,montezuma's                            
,castle                                 
,and                                    
,other                                  
,weird                                  
,tales                                  
,decoration                             
,by                            ,c4 ,b4  
,,cory                             ,,new
 ,,york                        ,,ralph  
,s4 ,,mighill                           
#gj ,,fifth ,,avenue                    
#ahii     ,illustration3 ,,often ,,at   
,,night ,,he ,,spoke ,,with ,,fiery     
,,eloquence4 ,p4 #abh4                  
,,montezuma',s ,,castle                 
,,and                          ,,other  
,,weird ,,tales                         
,,by                          ,,charles 
,b4 ,,cory          ,author of ,dr4     
,wandermann1 ,hunting and ,fishing      
in ,florida1 etc4                       
,,new ,,york                            
,,ralph ,s4 ,,mighill                   
#gj ,,fifth ,,avenue                    

#ahii                                   
,copyright1 #ahii                       
,,by ,,charles ,b4 ,,cory               
,,press ,,of                            
,rockwell and ,churchill                
,,boston1 ,u4,s4,a4                     
,,to                          ,charles  
,k4 ,crane                              
,,author ,,and ,,traveller              
,,whose ,,name ,,recalls ,,many         
,,pleasant ,,memories                   
,,this ,,book                           
,,is ,,dedicated     ,,contents4        
,,page    ,,montezuma',s ,,castle       
#g    ,,the ,,amateur ,,championship    
#bc    ,,the ,,tragedy ,,of ,,the       
,,white ,,tanks                         
#dc    ,,too ,,close ,,for ,,comfort    
#ee    ,,the ,,strange ,,powder ,,of    
,,the ,,jou ,,jou ,,priests             
#ge    ,,an ,,aztec ,,mummy             
#gh    ,a ,,lesson ,,in ,,chemistry     
#ij    ,,an ,,interesting ,,ghost       
#ajb    ,,the ,,mound ,,of ,,eternal    
,,silence                               

#aaf    ,,the ,,story ,,of ,a ,,bad     
,,indian                                
#abg    ,a ,,queer ,,coincidence        
#ace    ,,the ,,story ,,of ,,an ,,insane
 ,,sailor                               
#aeb    ,,the ,,elixir ,,of ,,life      
#agc    ,,the ,,voodoo ,,idol           
#aid    ,,an ,,arizona ,,episode        
#bje    ,,one ,,touch ,,of ,,nature     
#bah     ,,list ,,of ,,illustrations4   
,,page    ,,often ,,at ,,night ,,he     
,,spoke ,,with ,,fiery ,,eloquence      
,frontispiece4    ,,the ,,castle ,,is   
,,built ,,on ,a ,,ledge ,,on ,,the      
,,side ,,of ,a ,,mountain   #g    ,,the 
,,smoke ,,continually ,,oozed ,,from    
,,all ,,parts ,,of ,,his ,,body   #ajf  
,,the ,,mound ,,of ,,eternal ,,silence  
#aah    ,,judson',s ,,map               
#aai    ,,tixinopa                      
#abg    ,,malita                        
#acj    ,a ,,silver ,,coin 99 99 99     
,,one ,,edge ,,had ,,been ,,flattened   
,,and ,a     ,,hole ,,pierced ,,in ,,it 
#aeb    ,,the ,,great ,,dog 99 99 99    

,,resting ,,his ,,head ,,on ,,the       
,,cowboy',s     ,,knee                  
#bah     ,illustration3 ,,the ,,castle  
,,is ,,built ,,on ,a ,,ledge ,,on ,,the 
,,side ,,of ,a ,,mountain4              
,,montezuma',s ,,castle4   ,no1 said the
 curiosity dealer1 that mummy is not for
 sale4 ,i had too big a job to get it4  
,tell me about it1 ,i asked4  ,the      
curiosity dealer carefully closed and   
locked the case1 and then meditatively  
rolled a cigarette4  ,well1 it was this 
way3 you see ,i was out after snakes and
 other natural history specimens4 ,i had
 a special order from a chap in ,new    
,york for three hundred snakes--he      
wanted some big rattlers4 ,i think ,i   
sent him some that pleased him2 anyhow  
he paid for them all right4 ,i had a    
customer who wanted a rattlesnake with a
 very big rattle1 and ,i fixed up a     
snake for him on this trip and sent it  
to him afterwards4 ,it had one hundred  
and eighteen rattles6 ,i glued a lot of 
rattles together1 and by taking off the 

buttons it was pretty hard to see where 
they were joined4 ,this rattle was more 
than a foot long4  ,there was another   
,eastern chap wanted an ibex1 which he  
said was found up in these mountains4   
,it had light-colored horns curved over 
at the tips like a chamois and striped  
legs and eyes that stuck out like an    
antelope4 ,he had heard about the ibex  
and wanted a pair4 ,i told him ,i had   
often killed them1 but they were hard to
 get4  ,what is an ibex8 ,i asked4      
,i'll be hanged if ,i know1 answered the
 collector4 ,but there are fellows in   
these mountains who say that there      
really are such animals1 and if he      
wanted to have an ibex1 and had to have 
an ibex1 ,i might as well get him an    
ibex as anybody else1 even if ,i had to 
make one4  ,but to get back to my story4
 ,i had a big outfit on this trip and ,i
 expected to get a lot of curios one way
 and another1 what with snakes and      
animals of various kinds1 besides all   
the things that ,i might pick up in the 

way of baskets and ,indian relics1 which
 might prove salable4 ,my outfit        
consisted of two wagons1 five horses1   
and ,i had a ,mexican along to look     
after the teams and do the cooking4     
,after being out some two weeks we found
 ourselves near what is called          
',montezuma's ,castle1' up by the       
,verde4 ,there are a lot of caves       
scattered about up there1 supposed to   
have been made by the ,cave ,dwellers1  
and many of them had never been touched 
or examined4  ,i had an offer of good   
money for a mummy1 and had tried making 
them from the bodies of ,indian         
children1 but ,i never could get them to
 look real4 ,the bones are not crumbly  
enough1 and the rags which the real     
mummies are done up in are pretty       
difficult to imitate4  ,i was mighty    
anxious to explore the big caves1 so off
 we went to the place1 and ,i tell you  
the old ruin they call ',montezuma's    
,castle' is a dandy1 and don't you      
forget it4 ,the castle is built on a    

ledge high up on the side of a mountain 
which hangs over at the top4 ,the only  
way to get up is by ladders or ropes1   
and it is mighty hard to get there even 
then4  ,right near there1 on the face of
 the high cliff1 there are a lot of fine
 old ,cliff dwellings1 and some of them 
are more than one hundred feet from the 
base4 ,these cliffs are straight up and 
down1 sometimes nearly smooth1 but often
 with narrow broken ledges here and     
there on the face of the wall4  ,one    
particular cave which seemed to be a    
rather large one was about fifty feet   
up1 and immediately below it were two or
 three small ledges1 which1 after ,i had
 looked the place over1 seemed to me to 
be sufficiently wide to hold a ladder2  
and ,i came to the conclusion that if ,i
 wished to explore one of these caves ,i
 had better try the one in question4    
,in my outfit ,i had two large tents1   
nine by fourteen1 and the poles of these
 tents1 it seemed to me1 would answer   
very well for ladders if ,i connected   

them by pieces of rope4 ,it was not     
necessary to make the steps very near   
together1 and by cutting notches in the 
poles and tying pieces of rope across ,i
 succeeded in making two very good      
ladders1 one fourteen feet long1 with   
the two top poles--one from each tent2  
and two small ladders1 each about seven 
feet4 ,i made these last from the four  
upright tent poles1 there being two to  
each tent1 as you know4  ,the foot of   
the cliff was rough1 and the first      
fifteen feet or so we could climb easily
 to a broad ledge1 then there came a    
space between nine and ten feet in      
height1 which was as smooth and         
perpendicular as a wall4 ,here my first 
ladder was put up4 ,two small ledges    
above this1 some three feet apart1 and a
 wider ledge four feet higher1 allowed  
me to climb up1 without the use of      
ladders1 to another ledge4  ,from here  
,i ran another small ladder up to a     
ledge which was between two and three   
feet wide2 from this ledge to the       

entrance of the cave was about twelve   
feet1 and my fourteen-foot ladder       
answered finely1 but the difficulty was1
 it had to stand so straight that it was
 rather ticklish business going up2 one 
could not help feeling that a slip or a 
little backward jerk would topple it    
over into the valley below1 and as from 
the ledge where it stood to the bottom  
was some forty feet1 a tumble on to the 
rocks would prove most unpleasant4      
,however1 my ,mexican1 ,antonio1 held   
the ladder1 and by very careful work ,i 
succeeded in reaching the mouth of the  
cave and crawling in4 ,i had no sooner  
entered than ,i felt pretty sure it had 
never previously been visited by any one
 since the original inhabitants left it4
 ,the first thing ,i did was to take a  
stout piece of twine from my pocket and 
fasten the end of the ladder to a piece 
of rock4 ,then ,i felt easier4  ,there  
were numerous bits of broken pottery    
scattered about and one nearly perfect  
specimen4 ,besides these there was a    

very interesting bit of stone carving4  
,these things ,i gathered together and  
placed in a heap near the entrance4 ,i  
then went back and1 taking a small      
hatchet which ,i had brought with me1   
commenced to dig about in the floor and 
pretty soon found this little child     
mummy4  ,by the time ,i had taken it out
 ,i was pretty thirsty and hot1 as you  
may suppose4 ,i was careful and did not 
hurry matters1 and the cave was like an 
oven4  ,wrapping the little mummy       
carefully in a big handkerchief which ,i
 had tied round my neck1 ,i untied the  
twine from the ladder1 and lowered the  
bundle slowly down to ,antonio1 my      
,mexican1 who was standing at the foot  
of the top ladder4 ,it reached him      
safely1 but while he was untying it ,i  
carelessly dropped the end of the       
string4 ,i went back1 however1 and      
gathered up the other relics1 intending 
to take some of them down with me and   
then come back for the rest if ,i could 
not manage them all the first time4     

,while ,i was looking them over ,i heard
 a crash and the sound of tumbling      
stones1 and looking out ,i saw that the 
ladder had fallen1 and commenced to     
curse ,antonio for his carelessness2 but
 imagine my horror when ,i saw him throw
 down the bottom ladder and then run as 
fast as he could towards the camp4 ,my  
first and only thought was to pay       
,antonio for his treachery4 ,it was     
evidently his intention to leave me     
safely housed in a place from which ,i  
could never escape alive1 and start off 
the proud owner of the two wagons1 five 
horses1 and various valuables which he  
believed my boxes to contain4  ,my      
revolver was still in my belt1 and      
hastily pulling it ,i commenced shooting
 at the running figure1 now some sixty  
or seventy yards distant4 ,the first    
bullet knocked up a cloud of dust about 
three feet to his right and a little    
ahead1 the second was still worse1 but  
at the third he turned sideways1        
staggered on several paces1 and fell    

among some loose rocks in a way that    
must have been unpleasant4 ,he tried to 
get up again1 but ,i now had his range  
pretty well and hit him again with the  
sixth shot2 after that he lay pretty    
quiet1 although ,i thought ,i saw him   
move his arm once or twice4 ,i reloaded1
 having plenty of cartridges in my belt1
 and began shooting at him again4 ,this 
time ,i hit him three times out of six  
shots1 and as he had not moved for some 
minutes ,i concluded that he was dead4  
,then ,i began to think over how ,i was 
going to get down4 ,i was very thirsty  
and it was tantalizing to see the water 
down in the valley sparkling in the     
sunlight4 ,it looked very clear and     
refreshing4  ,i thought and thought1 and
 the more ,i thought the more hopeless  
it seemed to me to plan a way to get    
down alive4 ,there was one ladder still 
standing1--the second one1--but there   
was a space of some thirty feet before  
,i could reach it4 ,i had absolutely    
nothing1 not even a string1 to aid me in

 getting down4  ,there was no use hoping
 for help from any one1 for the place   
was rarely visited1 and it might be     
weeks before any person would discover  
that ,i was there4 ,i was getting more  
thirsty all the time1 and1 at last1 ,i  
hated to go to the mouth of the cave1   
hot as it was inside1 because the sight 
of the water nearly drove me mad4 ,i    
amused myself by occasionally taking a  
shot at ,antonio4 ,i had his range down 
pretty fine1 now1 and rarely missed him4
 ,it was getting late1 and the sun had  
long since sunk out of sight4 ,above the
 mountains there was one tall peak which
 ,i could see up the canyon4 ,it stood  
out in the sunlight bright and shining1 
even after the canyon had become quite  
dark4  ,as the sun sank lower and lower 
the darkness crept gradually up until   
only the very top was left a shining    
point4 ,for a few minutes it shone a    
fiery red and then the light was gone   
like a huge torch which flickers and    
goes out4  ,then the night noises       

commenced3 the incessant1 maddening     
croaking of the frogs and now and then  
an owl4  ,did you ever hear the frogs in
 ,arizona8  ,i responded in the         
affirmative4  ,well1 then1 you know     
something about what they sound like1   
and know they can give ,eastern frogs   
cards and spades and beat them easy4    
,but you don't know what they sound like
 when you are really thirsty6  ,probably
 not1 ,i answered4  ,well1 continued the
 curiosity dealer1 ,i knew nothing could
 be done until morning1 so ,i lay down  
and tried to sleep4 ,i was very nervous 
and could not help fearing that in the  
night ,i might walk in my sleep or roll 
to the mouth of the cave and tumble out4
 ,i do not think ,i really slept at all1
 but lay in a half-dazed condition until
 it was light enough for me to see      
things in the canyon below4  ,strange to
 say1 ,i was not hungry1 although ,i had
 eaten nothing since the previous       
morning4 ,my whole thoughts were        
concentrated on the one                 

