sir James, I am very glad 1ou hava come.” * ¥ ¥ x UR courtly friend had appeared answer to & previous summons He listened with the deepest en- tion to Holmes' account of what had occurred. You have done wonders—wonders le cried, when he had heard the nar rative. “But if these Injuries are as terrible as Dr. Watson describes, ther surely our purpose of thwarting the marriags is sufficiently gained wit out the use of this horrible book Holmes shook his head “Women of the De Mervilla type d not act lke that. She would love | the more as a disfigured martyr no. It is his moral side, not his phys feal, which we have to destrov. Ti book will bring hker back to earth and T know nothing else that It is in his own writing. She canr get past it." Sir James carried away hoth it ar the precious saucer. As I was myse!f overdue, I went down with him in the street. A brougham was waitin for him. He sprang in, gave a hu ried order to the cockaded coac man and drove swiftly away. He flung his overcoat half out of the window to cover the armorfal bear- ings upon the panel, but I had seen them in the glare of our fanlight none the less. I gasped with sur prise. Then I turned back and as- cended the stalr to Holmes' room. “I have found out who our client Is I cried, bursting with my great news. “Why, Holmes, it {s- “It {s a loyal friend and & chiv rous gentleman,” said Holmes, hol ing up a restraining hand. “Let that now and forever be enough for us e e 1 do not know how the tncrimina ing book was used. Sir James ma: have managed it. Or it is more prob- able that so delicate a task was ir trusted to the young lady's father The effect, at any rate, was all that could be desired. Thres days later appeared a paragraph in the Morn- ing Post to say that the marriage be- tween Baron Adelbert Gruner and Miss Violet de Merville would not take place. The same paper had the first police court hearing of the proceedings against Miss Kitty Winter on 1k grave charge of vitriol throwins Such extenuating circumstances can out in the trial that the sentenc as will be remembered, was the lov st that was possible for such an of fense. Sherlock Holmes was threatencd with prosecutlon for burgiary, buc when an object is good and a clien is sufficiently illustrious, even the rigid British law becomes human and elastic. My friend has not yet stoofi in the dock. (Copyright, 1923, by Sir Ar through the ads Tnited States and Canada ur Conan Doyle. Rele American Newspaper o