desire--something to drink6 ,i thought  
and pondered1 trying to think of some   
possible way to get down6 ,at one time  
,i thought seriously of jumping to the  
ledge below1 but ,i knew that it would  
be impossible for me to stay on it even 
if my legs were not broken by the fall1 
and that to jump meant practically to   
commit suicide6  ,at last a thought     
occurred to me that ,i might possibly   
make a rope out of my clothes4 ,i had a 
large pocket-knife and a hatchet1 and no
 sooner had the thought suggested itself
 than ,i commenced to undress4 ,my      
canvas coat1 shirt1 and trousers and    
some thin underclothes constituted my   
entire wardrobe1 and by carefully       
cutting them into strips wide enough to 
bear my weight1 and yet narrow enough to
 give sufficient length1 ,i succeeded in
 making a kind of a rope with which ,i  
hoped ,i could succeed in reaching the  
second ladder without broken bones6  ,i 
could not work steadily1 as it was      
impossible for me to avoid getting up   

and now and then walking about the cave4
 ,i suffered so with the heat and       
thirst1 that the hope of escape alone   
kept me from going mad4 ,at last the    
rope was done and tied together with    
various knots4 ,it had a creepy sort of 
stretchy feeling when ,i pulled on it1  
but ,i had no alternative but to trust  
to it1--it was that or nothing1 and     
nothing meant death from thirst in a    
very short time4  ,i succeeded in fixing
 the hatchet firmly into and across a   
cleft in the rock where it was split1   
and it gave me something to tie the rope
 to which ,i was satisfied would hold my
 weight4 ,i tied the end of the rope to 
the hatchet handle and threw the other  
end down1 and was mighty glad to see    
that it reached within four or five feet
 of the middle ledge4  ,i was stark     
naked excepting my shoes1 and ,i tell   
you it was no easy task letting one's   
self down over the sharp edges of the   
rock4 ,every moment ,i expected one of  
the knots to give way1 and ,i shall     

never forget the feeling which came over
 me as ,i swung myself clear of the     
ledge and hung swaying on that          
improvised rope which seemed to stretch 
and grow thin in a way which sent cold  
shivers running up and down my spine4   
,it seemed a year before ,i reached the 
ledge4 ,i went down pretty slow1 sparing
 the rope as much as ,i could by        
supporting part of my weight by digging 
my toes into every little crack and     
crevice ,i could find1 but ,i got there 
at last1 and when ,i did1 ,i sat down on
 the ledge and cried like a baby4       
,well1 that is the story4 ,of course ,i 
got down the rest of the way all right1 
or ,i wouldn't be here2 but ,i don't    
know as ,i would have done it if        
,antonio had pulled down the second     
ladder instead of the bottom one4 ,he   
was evidently in too much of a hurry to 
do the job up right4 ,after reaching the
 second ladder1 it was no kind of a     
trick to slide it down and use it over  
again4 ,the first thing ,i did when ,i  

got down was to run as fast as ,i could 
to the river and drink as much water as 
,i dared1 then ,i lay down in the water 
and enjoyed it4 ,talk about your        
,paradise ,cocktails--they are not to be
 compared with that ,verde ,river water 
which ,i tasted that day6  ,antonio8    
,oh1 yes1 he is there yet1 ,i believe1  
although ,i have never been back since  
to see1 and ,i hope ,i never will4 ,my  
first experience among the ,cliff       
,dwellers was all sufficient4     ,,the 
,,amateur ,,championship4   ,i4  ,a     
committee from the ,phoenix ,athletic   
,club and one from the ,prescott ,club  
had met1 and after considerable         
discussion had arranged a match to      
decide the ,amateur ,championship of    
,arizona4  ,as the ,phoenix and         
,prescott clubs were far and away the   
foremost athletic organizations in the  
,territory1 the contest was looked      
forward to with a great interest1       
especially as an intense rivalry existed
 between the two cities4  ,let the      

contest be fair and square on both      
sides1 said ,smith1 the chairman of the 
,phoenix committee4 ,let each club send 
its best man1 who is strictly an        
amateur1 of course1 and a member of the 
club1 in good standing1 and let the best
 man win4  ,them's my sentiments        
exactly1 responded ,johnson1 the        
chairman of the ,prescott committee4    
,fair play and honors to the best man1  
say ,i6 ,i did think of sending a young 
fellow ,i know in our club who took some
 sparring lessons in ',frisco last year1
 and is quite clever2 he's a gunsmith by
 profession1 but the trouble is he has  
been teaching the boys during his spare 
time when he could get away from the    
shop1 and that makes him a professional1
 doesn't it8  ,it does1 said ,smith1 and
 ,i am glad to find you are as          
particular as ,i am in such matters2 let
 me tell you1 it is a pleasure to meet a
 man like yourself who tries to be fair 
and square1 and to take no advantage of 
anybody4 ,let's take something4  ,during

 the next few days there were anxious   
meetings of the committees in charge of 
the arrangements4 ,a certain man well up
 in sporting matters went to ',frisco as
 a committee of one1 representing the   
,prescott ,club1 to hunt for talent2 at 
the same time a brother of the chairman 
of the ,phoenix committee1 who kept a   
bar-room in ,chicago1 received a letter 
which caused considerable discussion    
between him and his partner1 and several
 interviews with a certain short-haired1
 thick-set individual who frequented his
 place4  ,what ,i want1 said the letter1
 is the best man you can get4 ,some one 
who is a sure winner1 and can punch the 
stuffing out of this amateur duck from  
,prescott4 ,don't make a mistake1 and do
 not spare money4 ,get a star1 as the   
boys will bet all they have on him1 and 
we do not want to take any chances4     
,the following week the chairman of the 
committee of the ,phoenix organization  
received a letter from his brother in   
,chicago1 which informed him that for   

two hundred dollars1 and expenses1 they 
had secured the services of a well-known
 professional1 but one who had never    
been ,west1 and who1 they were sure1    
could lick anything which could be      
produced1 professional or amateur1 on   
the ,pacific ,coast4 ,he had commenced  
training1 and they could rest easy1 and 
bet as much money as they wanted to4    
,meanwhile the ,prescott ,club's        
representative had made a rich find in  
,san ,francisco1 in the shape of an     
,australian professional who had just   
landed and was therefore not likely to  
be recognized4 ,he had a record of      
numerous victories in his own country1  
and cheerfully undertook1 for the sum of
 seventy-five dollars1 to knock the     
bloomin' head off any bloomin' duffer1  
anywhere near his own weight1 that might
 be brought against him4  ,things went  
along merrily1 letters were exchanged   
between the chairman of the two         
committees reporting as to the progress 
of their representatives4  ,our young   

man1 wrote the ,prescott leader1 is     
doing very well1 and ,i hope great      
things from him4 ,naturally we want to  
win1 and have secured the best man of   
good amateur standing in our town to    
represent us4 ,he is a drug clerk1 and  
his mother objected pretty strongly at  
first1 but she has been talked over4    
,there will be a party of at least one  
hundred of us go down with him1 and ,i  
hope you will have front seats reserved 
for us4 ,most of the boys feel inclined 
to wager a little on the success of our 
representative1 but he himself does not 
feel very confident of the result4 ,upon
 my return ,i found quite a strong      
feeling in favor of having the young    
gunsmith represent us1 but1 after my    
conversation with you1 could not for a  
moment countenance any such proceedings 
on our part4  ,two nights following1 the
 ,prescott chairman read the following  
letter in answer to the one which he had
 sent3      ,,to ,r4 ,w4 ,,johnson1     
,,esq41        ,chairman of the         

,committee              for the         
,prescott ,athletic ,club1              
,prescott1 ,arizona3        ,,dear      
,,sir3 ,i am glad to hear that there is 
considerable     interest taken in the  
forthcoming match4 ,boxing is a noble   
art1 and this coming contest will no    
doubt help to boom both     our clubs4  
,there is a great interest taken here in
 the match1     and ,i warn you our man 
is getting himself in the very best     
condition possible4 ,he is nervous1 of  
course1 this being his     first        
appearance in an affair of this kind4   
,he is a clerk in     a bank1 who has   
lately been engaged by my friend        
,robinson1     and therefore does not   
get as much time for exercise as        
perhaps would be wise1 but ,robinson is 
an enthusiastic sport1     as you know1 
and has arranged to let him get off     
several     hours each day4 ,we look    
forward to a great contest1 and ,i      
certainly feel that the winner may fully
 consider himself the     ,amateur      

,champion of the ,territory4 ,we shall  
take great     satisfaction in reserving
 the one hundred seats you ask for4     
,i think you will find all the money    
ready for you in the way     of bets    
that you will want4 ,our population is  
made up a great     deal1 as you know1  
largely of miners and ranchers1 and they
     are inclined to bet recklessly4 ,i 
cannot close without     congratulating 
the ,prescott ,athletic ,club for the   
energy and     enterprise they have     
shown in this matter4 ,may the best man 
win6                                    
,yours1 etc41                           
,j4 ,,smith4   ,,ii4  ,there was a great
 crowd packed into the ring of the      
,phoenix ,athletic ,association on the  
evening of the contest4 ,seats were at a
 premium1 and the fight had been the    
principal subject of conversation for   
days4 ,the two principals had met and   
been introduced to one another1 just    
before going to the scene of the        
contest4 ,both were dressed for the     

occasion1 and ,i tell you they were     
sights6 ,the bank clerk had on a collar 
so high that he could hardly turn his   
head1 a high silk hat1 long black       
frock-coat1 and an immense white rose in
 his buttonhole4  ,the ,prescott drug   
clerk was still more gorgeous4 ,besides 
a buttonhole bouquet and high collar1 he
 sported an eye-glass1 and smoked a     
cigarette while in the presence of his  
opponent4  ',ow's yer bloomin' 'ealth8  
remarked the drug clerk4 ,hi 'opes as   
'ow yer fit4  ,ah-h-h1 go arn1 answered 
the embryo financier1 using only one    
side of his mouth1 don't try ter jolly  
me1 yer sage-brush dude1 or ,i'll give  
yer a poke right here4  ,several members
 of the committee hastened to interfere1
 and put a stop to all further danger of
 trouble by hurrying the principals off 
to their dressing-rooms to prepare for  
the contest4  ,in the ante-room ,smith  
hugged ,robinson1 and nearly wept with  
joy when they were alone4  ,did you take
 a good look at the stiff8 he gasped4   

,why1 our man will punch daylight out of
 him in two minutes after the gong      
sounds6 ,why1 ,i say this is wrong--it  
is too easy2 ,i really feel sorry for   
these ,prescott chaps6  ,robinson       
chuckled and muttered something about   
fools and their money being soon parted1
 and then the two worthies repaired to  
the ringside4  ,smith was to be ,master 
of the ,ceremonies1 and climbing upon   
the raised platform he crawled through  
the ropes1 and after looking about him  
for a moment1 raised his hands to enjoin
 silence4  ,gentlemen1 he said1 ,i must 
beg you all to stop smoking4 ,the       
contest which is to be held here        
to-night is to decide the ,amateur      
,championship of the ,territory of      
,arizona4 ,nothing is more calculated to
 incite among our younger men the love  
for athletic sports than such           
competitions1 when conducted in a fair  
and sportsmanlike manner4 ,i must beg of
 you not to allow yourselves to be      
biased towards indulging in any unseemly

 noise in case your favorite should be  
worsted4 ,what we want is a fair field  
and no favoritism1 and while we hope our
 boy will win1 none of you1 ,i am sure1 
would wish in any way to feel that      
either man was given any undue          
advantage4 ,the men will fight with     
#c-oz4 gloves1 ,marquis of ,queensbury  
rules1 three minutes to each round1 with
 a minute's rest between4 ,a man down to
 get up inside of ten seconds or be     
counted out4 ,no hitting in the         
clinches4 ,many of you are acquainted   
with the gentlemen who are our          
representatives this evening1 but for   
the benefit of those who are not ,i will
 introduce them4  ,waving his hand      
towards the ,prescott pugilist1 he said3
  ,this is ,alexander ,harrington1      
amateur champion of the ,prescott       
,athletic ,club1 who is1 ,i may say1 by 
profession a popular druggist in the    
town from which he comes4 ,considerable 
applause4  ,and this1 he continued1     
pointing to the man who represented the 

,phoenix ,club1 is ,j4 ,francis         
,livingstone1 a young man who has shown 
himself to be a good exponent of the    
noble art1 and who is deemed to be the  
amateur champion of the ,phoenix        
,athletic ,association4 ,as he has only 
lately arrived1 and is not very well    
known to many of you1 ,i may add that he
 is a personal friend of our            
,vice-president1 ,mr4 ,robinson1 and is 
employed at his bank4 ,wild enthusiasm4 
,as there can be no question as to the  
amateur standing of the gentlemen1 ,i   
will again beg of you to treat both men 
with equal favor1 and will ask the      
,referee to call time6  ,the seconds at 
this climbed down from the ringside1    
shoving their stools out under the      
ropes1 and the two athletes1 throwing   
aside their bath robes1 stood up in     
their corners1 each stripped to the     
buff1 with the exception of tight trunks
 and canvas shoes4 ,a roar of admiration
 and astonishment went up as the bank   
clerk first exposed himself1 and        

,robinson grinned at ,smith across the  
ring as the splendid exhibition of      
muscle was exhibited4 ,it was evident   
that the bank clerk had not devoted all 
his time to banking2 he was apparently  
as fit as a race-horse1 and the muscles 
of his back and arms twisted and rolled 
about like snakes1 at every movement4   
,but ,robinson's expression altered     
somewhat as he glanced at the drug      
clerk4 ,that individual was somewhat    
shorter than his opponent1 but if the   
banking representative was well         
developed1 he of the pharmaceutical     
persuasion was magnificent4  ,both men  
had been fanned and washed1 their gloves
 carefully tied on1 and they now stood  
rubbing their shoes on some powdered    
rosin which was scattered about the     
corners1 eyeing each other intently4    
,what they thought will probably never  
be given to the public1 but there is no 
doubt that each must have experienced a 
feeling of surprise at the physical     
condition of his opponent4 ,this did not

 affect them in the least1 however1 as  
they were both as anxious to begin as   
bull-dogs1 and when time was called and 
the gong rang1 they danced to the middle
 and commenced sparring for an opening1 
grinning with confidence4  ,for the     
first minute or two nothing was done4   
,forward and back they moved1 their arms
 moving in and out1 each with his eyes  
fixed on the face of his opponent1      
watching closely for an opening4 ,then  
the bank clerk jumped in and led one1   
two1 without effect1 for his first blow 
was neatly guarded and the second       
brought a vicious cross-counter in      
return1 which grazed his nose as he got 
back out of the way4 ,in came the drug  
clerk with a rush1 and they closed just 
as the gong sounded which ended the     
round4  ,up through the ropes came the  
seconds with the activity of a lot of   
monkeys1 and the two men were hurriedly 
seated upon stools and each was fanned  
furiously with a towel by one second1   
while the other bathed his neck and face

 with cold water4 ,a hum of conversation
 arose4  ,who is the blooming duck8     
whispered the druggist to his principal 
second4 ',e ain't no bleeding dude1 ,i  
can tell yer4  ,but before the man had  
time to reply1 the gong sounded the call
 of time1 and the men sprang forward to 
the middle of the ring4  ,there was no  
sparring this time--they went at it     
biff1 bang1 right and left1 sending in  
their blows with all the power of their 
muscular bodies4 ,the ,referee1 almost  
dancing with excitement1 shouted to them
 to break away1 and tried to part them  
when they clinched1 but they were no    
sooner separated than they closed again1
 fighting with the energy and tenacity  
of bull-dogs4  ,just before time was up1
 the drug clerk swung his right and     
caught the gentleman of finance fair and
 square on the nose1 with the result    
that ,prescott was awarded first blood  
and first knock-down1 amid great        
excitement4  ,during the one minute's   
rest the seconds did wonders4 ,the men  

were sponged and rubbed1 while fanned   
constantly with a large towel1 water was
 squirted on their heads and the back of
 their necks1 and at the sound of the   
gong each arose from his stool looking  
as fresh as at the start4  ,round #c    
opened as though it would be a          
repetition of the hurricane style of    
fighting of the previous round1 but     
after a clinch or two and giving and    
receiving a few good blows1 the men kept
 apart and fought more warily4 ,each had
 evidently become satisfied that the    
other was not quite the easy victim he  
had expected2 and as this conviction    
gradually dawned upon them they dropped 
the rough and tumble style and fought   
with more skill and caution1 each       
watching and waiting for an opening1    
hoping for a chance for a knock-out1 but
 none came1 and the round closed with   
honors even4  ,during the intermission  
,watkins1 the sheriff1 who was acting as
 ,referee1 talked earnestly with a      
friend1 and from time to time looked    

hard at the drug clerk4 ,he turned      
towards the time-keeper and seemed about
 to say something1 when the bell rang   
and the men were again in the middle of 
the ring4  ,round #d had commenced4     
,they were both fresh and eager1 but    
business was written all over their hard
 faces1--they were not smiling now4     
,round and round they moved1 constantly 
facing each other1 their arms moving    
back and forth like a machine4 ,now and 
then one or the other would make a quick
 feint or move1 and the other would     
spring back with the agility of a       
dancing-master4  ,suddenly the financier
 thought he saw an opening1 and let go  
his left1 but was short1 and received a 
counter in return which sounded all over
 the place2 then they went at it hammer 
and tongs and kept the ,referee very    
busy separating them1 and making them   
fight fair4 ,questionable prize-ring    
methods were resorted to by both men1   
and the knowledge shown by these        
amateurs of the little unfair tricks of 

the professional prize-fighter was      
astonishing4 ,the bank clerk took       
especial pains to stick his thumb in his
 opponent's eye whenever they clinched1 
and the compounder of drugs used his    
head and elbow in a way which is frowned
 upon by advocates of fair play4  ,the  
men were fighting hard and fast when the
 round ended4 ,every man in the crowd   
was on his feet yelling like a hyena1 as
 they went to their corners4 ,referee   
,watkins walked to the side of the ring1
 and raising his hand to enjoin silence1
 stood waiting for the uproar to        
subside4 ,at last1 when he could be     
heard1 he addressed the crowd as        
follows3  ,gentlemen1 ,i am sorry to    
stop this fight1 but ,i must do it4     
,these men are supposed to be fightin'  
for the ,amatoor ,champeenship of the   
,territory4 ,whether this is a put-up   
job or not1 ,i do not know1 but ,i do   
know that the ,prescott man is a        
professional pug1 lately arrived from   
,australia4 ,i suspected him from the   

first4 ,from the way he acted ,i was    
pretty blamed sure he was no drug clerk 
and my friend here1 ,jim ,sweeney1      
swears he knows him1 and that he was    
called the ',ballarat ,boy' when he saw 
him fight in ,australia1 some seven     
months ago4 ,i can't let this thing go  
on1 and have honest men lose their      
money4 ,i am not dead sure in my mind   
that the other man isn't a ringer2 he is
 a damned sight too good for an amatoor2
 but that cuts no ice4 ,this fight stops
 right now4 ,it's a draw1 and all bets  
are off4  ,there was a tremendous row1  
but the pugilists were hurried off to   
their respective dressing-rooms1 and the
 crowd slowly left the building4 ,on the
 steps outside1 ,johnson1 the chairman  
of the ,prescott ,athletic ,club1 met   
,smith1 and1 going up to him1 he offered
 him his hand4  ,smith1 said he1 ,i want
 to tell you how pained ,i am that the  
affair ended as it did4 ,you1 of course1
 do not for a moment suspect that any of
 us knew our man was a professional4    

,how he could deceive us ,i cannot      
understand4 ,why1 ,i was never more     
fooled in my life6  ,smith shook hands  
heartily4 ,don't say a word1 ,johnson2  
the best of us are often deceived1 and  
the more pure our motives are the easier
 it is to fool us4  ,that's so4  ,they  
walked on in silence for a short        
distance4  ,smith4  ,hallo4  ,pity they 
stopped it2 it was a lovely scrap while 
it lasted4  ,that's what it was1 said   
,smith4     ,,the ,,tragedy ,,of ,,the  
,,white ,,tanks4   ,i do not believe1   
said the curiosity dealer1 that the bite
 of the gila monster is fatal4 ,it is   
poisonous1 no doubt1 and there have been
 one or two cases of death where persons
 have been bitten by it1 but it is      
always well to remember that the teeth  
themselves may be in a condition to     
produce blood-poisoning1 which might    
cause death without the assistance of   
any particular toxic venom4 ,the        
rattlesnake1 however1 which is rather   
too common in the desert1 is a different

 sort of a chap4 ,if he strikes you1 you
 may just as well make your will1 and   
chirp your death song1 as to monkey with
 physicians1 and squander some of the   
good wealth which may be useful to your 
family4  ,i asked him if he did not     
believe in the efficacy of some of the  
so-called ,indian snake cures4  ,there  
are lots of ,indian remedies1 he        
continued1 and snake charmers' cures for
 rattlesnake bites1 which are1 in my    
opinion1 all poppy-cock4 ,it is claimed 
that the ,moquai ,indians1 during their 
,snake ,dance1 allow rattlesnakes to    
bite them1 and after applying the juice 
of a certain herb suffer no ill effects 
from the poison4 ,this may be all right1
 but the antidote is considerable of a  
secret1 and you cannot buy it at your   
druggist's4  ,there was a chap over in  
,france who claimed to have produced an 
anti-venomous serum which was a sure    
cure for the poison of a rattlesnake1 or
 any other old snake which you might    
want to have bite you4 ,i squandered    

five dollars of my hard-earned wealth in
 sending for a bottle4 ,this chap lives 
at ,lille1 ,france1 and manufactures his
 serum at the ,pasteur ,institute at    
that place4 ,he gives careful directions
 as to how much to use1 and just how to 
use it1 and it may be all right with    
some snakes which have the reputation of
 being bad1 but it don't go with our    
rattlers4 ,i tried it in all sorts of   
ways4 ,i tried to get a ,mexican to     
experiment on1 but couldn't4 ,none of   
them had much faith in the cure--not    
enough to let a healthy snake bite 'em  
for five dollars4  ,then ,i tried dogs4 
,i got three curs1 all in robust health4
 ,the first one died in fifteen minutes 
after being struck by a big rattlesnake 
which ,i had in a box1 although ,i      
injected him with a carefully measured  
dose of the serum4 ,another one lived   
several hours1 and made a hard struggle4
 ,i thought at one time he might pull   
through1 but it was no use4 ,he joined  
his friend in dog heaven after giving   

his final kick four hours and fifteen   
minutes after he and the snake had been 
introduced to each other4  ,the third   
one was a half-breed bull bitch with    
lots of vitality4 ,i tried to make this 
one immune by injecting a dose of the   
serum twenty-four hours before1 and     
again immediately after she was struck  
by the snake1 but she did not do as well
 as the other one1 and died in three    
hours and sixteen minutes4 ,all these   
dogs seemed to die from inability to    
breathe4 ,the poison apparently acts on 
the respiratory centres rather than     
directly on the heart4 ,they all vomited
 just before they died4  ,have you never
 found out what the ,indians use as an  
antidote8 ,i asked4  ,no1 ,i have tried1
 but they keep it a carefully guarded   
secret4 ,one reason why ,i believe that 
the secret is so carefully preserved is 
because they have no antidote1 and the  
whole thing is a bluff4  ,you see1      
continued the collector1 in my          
wanderings about the country ,i have run

 across a great many queer people1 and  
as you seem interested in this subject1 
,i will tell you an incident which      
happened while ,i was out at camp one   
time at the ,white ,tanks1 catching gila
 monsters1 horned toads1 etc4  ,i       
remember the year well1 because ,i had a
 lot of trouble with a very useless     
assistant of mine1 whom ,i sent to      
,central ,america to collect for me4    
,among the birds he brought back were a 
lot of skins of the blue chatterer--the 
one with the purple throat1 you know4   
,he knew ,i was anxious to get new      
species1 so he thought he would be smart
 and make some for me4 ,so he           
manufactured five1 all with faked labels
 on1 showing that each species was taken
 at different altitudes4 ,unfortunately 
he commenced too high1 and the mountains
 in the vicinity where he collected1 and
 where the labels indicated that the    
birds were taken1 lacked several hundred
 feet of the necessary altitude for two 
of the species1 so that if his labels   

were correct he must have shot them out 
of a balloon4  ,they all looked alike   
except about the throat and head4 ,one  
lot had a gold band across the breast1  
another had the whole throat gold1      
others had gold stripes or spots4 ,i    
believe he produced these gaudy effects 
with the lighted end of his cigar4  ,he 
doctored up a lot of humming-birds1 too1
 and made me a peck of trouble4 ,i fired
 him1 all right4 ,dishonesty in a trade 
like mine is1 ,i think1 most            
reprehensible1 and there is no money in 
it1 because you are dead sure to get    
found out4  ,he was a cute little chap1 
however1 and had learned a lot of tricks
 from the ,indians4 ,he could change a  
bird's color by feeding it on certain   
kinds of food4 ,there is a chap in      
,amsterdam who does about the same thing
 and brightens up old worn birds which  
have faded out in the ,zoological       
,gardens1 and sends them back with all  
the brilliancy of their original plumage
 restored2 but he cannot turn a red     

parrot blue1 or make a gray bird with a 
yellow head turn to bright orange all   
over1 as this chap could4 ,he told me   
how he did it1 but the secret is too    
good to give away4 ,but to get back to  
the story about rattlesnakes3  ,it was1 
as ,i said1 in the spring of '#hi1 a    
party of us were camped at the ,white   
,tanks about forty-five miles north-west
 of here1 and one day a chap came into  
our camp1 a half-breed ,mexican ,indian1
 who called himself a snake-charmer4 ,he
 had a box of rattlesnakes which he     
would allow to twine round his neck and 
bite him1 for a dollar4 ,he travelled   
about the country giving exhibitions    
with his snakes1 and selling the        
rattlesnake cure1 which was put up in   
small bottles containing a brown-colored
 liquid1 which he claimed he made from a
 plant which was a sure cure for the    
bite of the rattlesnake1 and a number of
 the boys bought this remedy1 paying him
 a dollar a bottle4  ,he had seen our   
camp1 as he drove along the road to     

,phoenix1 and he told us he had been up 
country for two or three weeks visiting 
some mines1 where he had done very well1
 selling his cure to the miners and     
exhibiting his snakes4  ,there were     
several of us in the party1 and one     
chap1 a doctor by the name of ,baker1   
who was always playing practical jokes4 
,as we were coming back to ,phoenix1 the
 next day1 ,miguel1 which was the       
snake-charmer's real name1 ,i believe1  
although he was generally known as      
,mexican ,john1 decided to stay over a  
day and go back with us4  ,baker        
proposed that we should see how much    
faith ,miguel had in his own antidote4  
,as it happened1 ,i had captured a very 
big rattlesnake the day previous1 and   
had him in a box in my tent4 ,by the aid
 of some forked sticks and bagging we   
succeeded in fastening the snake so that
 he could not move4 ,we then pried his  
mouth open1 and kept it open with a     
small stick4 ,we took all this trouble  
for the purpose of preparing him to     

assist in an experiment in which he and 
,mexican ,john were to be the principal 
performers4 ,baker carefully cut out the
 poison-sacs1 which are situated just   
beneath the temporal muscle1 back of the
 eye4 ,it was suggested that it would be
 better to remove the fangs1 to avoid   
any possibility of danger2 but ,baker   
objected1 as he said removing the fangs 
would give the whole thing away4  ,he   
took the precaution1 however1 while the 
snake lay helpless with its mouth open1 
to carefully wash the teeth1 and then   
filled the small openings near the end  
of the fangs with some dental cement    
which ,baker had in his outfit1 which   
hardens in a few minutes4 ,you see1 the 
fangs of a rattlesnake are like two     
hypodermic syringes4 ,they are hollow   
tubes1 as it were1 with an opening near 
the point1--a little narrow slit1 but   
one that is easily seen1 if you look for
 it4 ,through this he squirts the poison
 by the aid of the temporal muscle1     
which he contracts as he strikes4  ,as  

we had removed the poison-sacs and      
plugged up the fangs1 this snake was not
 in a very good condition to do any     
serious harm4 ,he1 however1 was fighting
 mad1 and evidently did not enjoy the   
operation which he had undergone4 ,it   
did not seem to hurt him any1 however1  
for he was as lively as a kitten when we
 let him loose in the box1 and was ready
 and anxious to strike at anything4     
,towards evening ,miguel came back to   
camp1 and we had the snake all ready for
 him4 ,it was a much larger one than    
those which he had in his box1 and when 
we slipped it in among the others we    
could easily recognize it from its size4
 ,the boys asked ,john to give an       
exhibition of the curative powers of his
 snake cure1 saying that they would like
 to buy some more1 but wished to see it 
tried before doing so4  ,john was quite 
ready1 and after opening a bottle of the
 antidote he lifted the cover of his    
snake box1 and reached in his hand to   
take one of them out4 ,as he did so1 he 

was immediately struck good and hard by 
our latest addition to the collection4  
,my1 how he carried on6 ,he looked      
hastily into the box1 and then at the   
marks on his hand1 where the fangs had  
cut in4 ,he gave one screech1 grabbed a 
knife1 cut the place wide open1 and     
commenced to suck it fiercely1 at the   
same time praying and cursing almost in 
the same breath4  ,the boys begged him  
to apply his antidote1 asking him what  
was the matter and why he appeared to be
 so frightened1 but all the answer they 
could get was1 ',don't touch me4 ,i am  
going to die6 ,i'm going to die6'  ,and 
say1 what do you think8 ,he did die6 ,he
 got weaker and weaker4 ,his teeth were 
clenched1 and he refused to take        
whiskey1 although the boys forced some  
down his throat4 ,in a little while he  
became insensible1 and in less than an  
hour he was dead4  ',scared to death1'  
you say8 ,well1 maybe so2 anyway1 the   
boys said the laugh was on ,baker6      
,,too ,,close ,,for ,,comfort4   ,when  

,dr4 ,watson entered ,i saw by his      
manner that he had something of more    
than usual interest to communicate4     
,watson has a trick of winding and      
unwinding his watch chain around his    
finger whenever he has some case in     
which he is particularly interested4 ,as
 a rule1 his work in the asylum keeps   
him busy the greater part of the day1   
and the little time he has to spare is  
given to cases in which he is called in 
consultation or by special appointment4 
,therefore1 knowing how busy he was1 ,i 
felt certain that something out of the  
ordinary had called him from his regular
 duties at this time of day1 and ,i was 
interested to learn what it was4        
,watson is nothing if not direct1 and   
rarely wastes words4 ,on this occasion  
he certainly lived up to his reputation1
 for he began talking before he was     
fairly in the room4  ,my dear ,morris1  
he said1 ,i have called to talk with you
 of a most interesting case1 which has  
lately come under my observation4 ,it is

 one in which ,i need your help1 and ,i 
hope you will be able to spare the time 
to assist me4  ,i nodded and waved him  
to a chair4  ,the case in question is a 
most interesting one1 in which hypnotic 
suggestion may or may not be an         
important factor4  ,you know young      
,blake1 the son of the late ,mathew     
,blake1 and you are aware that he has   
been rather extravagant in his habits   
and ways of living1 and although not    
exactly a spendthrift1 undoubtedly      
spends more money than he ought to in   
many ways4 ,the great trouble with him  
is his passion for race-horses1 and that
 is what1 one of these days1 is going to
 break him financially1 unless ,i am    
very much mistaken4  ,just now young    
,blake has two horses entered in the big
 race which comes off day after         
to-morrow at ,eaton ,park4 ,one of his  
horses1 called ,emperor1 is well known1 
and he should easily win the race4 ,he  
is by far the best horse of the lot1 and
 has been selling in the pools for two  

to one against the field4 ,the other    
horse is not nearly as good as ,emperor1
 and has little chance of being placed4 
,murphy1 the jockey who is to ride      
,emperor1 is one of the best on the     
turf1 although comparatively a young    
boy1 probably about nineteen years old4 
,he has ridden a number of races1 and   
from all reports is a lad of good       
habits1 and seemingly thoroughly honest4
  ,young ,blake1 as you know1 'plunges' 
more or less on his horses when they    
run1 whenever he thinks they have a fair
 show to win1 and in this case he has   
bet a great deal more money than he can 
afford to lose1 knowing that unless the 
horse meets with some unforeseen        
accident he is certain to win the race4 
,as ,i understand it1 he has bet so much
 money that if by any chance ,emperor   
should lose the race it would seriously 
hurt young ,blake4 ,of course1 this is  
all foolishness from our standpoint1 but
 the fact remains that the young man has
 bet this money1 and that any accident  

which would interfere with his pulling  
off that race would cause him serious   
loss4  ,knowing his father as ,i did1 ,i
 have taken more or less interest in the
 boy1 and have time and again advised   
him to let racing alone1 and settle down
 to more serious life4 ,i should not    
have taken the special interest in this 
particular race had it not been that by 
a curious coincidence information has   
come to me which leads me to suspect    
that everything is not as it should be  
at young ,blake's stables4  ,last year  
one of the stable boys1 a lad by the    
name of ,collins1 was badly injured by  
an accident1 and young ,blake saw that  
he was nicely taken care of1 and paid   
him a salary during his illness4 ,the   
youngster was grateful1 and the other   
day1 it seems1 he came to ,mr4 ,blake   
and told him that ,murphy1 the jockey   
who is to ride ,emperor1 had been       
sleeping badly for several nights1 and  
talked a good deal in his sleep about   
the horses4  ,murphy and ,collins sleep 

together in the room over the stable1   
and the night before last ,collins was  
awakened by hearing ,murphy call out to 
some one1 and then say distinctly1      
',yes1 yes1 ,i understand2 if you wave  
your handkerchief ,i am to 'pull'       
,emperor4 ,if you do not wave it ,i am  
to win1 if ,i can4'  ,this is serious   
business4 ,the boy was dreaming1 of     
course2 but why did he dream such a     
dream8 ,the idea of 'pulling' being in  
the boy's mind is in itself enough to   
cause serious reflection4 ,yesterday    
young ,blake called on me and told me   
this story as it had been told to him by
 ,collins4 ,collins was present at the  
time1 and again repeated his statement1 
declaring positively that he could not  
have been mistaken in the words spoken  
by ,murphy in his sleep1 and that the   
boy seemed very much excited4  ,blake1  
by my advice1 sent for ,murphy and we   
had a serious conversation with him4    
,the boy seemed thoroughly honest1 and  
was very much hurt upon being questioned

 in regard to the matter4 ,he said that 
he had worked for ,blake several years  
and had always tried to do right1 that  
he intended to ride his best1 and win   
the race if he could4  ,blake naturally 
feels somewhat disturbed under the      
circumstances1 but he believes the boy  
is honest1 and he believes young        
,collins must in some way have been     
mistaken in what he imagines he heard4  
,or1 if he was not mistaken1 that       
,murphy was dreaming1 and the words had 
no significance4  ,he told ,murphy to go
 back to the stables1 and that he would 
trust him implicitly1 stating at the    
same time that it would cause him       
serious inconvenience if by any chance  
,murphy should not win1 as he had bet a 
large amount of money on the result4    
,murphy1 with tears in his eyes1 thanked
 him for trusting him1 and went back to 
the stables4 ,afterwards ,i had a       
serious conversation with ,collins1 and 
learned that on two occasions he had    
seen ,murphy talking with a strange man 

who often visited the track4  ,upon     
inquiry we have learned that the man in 
question is a brother of a man who      
married ,murphy's sister1 and that      
,murphy has met him several times at his
 sister's house4 ,the man's name is     
,simms4 ,he is a low character1 who is  
known as a habitual frequenter of the   
race track1 and who at times does       
business as a poolseller and bookmaker4 
,simms is described as being thin and   
dark1 with a big scar on his right      
cheek1 usually wears a soft hat1 and    
carries a cane with considerable silver 
about the handle4  ,last night ,i       
decided to have an interview with       
,murphy and find out whether the lad    
could be hypnotized or not4 ,why this   
idea suggested itself to me ,i do not   
know1 except that1 as you know1         
hypnotism is one of my hobbies4 ,with   
,blake's consent ,i sent for ,murphy1   
and asked him to let me look him over1  
as ,i would like to assure ,blake as to 
his physical condition1 as naturally he 

was feeling1 as ,i told him1 somewhat   
nervous after our interview of the      
morning4  ,the boy consented readily    
enough1 and after listening to his      
heart1 and asking him a few questions   
which might suggest a cause for his     
restlessness at night1 ,i asked him to  
look at me fixedly while ,i gently      
stroked his forehead above the eyes with
 my hand4 ,imagine my surprise when ,i  
found him to be an extremely sensitive  
hypnotic subject4 ,he did not become    
entirely unconscious1 but was in a      
peculiar somnambulistic condition1 in   
which he conversed readily enough4 ,he  
is one of the best subjects for         
post-hypnotic suggestion that ,i have   
ever seen4  ,i tried several experiments
 with him1 and the thought occurred to  
me if it was not possible that this     
susceptibility to hypnotic suggestion   
might be used by unscrupulous persons in
 many ways1 which might be especially   
dangerous in case he was riding a good  
horse in a race4  ,upon questioning     

,murphy1 after ,i had awakened him1     
regarding his susceptibility to hypnotic
 influence1 he told me that ,simms had  
often put him to sleep for fun1 when    
they met at his sister's house4 ,the    
question which now presents itself is1  
,suppose he has been hypnotized and has 
been given a post-hypnotic suggestion1  
that he is to 'pull' ,emperor if a      
certain man waves his handkerchief1 how 
are we to prevent his carrying out these
 instructions8 ,of course1 we can take  
the boy off the horse and put on another
 jockey1 but ,blake does not wish to do 
this4  ,in his waking moments ,murphy   
does not remember anything that has been
 told him while hypnotized1 and ,i doubt
 if we could make ,blake believe that   
there was any real danger in that       
quarter4 ,again1 if we allow him to go  
in and ride the race1 it is more than   
possible that he could be made to win or
 lose the race by any one who had given 
him orders while in a hypnotic          
condition1 and we also know that he     

would forget entirely that he had       
received such orders after waking4      
,now1 the difficulty presents itself as 
to how we can prevent him following out 
such instructions1 in case he has       
received them4 ,we know we cannot affect
 such suggestions by re-hypnotizing him1
 because we do not know the exact       
circumstances under which such          
directions were given4 ,to merely       
hypnotize and tell him he is not to     
carry out such orders would have no     
effect whatever4 ,perhaps if we could   
tell him that under certain described   
circumstances he was not to carry out   
such orders we might succeed4  ,but my  
experience has been that the directions1
 as given1 are carried out by the       
subject if1 at the time1 the            
circumstance described1 which is to be  
recognized as a signal for such and such
 action on the part of the hypnotized   
sensitive1 occurs and is noticed4  ,for 
instance1 if ,i should hypnotize a young
 man1 and say that at eight o'clock1    

when he hears the clock strike1 he      
should at once go downstairs and get a  
glass of water1 he would undoubtedly do 
it when the clock struck eight4 ,but if 
the clock did not strike eight1         
supposing some one had removed the      
striker1 and when near the hour some one
 occupied his attention so that he did  
not notice the time1 in all probability 
he would not obey orders4 ,it requires  
some special occurrence which has been  
described in connection with the act to 
suggest it again to his mind4  ,in my   
opinion1 the best we can do is to let   
,murphy ride the race1 and to take all  
precautions possible to prevent any man 
waving his handkerchief to ,murphy      
during the race4 ,of course1 to have any
 real effect on the race1 the person    
waving his handkerchief as a signal for 
,murphy to 'pull' ,emperor must do so   
far enough from the home stretch to make
 it certain that ,emperor can be        
prevented from winning without          
attracting especial attention1 which    

could not be done in case ,emperor was  
in the lead if the signal was given     
close to the ,grand ,stand4 ,we1        
therefore1 must look out for our man1 if
 such a man there be1 some distance down
 the race-track4  ,now1 if you will go  
to the track with me to-morrow we will  
station ourselves in places where we    
think it likely that such a person would
 stand1 and keep a sharp watch for a    
thin1 dark man with a scar on his cheek4
 ,will you join me8  ,i assured him ,i  
would be more than willing to do so1 as 
,i was very much interested in the case4
  ,good6 ,now1 this is my plan4 ,i shall
 take ,mike ,falan with me1 and he is   
worth half a dozen men in the case of a 
row4 ,i have also engaged three private 
detectives to be on the watch at the    
entrance to the ,grand ,stand1 and      
another at the entrance to the grounds1 
while a fifth is to station himself at  
the side of the track1 and do sentinel  
duty about the half-mile post1 with     
orders to report to me the moment ,simms

 puts in an appearance1 and to have him 
shadowed4 ,of course1 this elaborate    
plot may exist only in my imagination1  
but if1 as ,i believe1 there is a       
carefully arranged scheme to beat       
,blake's horse1 we shall have done him a
 good turn1 and perhaps saved him a lot 
of money4 ,i must go now1 but don't fail
 to meet me to-morrow at eleven1 at the 
track4 ,you will find me in front of the
 ,grand ,stand4  ,the next morning when 
,i arrived at the track ,i found ,dr4   
,watson in conversation with a          
powerful-looking man whom he introduced 
to me as ,mike ,falan4 ,we walked slowly
 up the track to a point about a quarter
 of a mile from the finish4 ,there was a
 great crowd of people present1 the     
numbers had gone up for the first race1 
and most of the horses were already out 
and warming up4 ,emperor appeared to be 
in splendid condition4 ,as he galloped  
easily up and down in front of the      
,grand ,stand his great muscles rolled  
and swelled under the shiny skin1 and he

 looked and acted like a horse fit to   
race for his life4 ,he was a prime      
favorite at the pools and was selling at
 two to one against the field4  ,i have 
seen ,blake1 said ,watson1 and he is    
feeling confident that ,emperor will    
win4 ,he is somewhat nervous1 of course1
 but he tells me the horse is in        
first-class shape1 and that ,murphy is  
all right4 ,no signs of ,simms yet and  
the race will be started in less than   
ten minutes4 ,it begins to look as      
though ,i have been frightened at a     
shadow4  ,at this moment a man touched  
,watson on the arm and whispered        
something to him and then moved quickly 
away through the crowd4 ,watson started1
 and turning to me said1  ,come this    
way4 ,simms is here1 he is down the     
track1 below the gate4  ,he hurried     
away1 ,mike and ,i following1 and upon  
getting clear of the crowd we saw a man 
leaning against the picket fence which  
separated the track from the carriage   
drive1 watching the horses through a    

small field-glass4 ,as we came up1      
,simms1 for it was he1 glanced          
suspiciously at us1 but as we paid no   
attention to him and talked earnestly   
together1 apparently arguing as to the  
relative merits of the horses1 he soon  
ceased to notice us and turned again to 
the horses4  ,hardly had he done so when
 he hurriedly put the glass in his      
pocket1 and a great shout from the      
,grand ,stand and cries of ,they're off6
 told us that the great race had        
commenced4  ,we could see the horses far
 off on the opposite side of the track  
all running in a bunch1 until they      
neared the half-mile flag1 when two were
 seen to be well in advance of the      
others4 ,as they swung round the curve  
we could see the red cap worn by ,murphy
 flashing in the sun1 and we knew that  
,emperor was leading4 ,but another      
horse1 a deep bay1 the jockey dressed   
completely in blue1 was very close to   
him4  ,on they came1 and ,watson and    
,mike edged closer and closer to ,simms1

 whose whole attention was fixed on the 
race4 ,his face was flushed1 and he was 
actually dancing with excitement4 ,we   
watched him as a cat watches a mouse1   
and it was very lucky for ,blake that we
 did so4 ,the horses were now quite near
 us1 and we could see ,murphy plainly1  
and noted how white and drawn his face  
looked4 ,suddenly ,simms pulled a large 
white handkerchief from his pocket1 but 
as he did so the doctor snatched it from
 his hand and at the same instant ,mike 
seized him in his powerful arms1 and    
dragged him from the fence4  ,mad with  
surprise and rage1 he struggled and     
kicked like a wild animal4 ,damn you1 he
 yelled1 let me go2 let go1 ,i say6     
,what in hell do you mean8  ,let him go1
 ,mike1 said the doctor4 ,mike pushed   
,simms from him1 and he staggered back  
against the fence4 ,the man was crazy   
with rage1 and ,i believe for the moment
 he was really insane4 ,he half crouched
 as if to spring at us1 snarling and    
showing his teeth like a savage dog1    

then his hand went to his hip pocket4   
,i wouldn't try that if ,i were you1    
,simms1 said ,watson quietly4 ,you will 
get the worst of it if you do4          
,watson's right hand was in the pocket  
of his sack-coat1 and his eyes said1    
,i'll shoot1 as plainly as if he had    
told ,simms so in so many words4  ,see  
here1 you1 cried ,mike1 if you pull a   
gun ,i'll smash your jaw6  ,simms looked
 from one to the other of us1 with the  
expression of a madman4 ,his face was   
ghastly white1 and the scar on his cheek
 stood out livid1 in contrast with the  
white skin4 ,i thought for a moment he  
was about to draw his revolver1 but     
suddenly he turned and ran toward the   
crowd1 and in a moment was lost to our  
view4  ,the shouting and cheering still 
kept up1 and1 as we hurried toward the  
,grand ,stand1 ,watson asked a man which
 horse had won4  ,emperor1 by a         
length1--a great race6  ,we found ,blake
 in front of the stand4 ,he came to us  
and shook hands4 ,his face was beaming  

with the joy of success4  ,do you know1 
he said1 ,i do believe that something is
 the matter with ,murphy4 ,he was as    
pale as a ghost after the race4 ,he said
 he could remember nothing about it     
until he found himself in the home      
stretch running neck and neck with      
,nettie ,b4 ,then he seemed to wake from
 a dream1 and sat down and rode ,emperor
 for all he was worth4 ,you know the    
rest4 ,he won out all right1 but ,i tell
 you it was a confounded sight too close
 for comfort4     ,,the ,,strange       
,,powder ,,of ,,the ,,jou ,,jou         
,,priests4   ,dr4 ,watson carefully     
opened the little antique silver box1   
which was about the size and shape of an
 ordinary watch1 and showed that it     
contained a gray powder and a little    
gold measure resembling a miniature     
thimble4 ,it was evidently very old1 the
 cover being worn smooth in many places1
 nearly effacing the peculiar           
hieroglyphics with which it had once    
been engraved4  ,i consider this1 he    

said1 my chef-d'oeuvre1 my 'star        
exhibit1' as it were4 ,the powder       
possesses such wonderful properties1 and
 is so unlike any known drug1 that ,i   
hesitate to describe its effects4 ,that 
it is a powerful poison there can be no 
doubt1 but when taken in small doses it 
is apparently harmless enough4  ,what is
 its history8 asked ,dr4 ,farrington4   
,i picked it up in ,london4 ,got it from
 ,burridge1 the explorer1 who had just  
returned from a year's trip in the      
interior of ,west ,africa4 ,he went into
 ,benin ,city with the ,english when    
they cleaned out the town4 ,burridge    
says he took it from a dead ,jou ,jou   
priest1 and he made me pay a pretty     
stiff price for it4 ,it is a wonderful  
drug1 entirely unknown outside of       
,africa4 ,burridge thinks it is made    
from the leaves of some plant2 but its  
preparation is a secret of the priests  
of ,jou ,jou4  ,now1 ,i propose that we 
each take a small quantity of the powder
 to-night1 and then dine together       

to-morrow evening and compare notes4 ,i 
may as well tell you now1 it produces   
strange hallucinations4 ,i tried it once
 myself1 and my experience on that      
occasion was1 to say the least1         
peculiar2 therefore ,i am more than     
anxious to try it again1 and compare    
notes with you afterwards1 and ,i think 
,i can promise you a new and novel      
experience4  ,farrington and ,forster   
were perfectly willing to try the       
experiment which ,watson hinted promised
 such interesting results1 and it was   
agreed that each should take a dose of  
the powder before retiring1 and meet    
together the next evening4  ,promptly at
 the time appointed1 the three men met  
in ,watson's study1 and after cigars had
 been lighted ,watson asked ,farrington 
to be the first to relate his           
experience1 whereupon the ,doctor drew  
from his pocket several pages of closely
 written manuscript1 and began as       
follows3     ,,an ,,aztec ,,mummy4      
,,dr4 ,,farrington',s ,,story4   ,i was 

standing in a museum looking at a case  
of mummies4 ,one of them was marked     
,mummy of an ,aztec1 found in a ,cliff  
,dwelling1 and it interested me very    
much4 ,in size it was that of a small   
man1 and was in a fine state of         
preservation1 with the exception that   
the bones of the legs were exposed1 and 
more or less disintegrated1 in some     
places4 ,the hands1 even to the finger  
nails1 were perfect1 however1 and there 
was a silver ring on the index finger4  
,one hand grasped a large stone axe--the
 handle being modern4 ,the right hand   
rested across the chest1 clasping a     
necklace of silver wire4  ,interesting  
specimen1 is it not8 said a voice at my 
side4  ,quite so1 ,i replied4 ,but ,i   
doubt if it is really an ,aztec mummy4  
,what makes you think that8 asked the   
voice sharply4  ,because ,i don't       
believe the ,aztecs buried their dead in
 ,cliff ,dwellings4 ,however1 it is an  
interesting mummy1 and in a wonderful   
state of preservation4  ,i was so       

interested in examining the mummy that  
,i had spoken without turning my head4  
,now1 however1 ,i looked up and saw a   
tall1 gaunt figure of a man dressed in a
 suit of corduroy1 and wearing a        
broad-brimmed hat1 or sombrero1 such as 
is generally worn on the ,western       
plains4  ,well1 he remarked1 in my      
opinion1 it is a pretty good mummy4 ,i  
made it myself1 and ought to know4      
,excuse me1 what did you say8 ,i asked1 
thinking ,i had not understood him      
aright4  ,i said that was one of my     
mummies4  ,what do you mean by that1    
sir8 ,i asked4  ,you will understand    
when ,i tell you ,i was a dealer in     
curiosities1 and during my time ,i      
furnished museums with a great many     
interesting and valuable specimens2 when
 trade was slow1 ,i occasionally helped 
nature a little1 but that is all over   
now4  ,have you given up the business8  
,i asked4  ,had to2 but perhaps you do  
not know that ,i am dead1 answered my   
companion4 ,fell from a cliff last year 

and broke my neck4  ,did you1 indeed8 ,i
 answered1 trying to appear interested4 
,that's what ,i did4 ,but let me tell   
you about that mummy4 ,there was a      
scientific chap who came to our place   
and wanted to buy ,aztec relics4 ,me and
 my partner made a trade with him and   
sold him a lot of stuff2 but he was very
 anxious to be taken where he could dig 
some up for himself1 'to be sure of the 
authenticity and antiquity of the       
relics4' ,well1 me and my pard figured  
up that it might be to our advantage to 
take him to a good ,cliff ,dwelling1 and
 we arranged that he should pay us so   
much for everything he dug up4 ,if he   
found a mummy we got one hundred        
dollars2 if stone hatchets and axes1 two
 dollars each2 arrow-heads1 ten cents   
each2 for stone matats and grinders1 one
 dollar each1 taking them as they came2 
and whole pottery1 five dollars4  ,where
 did you find the mummy8 ,did you know  
of the cave8 ,i asked4  ,well1 we knew  
where there were lots of caves1 and     

where there were ,indian graveyards4    
,with the aid of a little stain and     
judicious arrangement of a body we      
prepared a fine ,aztec mummy4 ,of course
 we used the body of an ,indian1 one who
 had been dead for a long time and was  
dried up and crumbly4 ,my partner was a 
clever chap1 and he fixed up the axe and
 the silver necklace1 and we took the   
outfit and started for the ,verde       
,canyon4 ,we picked out a good-sized    
cave1 and dug a hole in the floor1 in   
which we carefully placed the mummy and 
covered him up with dry dust2 then we   
wet the clay over him1 leaving the floor
 hard and smooth as before4 ,we also    
buried about fifty axes and two or three
 hundred arrow-heads1 and half a dozen  
nice specimens of ,indian pottery1 which
 we burned up good and black4  ,after we
 had 'salted' the cave to our           
satisfaction1 we partly sealed up the   
entrance and returned to ,flagstaff4    
,was that acting quite fair8  ,fair8    
,why1 how do you think that poor man    

would have felt if he had come all the  
way out to ,arizona1 and gone to all the
 expense of his car-fare and outfit1 and
 then found nothing8 ,it was            
philanthropy1 my dear sir1 the height of
 philanthropy4  ,was he pleased with the
 mummy8  ,pleased8 ,why1 bless your     
dear1 innocent soul1 he screamed with   
joy like a child1 when we accidentally  
discovered a piece of a toe while       
digging in the bottom of the cave6 ,he  
dropped on his knees and removed every  
particle of dirt with his hands1 and    
almost cried over it4 ,he carried on so 
that my partner nearly gave us away4 ,he
 was a chump about some things3 if      
anything pleased him1 he would laugh1   
and his laugh sounded like the bray of a
 jackass4  ,well1 sir1 when this        
scientific chap got down on his knees1  
and commenced to paw the earth away from
 the fake mummy1 my partner began to    
gurgle4 ,i knew what was coming and     
punched him in the ribs1 but it did no  
good4 ,the scientific chap looked up and

 asked what was the matter4  ',matter8' 
shouted my pard1 and then he roared and 
yelled and howled4  ,a look of doubt and
 annoyance came into our victim's eyes2 
but pard saved himself just in time4    
',look6' he yelled between his paroxysms
 of laughter1 'look at that buzzard over
 there6 ,i'm damned if he ain't the     
funniest buzzard ,i ever saw in my      
life1' and then he roared and yelled and
 jumped about4 ',look at him1' he       
laughed2 'see him fly6 did you ever see 
anything so funny8'  ,i am not sure but 
what the scientist thought he was crazy1
 but anyhow1 he didn't catch on to what 
he was laughing at1 and pretty soon went
 on with his digging4 ,we stayed there  
three days and dug the whole place up   
and took back with us a basket full of  
stone axes1 arrow-heads1 three large    
prehistoric vases1 and the mummy4 ,he   
drove the wagon himself every step of   
the way1 for fear something would get   
broken1 and when we got to ,flagstaff he
 spent two days packing the relics4  ,do

 you consider that sort of thing quite  
honorable8 ,i asked4  ,honorable8 ,what 
is that you say1 you squint-eyed dude8  
,now1 my boy1 don't get fresh with me   
just because ,i am dead and can't jump  
you4  ,i hastened to pacify him4  ,well1
 that's all right1 but if you had said  
that to me last year when ,i was alive  
,i would have marked squares all over   
your body with a piece of chalk and then
 played hop-scotch on you4  ,i meant no 
offence1 ,i said humbly4  ,maybe you    
didn't4 ,but just you make another break
 like that1 and ,i won't forget it2 you 
will have to die sometime1 and          
then1--oh1 mamma6  ,is your partner     
dead8 ,i asked4  ,no1 ,jim is not dead  
by a long shot4 ,i went down to see him 
last winter at his place in ,california1
 where he has opened up a new store4 ,he
 has a good tourist trade--made a lot of
 money this year out of mermaids and    
sea-devils--there was a run on          
sea-devils this winter4 ,he makes them  
out of fishes4  ,the mermaids he makes  

out of fishes' tails and ,indian        
children--robs the graveyards1 you know4
 ,some of them are really fine and      
artistic4 ,i tell you he is an artist in
 his line4  ,he has a branch store still
 somewhere in ,new ,mexico1 and made a  
stack of money last winter in ,navajo   
blankets and scalp-trimmed ,indian arms 
and shields4 ,it is the scalp trimming  
which catches the tourist4 ,he gets most
 of his scalps from ,california1 from   
hospitals there2 but when he is short1  
horse hair does pretty well1 especially 
for old ,indian scalps4  ,and then1     
,navajo blankets4 ,holy smoke1 a gold   
mine isn't in it6 ,they make them of    
,germantown wool and aniline dyes1 and  
they cost at the factory all the way    
from six bits to #aj1 and sell to the   
tourist for various prices2 sometimes as
 high as #ge or #hj4 ,oh1 ,i tell you he
 is shrewd2 some day he will be worth a 
million6  ,sometimes a chap goes into   
his shop and poses as an expert--those  
are the kind of jays that fill ,jim's   

soul with joy4 ,the fellow will pull    
over a pile of blankets1 and after      
looking at them wisely1 will say1       
',haven't you got any real good         
blankets8 ,these are ,germantown wool   
and mineral dyes4'  ,then ,jim will     
say--',ah1 ,i see you know something    
about blankets4'  ',oh1 yes2 a little1' 
answers the expert4  ',the fine         
old-style blankets are mighty hard to   
get now1' remarks ,jim4  ',i know they  
are1' remarks the wise tourist1 'but    
still they are to be had sometimes1 are 
they not8 ,come1 now1 haven't you got   
something choice hidden away8'  ,then   
,jim will look about1 as though fearful 
that somebody might see him1 and will   
steal softly into a back room and pull  
from beneath his bed a good cheap       
blanket--worth about #c--;and spread it 
out lovingly in front of the tourist4   
',there1' he whispers2 'look at that2   
that is not for sale4 ,i am keeping that
 for myself1 but ,i thought you would   
like to see it1 as it is very evident   

you know a good deal about blankets2    
isn't it a beauty8'  ,then the tourist  
'bites1' and asks him what it is worth1 
and admires it1 agrees with him as to   
the splendid old dyes and fine          
preservation of the native wool prepared
 in the manner of the old ,navajo1      
speaks of its great rarity1 and at last 
ends by asking ,jim what he will take   
for it1 and usually carries it away with
 him1 having paid three or four times   
the value of a really good blanket4     
,i've seen ,jim pull their legs so hard 
they'd pretty near limp when they went  
out4 ,ah1 those were happy days6  ,the  
departed heaved a deep sigh1 and gazed  
silently at his handiwork4  ,well1 he   
said1 ,i must be going2 ,i have a lot of
 things ,i want to do before morning1   
but hope to run across you sometime     
again4 ,glad you like the mummy4 ,i     
forgot to mention that most of the teeth
 were gone when we first got it1 and    
,jim put in a fine new set1 and improved
 it a whole lot4  ,i glanced at the     

mummy1 and when ,i looked up again1 my  
companion had disappeared4     ,a       
,,lesson ,,in ,,chemistry4  ,,mr4       
,,forster',s ,,story4   ,i took the     
powder as agreed1 and sat down to read  
the evening paper before retiring1 with 
the result that ,i did not retire at    
all4 ,i became much interested in an    
article on new explosives with which the
 ,government has been lately            
experimenting1 and had nearly finished  
it1 when ,i heard a voice say to me1    
,interesting subject1 isn't it8  ,i     
turned1 and saw seated on my lounge a   
peculiar-looking man3 his clothes seemed
 to be all run in together4 ,you could  
make out the outlines of the man1 but   
the figure was not clear2 sort of foggy1
 you know4 ,what surprised me most was  
that ,i could look right through him and
 see that back of the lounge4  ,i said  
to myself1 ,is this a dream or the      
effect of the powder ,i have taken8 and 
,i pinched my leg1 and rubbed my eyes1  
but although ,i seemed to be perfectly  

wide awake1 the shape did not disappear4
  ,what did you say8 ,i asked4  ,i      
remarked that the subject of high       
explosives was decidedly interesting1   
answered the shape4 ,i was a chemist    
when alive1 but it makes me sad to think
 how very little ,i really knew4        
,chemistry1 as well as other branches of
 science1 has made great strides during 
the past generation1 since my day1 but  
even now they really know very little4  
,but1 ,i answered1 it seems to me the   
high explosives which we now have are   
sufficiently powerful if we knew how to 
use them with safety4  ,that's it1      
answered the shape4 ,now1 ,i have a     
couple of hours to spare1 and1 if it    
would interest you1 and you care to come
 over to my laboratory1 ,i will be happy
 to give you one or two points which may
 prove of value to you--,i say to my    
laboratory1 but it really is not mine2  
,i use any laboratory that is handiest1 
and ,i know most of the good ones in the
 city4 ,you see1 ,i do not need to have 

a key to enter a room2 that is one of   
the great advantages we have1 as you    
will discover one of these days4 ,just  
now ,i can get you in very well because 
the owner of the laboratory to which we 
will go is out of town4 ,i will go in   
first and unlock the door for you4  ,i  
told him that ,i should be most happy to
 accept his invitation2 it seemed the   
most natural thing in the world to be   
conversing with a ghost and to have him 
invite me to go to somebody's laboratory
 and use up his chemicals4 ,it never    
occurred to me that it might not be     
considered quite good form4 ,we went out
 of my rooms and downstairs1 the shadow 
floating alongside of me in the most    
friendly manner possible4 ,i could see  
by the position of his body that he had 
hold of my arm1 but his fingers did not 
show on my coat-sleeve4  ,we went up    
town for perhaps half a mile1 and       
entered a large brick building in which 
,i noted were various studios4 ,it was  
dark1 but going up three flights of     

stairs my guide opened a door and       
ushered me into a large and extensively 
furnished laboratory1 evidently         
belonging to some scientific man of     
means and experience4 ,the ghost turned 
the button of the electric light1 and   
then motioned me to a seat4  ,my time1  
he said1 is somewhat limited1 because ,i
 have an appointment with a lady at     
twelve1 but ,i will show you what a high
 explosive really is1 and then if we    
have time we will talk of something     
else4 ,the difficulty about high        
explosives is not in making them1 but in
 using them after they are made2 you    
create a gigantic power which you do not
 know how to handle4  ,the rather modern
 discovery of how to make liquid air has
 simplified matters a good deal4 ,when  
you can make liquid hydrogen in         
quantities you will have a still better 
agent for many purposes4 ,now1 let us   
take a little of this liquid air4 ,you  
see it pours like water4 ,as ,i happen  
to know1 our absent host has nearly two 

gallons of it1 or had this afternoon2   
some of it has evaporated1 but1 as you  
see1 there is still more than a gallon  
left1 and we will not steal much1 as all
 we want for our experiment to          
illustrate to you the greatest explosive
 which can be manufactured is about as  
much liquid air as you can hold in a    
thimble4  ,do you propose to try your   
explosive here1 ,mr4--,i hesitated4 ,by 
the way1 what is your name8  ,oh1 call  
me any old name2 it does not matter6    
,mr4 ,spook1 shall we say8  ,ahem6 a    
little personal1 perhaps1 but it will do
 as well as another4 ,now1 as ,i was    
saying1 ,i will show you how to make the
 most powerful explosive that was ever  
invented4  ,it is possible that ,i did  
not show as much interest and enthusiasm
 as he expected1 and to tell the truth  
,i was a little nervous4 ,spooks do not 
have the same interest in being careful 
in their experiments--an accident or two
 is of little consequence to them1 but  
might be decidedly disagreeable to me4  

,i may have shown something of what ,i  
was thinking in my manner1 for ,spook   
looked at me keenly4  ,what is the      
matter8 ,you do not appear interested4  
,on the contrary1 ,i answered1 ,i am    
deeply so1 but do we not run            
considerable risk in trying such        
experiments in a laboratory without the 
consent of its owner8  ,not at all1 not 
at all4 ,i will use a very small amount 
of the explosive1 and there will be no  
damage done4  ,have you attempted to    
make it before1 ,mr4 ,spook8 ,i         
ventured4  ,oh1 yes1 last week2 that was
 a mistake--you see now ,i know all     
about it1 ,i didn't then2 the explosion 
was something awful--it blew the        
building pretty much all to pieces4 ,if 
,i had been alive ,i don't believe you  
could have found a piece of me as large 
as your finger--they called it          
spontaneous combustion2 however1 we     
won't have anything of that kind        
to-night4  ,please don't1 ,i answered4  
,no1 ,i promise you4 ,now we will take a

 little of this red phosphorus--ordinary
 phosphorus will not answer--and pour a 
little liquid air on it1 stirring it    
gently1 as you see4 ,now1 if ,i should  
let that dry it would explode at the    
slightest touch2 but we do not want     
that1 and we wish to increase its power1
 so we add a little chloride of         
potassium2 now watch it dry--see the    
color change to a light red-brown4      
,there1 if you should strike that or put
 fire to it1 it would wreck this        
building as completely as if you had    
exploded fifty pounds of dynamite in it4
  ,i drew away from the table           
instinctively4  ,have no fear1 ,i will  
not explode it4 ,now watch me closely4  
,i will ignite a minute quantity1 about 
as much as would make the head of a     
small black pin or a ,no4 #d bird-shot4 
,see1 the rest we will put in this pail 
of water4 ,there--now all is ready--here
 goes6  ,he lit a match and touched the 
little brown dot--a tremendous explosion
 followed and the wooden table was split

 into pieces4 ,the sound was so terrific
 and the shock so unexpected that ,i was
 dizzy and frightened4  ,great heavens6 
,i exclaimed1 you have broken everything
 in the laboratory6  ,no1 replied the   
ghost rather shamefacedly1 not so bad as
 that1 but ,i'm afraid that ,i have     
ruined the table and cracked a few      
things2 however1 ,i will be more careful
 next time3 it is even more powerful    
than ,i thought4 ,what do you suppose   
would be the effect on a warship if     
struck with a shell containing one      
hundred pounds of that stuff8  ,i       
answered that she would be destroyed4   
,destroyed8 ,i should say she would2 the
 largest battleship would be blown to   
atoms4  ,the spook glanced at an        
old-fashioned ,dutch clock in the corner
 of the laboratory4  ,fine clock that2  
glad ,i didn't break it with our little 
racket just now4 ,i see ,i have nearly  
an hour to spare4 ,is there any         
experiment you would like to try8  ,i   
said anything would interest me1 but    

that ,i didn't care for any more        
explosives4  ,i suppose you know how to 
make diamonds1 don't you8  ,i answered  
that for years men had tried to         
manufacture diamonds1 but practically   
without success2 that as far as ,i was  
aware they had only succeeded in making 
them so small as to be practically of no
 use commercially1 and the expense of   
the manufacture was far in excess of    
their value4  ,that's all right1        
answered the spook2 but really it is a  
very simple matter4 ,here2 ,i will make 
a diamond for you4 ,he walked across the
 room to the fireplace1 and taking from 
the grate a lump of coal about the size 
of a billiard ball1 he laid it upon the 
table4  ,this1 he said1 is nearly pure  
carbon1 and as you are well aware it is 
practically what a diamond is4 ,now1 ,i 
will illustrate to you how you may make 
a diamond from this piece of coal1 which
 will be as good as any diamond ever    
found in the mines4 ,we will manufacture
 it instead of letting nature do it4    

,we will first place it in this glass   
bowl1 and pour over it sufficient liquid
 air to cover it completely4 ,we will   
let it remain until it is thoroughly    
cold1 say1 at least #bjj degrees below  
zero2 there--now all we have to do is to
 heat it and then subject it to a       
powerful--,great ,gee ,hosiphat6 ,five  
minutes to twelve6 ,i must              
go--appointment with a lady at twelve4  
,but ,i say1 old fellow1 just hold it   
under the blowpipe and get it hot--just 
as hot as you can2 ,i will be back      
soon--ta-ta4 ,his last words came to me 
faintly through the window--he had      
already floated out4  ,i took the       
queer-colored piece of coal1 and began  
heating it under the blowpipe4 ,it did  
not burn1 as ,i thought it would1 but   
turned red and then white2 gradually it 
seemed to grow larger and larger and    
brighter and brighter until ,i opened my
 eyes and found myself in bed with the  
sun shining full upon me through the    
open window4     ,,an ,,interesting     

,,ghost4  ,,dr4 ,,watson',s ,,story4    
,it is with the greatest difficulty1    
7said ,dr4 ,watson71 that ,i force      
myself to believe that what ,i am about 
to relate to you did not actually       
happen4 ,it seemed to me that ,i was as 
wide-awake as ,i am at this present     
moment1 and impossible that the strange 
series of incidents could be due        
entirely to mental disturbances4 ,i went
 home and went to bed1 after first      
taking the powder1 and ,i think ,i went 
to sleep4 ,how long ,i slept ,i do not  
know1 but ,i was startled at finding    
myself floating about the room with much
 the same feeling as one has when       
floating in water1 only it was without  
effort4 ,my motion seemed to be governed
 entirely by my will1--if ,i glanced at 
anything in the room ,i would float     
towards it4 ,imagine my astonishment at 
seeing my body lying in the bed         
apparently sound asleep2 you will admit 
the sensation was novel1 to say the     
least4  ,after floating around the room 

two or three times enjoying the peculiar
 sensation1 ,i began to wonder what they
 had been doing at the hospital during  
my absence4 ,immediately ,i found myself
 in the hospital ward4 ,dr4 ,ford and   
two nurses were standing by a cot at the
 north end1 and glancing at the chart on
 the table ,i saw the patient was       
seriously ill4  ,moribund1 said a voice4
  ,i'm afraid so1 ,i answered4 ,i turned
 and saw an elderly gentleman1 dressed  
in the costume of the last century1     
floating beside me4  ,sad1 is it not8   
,people still die1 ,i see1 in spite of  
the wonderful advance in the science of 
medicine since my day4  ,were you a     
doctor when alive8 ,i asked4  ,well1 ,i 
was called one1 and received the regular
 license to kill or cure4 ,i regret to  
say that ,i have since learned that ,i  
killed a great many more than ,i cured4 
,the trouble is1 after you are dead your
 patients know this as well as you do   
and say unkind things2 even to-night ,i 
received word from a former patient of  

mine1 and a ghost who ought to know     
better1 to the effect that he intended  
to hunt me up and punch my head4 ,i     
treated him for renal colic and he died 
of appendicitis4  ,what sort of a death 
certificate did you give8 ,i asked4     
,heart disease1 and let me tell you that
 was a great deal nearer to it than some
 of you chaps get nowadays4  ,you are   
not complimentary1 ,i said coldly4      
,perhaps not2 but if you think my       
criticisms harsh and uncalled for1 let  
us get down to cold facts4 ,did it ever 
occur to you how very few people live to
 be even one hundred and twenty-five    
years old8 ,you surely will admit that  
there is no reason why a man should not 
live to that age1 barring accidents4 ,we
 know that in ,bible times there were   
lots of old fellows who passed their    
three hundredth birthday1 and a chap    
named ,methuselah claimed to be nine    
hundred and ninety-nine years old4      
,nine hundred and sixty-nine1 was it    
not8 ,i asked4  ,perhaps you are right1 

but sixty-nine or ninety-nine1 ,i am    
inclined to be a little sceptical about 
that record myself2 there is one thing  
in its favor1 however1 and that is1 that
 he made it an even nine hundred and    
ninety-nine1 and not one thousand4 ,of  
course1 you know there are plenty of    
people living to-day who are over one   
hundred years old1 and some who have    
reached the very satisfactory age of one
 hundred and twenty-five2 most of them1 
however1 live in ,bulgaria1 ,mexico1 or 
some out-of-the-way place1 and are so   
poor that they have to live             
abstemiously4  ,then you consider the   
secret of longevity to be a matter of   
diet8 said ,i4  ,partly that1 and partly
 proper care of the nervous system2 but 
come downstairs1 and let us have a      
cigarette2 ,i am dying for a smoke4  ,we
 floated down to the office1 which      
happened to be unoccupied at the time4  
,the medical ghost helped himself to a  
cigarette from a trayful on the         
mantel-piece1 and lighting it1 he seated

 himself in an armchair1 and puffed away
 with evident enjoyment4 ,i noticed the 
smoke1 which he inhaled continually1    
oozed from all parts of his body4       
,illustration3 ,,the ,,smoke            
,,continually ,,oozed ,,from ,,all      
,,parts ,,of ,,his ,,body4  ,my dear    
fellow1 he said impressively1 you must  
understand that all diseases are caused 
by germs--microscopic bugs and plants1  
you know1 many of them so small that    
they are invisible to an ordinary       
microscope1 or1 if seen at all1 are not 
recognized4 ,there are thousands and    
thousands of them1 and each and every   
one has its mission in life1 and preys  
upon and destroys other germs4 ,now1 the
 human body is constantly getting a lot 
of germs inside of it which do not      
belong there4 ,some are taken in by the 
lungs1 while floating in the air2 some  
by the stomach1 by the food and drink2  
some by the skin1 etc4  ,these germs are
 met by their natural enemies which live
 in man's blood--his body-guard1 as it  

were--and are destroyed4 ,but if the    
attacking army is very large1 or from   
some reason the home army has been      
weakened and decimated1 then the        
invaders flourish1 establish themselves 
and wax powerful and strong1 and the man
 becomes what is called 'sick4'  ,come1 
he said1 rising abruptly1 and throwing  
the unconsumed end of his cigarette into
 the fireplace4 ,come with me to the    
laboratory1 and ,i will show you in     
about two minutes more than ,i could    
explain if ,i talked for years1 and a   
great deal more satisfactorily4  ,we    
floated down to the laboratory1 and the 
ghost took from the shelf a wide-mouthed
 bottle and held it up to the light4    
,here1 he said1 we have a culture4 ,you1
 of course1 understand how the germs of 
disease are cultivated for experimental 
use4 ,it is needless for me to explain  
to you that certain media are used for  
these cultures1 such as milk1           
beef-broth1 etc4  ,here we have the germ
 of diphtheria1 here of tuberculosis1   

here of typhoid fever1 etc4 ,that little
 short jar over yonder contains some    
cholera bacilli1 which have been lately 
sent here4 ,now look at this typhoid    
germ4 ,if we took a drop of healthy     
blood and put some of these typhoid     
germs in it1 how they would wiggle6 but 
if the drop of blood was from a typhoid 
patient1 they won't wiggle very long1 as
 you know4 ,see this blunt-headed chap  
which we have to stain to see properly1 
even with this wonderful microscope2    
that is our old friend the bacillus of  
tuberculosis2 but unless you see the    
patient first ,i do not believe you     
could distinguish him from the leprosy  
bug4  ,these are known germs1 but look  
through the glass at this drop1 and you 
will see some bugs worth seeing1        
although the medical fraternity have not
 as yet discovered their value4 ,perhaps
 you know that most bacteriologists     
consider these germs to be plants1 not  
bugs1 although they admit some of them  
move a little4 ,how astonished they     

would be if they could look through this
 glass6 ,see that chap with green hind  
legs3 he preys on the typhoid germ1 and 
when they discover this physicians will 
simply inoculate the patient with a lot 
of these little chaps with the green    
legs1 and they will do the rest4  ,here 
is a germ with yellow stripes which     
looks a little like a diminutive potato 
bug4 ,he is the deadly enemy of the bug 
of consumption1 and will attack and kill
 him on every possible occasion4 ,they  
are about evenly matched1 but ,i think  
the little striped chap is a bit the    
better4 ,another ghost and myself made a
 match the other night1--seven battles1 
the result to decide the                
championship1--a sort of a bugging main1
 as it were4 ,i won4 ,the first six     
matches were even4 ,we won three each1  
but in the seventh my striped bug got   
the tubercular germ down and shook him  
as a terrier does a rat4 ,the other     
ghost and myself nearly had a fight to  
get our eyes to the microscope4 ,i tell 

you it was exciting4 ,there is my       
champion bug now1 see him8--the one with
 the fourth hind leg gone4  ,but how1 ,i
 asked1 are you going to prevent people 
from dying of old age8  ,of course they 
will die of old age2 but there is no    
such thing as old age under one hundred 
and fifty years2 what you call old age  
is not old age at all4 ,there are two   
kinds of old age or senility4 ,old age1 
properly speaking1 results from a       
distinct modification of the nervous    
tissues and a hardening of the          
arteries--the former caused by unnatural
 conditions1 nervous strain and         
dissipation1 and the latter from        
over-feeding and drinking4 ,the trouble 
with the ordinary man is that he absorbs
 great quantities of nitrogenous foods  
instead of making his diet one of nuts1 
fruit1 milk1 etc4 ,in comparatively     
young men of the present age there is   
often a decided modification of the     
nervous tissues with symptoms resembling
 those in neurasthenia4 ,in such cases  

galvanic treatment will restore the     
centres to their normal condition4 ,you 
will1 therefore1 ,i think1 admit that   
with proper diet and possibly the aid of
 a galvanic battery a man may           
live1--barring possible death by        
violence1--say1 two hundred years4  ,you
 mean1 ,i said1 when we have learned to 
combat the various disease germs by     
pitting against them their natural      
enemies4  ,exactly1 of course1 answered 
the shade2 but it seems to me that we   
have talked long enough2 ,i am becoming 
very dry1 so let us repair to the       
,waldorf and have a cocktail4  ,how is  
it possible1 ,i asked1 that you can take
 a cocktail1 there being nothing        
tangible about you8  ,of course1        
answered the ghost1 it is impossible for
 me to actually drink a cocktail4 ,i    
can1 however1 float over the bar and    
inhale the pleasing odors arising from  
the various concoctions served to the   
guests1 and in my ethereal condition ,i 
enjoy the odors and am affected by them 

as much as if ,i were really drinking   
the liquid4  ,we floated from the house 
and down town1 until we reached the     
brilliantly lighted ,waldorf ,hotel4    
,there were many people in the bar-room1
 and the medical shade and myself1      
floating about over the different       
tables1 inhaled with decided enjoyment  
the delicate aroma of the various mixed 
drinks so dear to the present           
generation4  ,to my annoyance my shade  
companion soon began to sing--he was    
evidently affected by the odors which   
had passed through him4 ,his manner     
became familiar1 and ,i had great       
difficulty in keeping him from kicking  
the glasses off the tables4 ,at last ,i 
succeeded in getting him out of the     
room1 and it was time1 for as we floated
 into the street he began shouting in a 
most uproarious manner1 and ,i was      
afraid that we should be arrested for   
disturbing the peace4  ,be quiet1 ,i beg
 of you1 ,i pleaded2 see that policeman 
on the opposite side of the street8 ,we 

shall surely get into trouble if you    
make such a noise4  ,policeman8         
hiccoughed the shade1 ,what the devil do
 ,i care for a policeman8 ,watch me go  
over and punch him in the stomach4  ,in 
spite of all ,i could do to prevent him 
he started straight for the officer1 who
 was standing all unconscious on the    
corner1 watching a pretty girl who was  
looking into one of the brilliantly     
lighted store windows4 ,now was my time 
to rid myself of this most undesirable  
companion1 and ,i wished myself in my   
own room4  ,instantly ,i found myself   
floating about over my bed1 and there   
was my body sleeping as peacefully as   
ever4 ,i was somewhat tired1 but ,i     
remembered our contract to write down   
the result of our experiences1 and      
immediately sat down to do it4 ,after ,i
 had written it ,i read it over         
carefully to see if ,i had overlooked   
anything1 and then wished myself in bed 
and asleep4 ,the next thing ,i knew it  
was broad daylight4 ,there1 on my       

writing-table1 were the pages of        
manuscript which ,i had written4 ,they  
were real enough1 whether the rest was a
 dream or not4     ,,the ,,mound ,,of   
,,eternal ,,silence4   ,i ought to know 
something about it1 said the ,drummer1  
for ,i went with the ,prospector and the
 ,eastern man to see ,judson4  ,i       
remember when we started out together   
the ,eastern man asked the ,prospector  
if he thought ,judson was really crazy4 
',yes1' said the ,prospector1 'he is as 
crazy as a loon1 as you will see when   
you get there4'  ',tell me the story    
over again1' said the ,eastern man4     
',well1 you see1' said the ,prospector1 
'they found him lying in the hot sand   
away off on the desert1 with his head   
propped up against a rock1 nearly dead  
for want of water4 ,when they tried to  
rouse him he stared at them vacantly4   
,they gave him a little water1 and as   
soon as he had swallowed it he fought   
like a wild animal for more4 ,it took   
three or four of them to hold him4 ,he  

cursed and swore at them because they   
would not give him all he wanted1 and   
his cries were pitiful4 ,he alternately 
cursed and screamed for water1 sometimes
 as loud as he could shout and then     
again in faint whispers4  ',later on1   
when they dared to give him more at a   
time1 he became tranquil1 and towards   
night1 after he had drunk a bowl full of
 thin oatmeal gruel1 he went to sleep4  
,when he awoke they questioned him4     
',he said that he had been prospecting  
with his partner1 and had found a gulch 
with precipitous cliffs all around it   
where there was very rich placer        
digging4 ,directly in front was a high  
mound covered with big cacti1 and they  
made their camp on the top of this4     
,there was a little water in the canyon 
held in rock basins1 and with this they 
washed out the gold and got a lot of    
it--,judson says three or four thousand 
dollars' worth4 ,then bad luck came1 and
 the burro died4 ,three days afterwards 
,judson's partner was poisoned in some  

way1 and died a few hours later1 cursing
 ,judson and saying he had poisoned him4
  ',judson buried him and also the gold2
 it was too heavy for him to pack1      
especially as he had no way to carry    
water4 ,then taking a small bag of gold 
dust in his pocket he started across the
 desert4 ,he had a hobby for taking     
photographs and carried a small camera  
with him1 and before leaving he         
photographed the place1 which he called 
,the ,mound of ,eternal ,silence1 so    
that in case anything happened to him it
 could be found without trouble4 ,they  
developed the negatives later1 and he   
has them pasted all around his room4 ,he
 called the place ,the ,mound of        
,eternal ,silence because during the two
 months he was there he never saw or    
heard a single living thing except      
jack-rabbits and a bird or two4'        
,illustration3 ,,the ,,mound ,,of       
,,eternal ,,silence4  ,illustration3    
,,judson',s ,,map4  ',what was that     
about his killing the dog8' asked the   

,eastern man4  ',well1 you see when     
,judson started off alone the dog would 
not leave his dead master1 and sat upon 
the hill howling4 ,judson was afraid he 
would attract somebody's attention if   
they happened along that way1 and after 
trying to get him to follow him without 
success1 he went back and shot him4 ,the
 first thing that ,judson saw when he   
awoke the next morning after they had   
found him was the dog sitting on his    
haunches looking at him4 ,judson looked 
at the animal1 but said                 
nothing--something within him forced him
 to keep silence4 ,after a time he      
snapped his fingers and called the dog  
by name4  ',did you speak8 asked one of 
the men1 ,stevens it was1 ,i believe4   
',i was only calling the dog1 said      
,judson4  ',what dog8 asked ,stevens4   
',why1 that dog1 of course1 said        
,judson1 pointing at the animal4  ',you 
are crazy1 man1 answered ,stevens4 ,the 
heat yesterday was too much for you2    
there is no dog there4  ',judson turned 

away2 he began to fear there might be   
something the matter with his brain1 and
 that there was no dog there after all4 
,but when he looked again there he was  
as plain as ever4 ,i will take the brute
 outside of camp and kill him when ,i   
get a chance1 he thought4  ',that       
evening when they made camp at a small  
water hole1 ,judson walked away out of  
sight and hearing of the camp4 ,when he 
could no longer be seen he turned1 and1 
aiming his pistol at the dog1 pulled the
 trigger4 ,the bullet hit the ground    
between the animal's legs1 and he ran   
back a few paces and stood grinning at  
,judson showing his teeth1 and his face 
looked like that of his old partner4    
,judson picked up a large rock and ran  
at the dog2 the animal yelped slightly  
and started for camp4 ,judson increased 
his pace and the dog circled out into   
the desert4  ',curse you1 cried ,judson1
 ,i'll kill you yet4 ,several times he  
threw stones at the animal1 and twice he
 fell1 bruising himself among the loose 

rocks4 ,at last he sat down4  ',what is 
the matter with you1 shouted ,stevens4  
,what are you running about and shouting
 in that way for8  ',that confounded dog
 of mine1 answered ,judson unthinkingly4
  ',nonsense1 man1 there isn't any dog4 
',judson walked slowly back to camp     
followed closely by the dog4 ,the men   
looked at him strangely4 ,that night    
when he went to sleep the brute came and
 lay down beside him4 ,a horrid fear    
took possession of him and he pushed the
 thing away1 but it immediately crawled 
back again4 ,at last he arose and spent 
the rest of the night walking up and    
down the desert1 the dog following close
 at his heels4  ',when they arrived in  
,phoenix the doctor advised ,judson to  
go to a quiet place and rest1 and gave  
him an opiate4'  ',why don't he go back 
and get the gold8' asked the ,eastern   
man4  ',because as ,i have told you     
whenever he starts to go back the dog   
meets him on the desert1 and he is only 
free from it when he stays in ,phoenix4 

,he says the dog is his old partner1 and
 will never let him go back there again4
 ,that is why he is willing to sell his 
secret4'  ',but how do you know if we   
pay him this money1' asked the ,eastern 
man1 'that we can find the gold8'       
',why1 his map and directions together  
with the photographs ought to make it   
sure4 ,anyway1 ,i am putting up #bej of 
my money with your #cej1 and run as much
 risk as you do2 besides1 you never     
would have known about it if it hadn't  
been for me4'  ',won't he take less than
 #fjj8' asked the ,eastern man4  ',not a
 cent2 ,i have tried him too often4 ,if 
,i had #fjj of my own ,i never would ask
 any one to go in with me4 ,it's a      
snap4'  ,we found ,judson seated in a   
big armchair1 smoking a meerschaum pipe4
 ,his eyes had a peculiar wild          
expression1 and he glared at us as we   
entered4  ',what do you people want8' he
 asked4  ',we have come to buy your     
claim1' said the ,prospector4  ,judson  
laughed a strange1 hard laugh4  ',always

 the same--gold1 gold1 gold4 ,have you  
the money with you to pay for it8' he   
asked4  ,the ,prospector produced a bag 
of twenty-dollar gold pieces and shook  
it4 ',here it is1' he said1 'this       
gentleman and myself have made up the   
amount--#fjj4'  ',well1' shouted        
,judson1 'give me the money and take the
 cursed claim1 buried gold and all1 and 
much good may it do you6 ,i will go     
away--far away from here4 ,my ,god1 to  
think that ,i should sell a rich claim  
like that for nothing6 ,but ,i wouldn't 
go back to it for all the gold in the   
world4 ,three times ,i have tried1 and  
each time that dog devil met me at the  
edge of the desert1 grinning at me with 
the face of my dead partner4 ,here are  
the photographs and the map1 take them  
and go1 my head aches2 go away and leave
 me4'  ,he buried his face in his hands1
 groaning and muttering to himself4 ,the
 ,prospector put the bag of gold on the 
table1 and taking the photographs and   
map left the room4 ,we followed him1    

closing the door softly behind us4  ,did
 you find the gold8 ,i asked4  ,i didn't
 look for it1 answered the ,drummer4    
,they offered to let me in and give me a
 third interest for #cjj1 but somehow ,i
 didn't like the idea1 and the whole    
thing seemed uncanny1 and it is lucky ,i
 didn't4 ,the ,prospector and the       
,eastern man got back a week later      
without having discovered the ',mound of
 ,eternal ,silence1' both mad as        
hatters1 and each laying the blame of   
the failure on the other4 ,i have always
 wondered since if ,judson was really as
 crazy as they thought he was4  ,why1 ,i
 asked1 what made you doubt it8  ,oh1   
answered the ,drummer1 ,i can't exactly 
say ,i disbelieve his story1 but--well1 
you see1 about a month afterwards ,i was
 in ,phoenix again1 and one night ,i saw
 the ,prospector and the lunatic taking 
a drink at a bar together4 ,a little    
later the ,prospector passed me without 
seeing me4 ,he was walking arm in arm   
with a stranger1 and as they went by ,i 

heard him say1 ',if ,i had the money ,i 
never would think of asking any one to  
go in with me4 ,he calls it the ,mound  
of ,eternal ,silence4444'  ,they passed 
on1 and their voices were lost to me in 
the distance4     ,illustration3        
,,tixinopa4     ,,story ,,of ,a ,,bad   
,,indian4   ,malita was a half-breed1   
the daughter of an old squaw man4 ,she  
had spent several years at the ,indian  
school in ,phoenix1 and had proved      
herself an apt pupil4 ,later she went to
 work on ,simmons' ,ranch4 ,she was a   
very pretty1 healthy looking girl1 and  
one day ,morgan ,jones1 the hunter and  
trapper1 asked her to marry him4 ,she   
went with him to his cabin near the     
,reservation and settled down4  ,jones  
was a devil-may-care sort of chap1 who1 
when he had a little money1 came to the 
straggling one-horse town near the      
,reservation1 drank considerable        
whiskey1 and amused himself by running  
his pony up and down the one street1    
firing off his gun1 and shouting at the 

top of his voice4 ,this was ,jones' idea
 of a good time1 and his method of      
contributing his share to the sanguinary
 ornamentation of the embryo metropolis4
  ,malita made ,jones a good wife1 and  
attended to his creature comforts to the
 best of her ability1 and when ,jones   
returned to the cabin in an inebriated  
condition she soothed him1 and put him  
to bed1 looking upon such incidents as a
 matter of course4 ,for a year or more  
they lived contentedly1 and a little boy
 was born to them4  ,on the ,reservation
 lived an ,indian named ,tixinopa1 a    
splendid specimen of a savage athlete1  
and the most noted runner and hunter in 
his tribe4 ,like many of his race1 while
 hating the white man1 he loved the     
white man's fire-water1 and it made him 
surly and quarrelsome4 ,he was a natural
 leader1 and often1 at night1 he spoke  
with fiery eloquence of the wrongs of   
his race1 sowing the seeds of unrest and
 rebellion4  ,tixinopa was the only     
cloud which disturbed the domestic      

horizon of the ,jones family4 ,he       
haunted the vicinity of the cabin1 and  
was continually asking ,malita for      
whiskey and tobacco when ,jones was     
away1 until at last ,jones intimated to 
him gently that his presence was1 to say
 the least1 undesirable4 ,being a child 
of the woods and hills1 he did not have 
at his command a large vocabulary of    
diplomatic phrases to enable him to do  
this politely1 in fact1 he was blunt4   
,in describing the interview to ,malita 
afterwards he said3  ,i told him if he  
cum around here any more ,i'd smash his 
head1 an' he grunts an' draws himself up
 this a-way1 and looks ugly and says1   
'he's a big ,injun1' and ,i told him to 
go to hell6  ,for some time ,tixinopa   
kept away from the cabin1 but one day he
 appeared and demanded whiskey4 ,he was 
half drunk1 and his bloodshot eyes      
blinked at ,malita as he swayed         
unsteadily in the doorway4  ,no1        
,tixinopa1 there is no whiskey4         
,tixinopa's eyes grew ugly4 ,you lie1   

you half-breed squaw2 but be it so1 ,i  
will take the boy away until you        
remember where it is4  ,so saying he    
lifted the baby by the arm and swung him
 on to his shoulder4 ,the child cried   
out with pain from its twisted arm4     
,malita's heart sunk with a dreadful    
fear4  ,give the child to me1 ,tixinopa1
 do not be so rough2 see1 you have hurt 
him4  ,illustration3 ,,malita4  ,she    
tried to take the boy1 but ,tixinopa    
pushed her away roughly and she fell to 
the ground4 ,up she sprang and threw    
herself upon him1 trying to get the boy1
 and in the struggle she scratched his  
face slightly1 so that the blood came4  
,with a curse he struck her full in the 
face with his clinched fist and she fell
 as if dead1 and lay with her hands     
twitching feebly4  ,take your half-breed
 brat1 he hissed1 throwing the baby     
roughly on the ground beside her4 ,he   
turned to walk away1 but something in   
the motionless form of the child caused 
him to look again1 and he saw that his  

little head lay doubled under his arm in
 a way that could only mean one thing--a
 broken neck4  ,malita rose unsteadily  
to her feet and looked about in a dazed 
way until her gaze rested upon the      
little body of her dead baby2 the next  
instant she was striking and cutting at 
,tixinopa1 screaming like a mad thing4  
,the attack was so sudden and fierce    
that1 trained athlete and fighter as he 
was1 ,tixinopa received a deep cut on   
the shoulder and a slight one on the arm
 before he succeeded in grasping her    
wrist1 and twisting the knife from her4 
,then1 seizing her by the hair1 he drew 
her to him and drove the knife twice    
into her breast1 throwing her to the    
ground1 where she lay gasping her life  
away in broken sobs4  ,tixinopa stood   
for a moment looking at ,malita and was 
quite still4 ,his arm pained him and he 
held up his hand and watched the blood  
dripping from his fingers4 ,then he took
 a self-cocking revolver from his belt  
and fired shot after shot into the      

bodies of the dead baby and the dying   
mother4 ,twice the hammer clicked on an 
empty shell before he ceased to pull the
 trigger1 and he slowly turned away1    
pushing his empty pistol into his belt4 
,as he did so he found himself face to  
face with ,jones1 but a different ,jones
 than the one he had known4 ,this       
,jones' face was white and drawn1 and   
looked years older than the other       
,jones4 ,the hand which held a pistol   
pointed at him shook unsteadily4 ,a     
minute1 perhaps two minutes1 passed1 and
 still the two men faced each other2    
then an evil light came into ,tixinopa's
 eyes1 and his hand slid slowly towards 
the handle of his knife1 to be instantly
 smashed by a bullet from ,jones'       
pistol4 ,another shot and the other arm 
was broken at the elbow4 ,neither man   
had spoken1 but now ,tixinopa began a   
low1 wild chant4 ,raised to his full    
height1 with his broken arms hanging by 
his sides1 he chanted the death song of 
his people1 the same song which had been

 sung by his father1 and his father's   
father1 and for generations past by all 
the dying warriors of his tribe4        
,tixinopa1 the voice was a husky        
whisper1 for her sake ,i won't torture  
yer as ,i would like ter1--,god give me 
strength to keep from doin' it6--but    
,i'm afeared ,he won't unless ,i kill   
yer quick4 ,all ,i hope is that if there
 is a hell1 your black soul will roast  
in it for ever and ever1 amen6  ,the    
muzzle of the pistol was now within a   
few inches of the naked breast2 still   
the low1 wild chant went on1 the bronze 
figure standing as if turned to stone4  
,then another shot and the chant        
stopped4         99       99       99   
99       99  ,ten minutes later a       
horseman rode slowly into the desert4   
,to his left1 as he crossed the half-dry
 bed of the alkali stream1 two ,indian  
boys were skinning a rabbit alive and   
laughing at its agony4 ,from afar back  
on the other side of the valley he heard
 the strains of the ,star ,spangled     

,banner played by the pride of the      
,reservation--the ,indian band6     ,a  
,,queer ,,coincidence4   ,you say1 said 
,doctor ,watson1 as he rested one arm on
 the mantel and looked thoughtfully at  
the open fire1--you say there is no     
proof of the actuality of what is called
 telepathy or thought-transference1 and 
perhaps you are right1 but ,i have      
several times in my life had experiences
 which were very difficult to explain   
except by some such theory1 and if you  
care to listen ,i will tell you one of  
them which ,i have in mind4  ,our chorus
 of approval evidently left no doubt as 
to our desire to hear the story1 for    
,watson smiled1 and lighting a fresh    
cigar he began as follows3  ,on the     
seventeenth of ,january last year there 
was a slight wash-out on the ,northern  
road not far from ,chicago1 and the     
forward trucks of one of the cars on    
train #fa1 on which ,i was a passenger1 
left the rails1 but luckily the train   
was going slowly at the time and there  

was little damage done except a general 
shaking up of the passengers in the car 
as the forward wheels bumped roughly    
over the sleepers for a few yards before
 the train stopped4 ,the other cars did 
not leave the track1 and only one man   
was seriously injured4  ,this man had   
been standing on the platform at the    
time and was thrown between the cars and
 badly crushed4 ,i was close to the end 
window and saw him fall1 and when the   
conductor called for a doctor ,i        
responded at once4  ,i found the man    
lying on a blanket surrounded by a      
number of the passengers4 ,he seemed to 
suffer but little pain1 and ,i feared1  
from a casual examination1 he was badly 
injured internally1 although he was     
perfectly conscious2 he was bleeding at 
the mouth1 and his legs seemed to be    
paralyzed4 ,he asked faintly if ,i      
thought he was going to die1 and ,i     
cheered him up1 as is customary in such 
cases1 but shortly afterwards he        
developed such serious symptoms that ,i 

felt forced to tell him ,i feared he was
 seriously hurt1 and it was quite       
possible he would live but a few hours4 
,upon hearing this he became very much  
agitated1 and whispered to me that he   
wished to speak to me alone1 saying he  
had something of the utmost importance  
to communicate4  ,i thought it was      
probably some message to send to some   
members of his family1 or some          
instructions regarding his affairs1 but 
after a few words ,i became very much   
interested4 ,he talked for fifteen      
minutes1 part of the time being         
sustained by the use of stimulants4 ,his
 story1 which was a very strange one1 ,i
 will repeat as nearly as possible in   
his own words4 ,after repeatedly asking 
me to assure him there was no possible  
chance of his recovery he said3  ',it is
 not necessary for you to know my name1 
but it is sufficient for me to tell you 
that ,i received a good education in my 
youth and graduated with high honors at 
one of the large universities in this   

country4 ,i always had more or less     
interest in the study of physiology1 and
 during my college course conducted a   
series of experiments in hypnotism1 and 
made some interesting discoveries       
regarding the exaltation of the senses1 
and especially in relation to illusion  
and hallucination by the aid of         
post-hypnotic suggestion4  ',it had been
 my earnest desire to occupy the        
position of professor of physiology in  
one of the universities1 but failing to 
obtain a position of this kind1 and     
having no means of support1 ,i gradually
 became poorer and poorer1 earning a    
livelihood as best ,i could1 until ,i   
became discouraged and attempted to make
 money in a way not quite so honest4    
',the idea suggested itself to me during
 a series of experiments which ,i had   
conducted with a friend of mine4 ,it so 
happened that this friend was paying    
teller in one of our well-known banks of
 ,chicago1 where he is to-day4 ,he is a 
thoroughly honorable man in every way1  

but ,i found that he was a good hypnotic
 subject1 or sensitive1 as we call it4  
,at first he could not be considered    
first class1 but he was much interested 
in the subject1 and allowed me to       
hypnotize him repeatedly4 ,after a few  
evenings he became very easily          
influenced and one of the best subjects 
,i had ever had4 ,i could put him to    
sleep in a moment1 simply snapping my   
fingers and telling him ,i wished him to
 sleep2 of course this can only be done 
with sensitives who have been repeatedly
 hypnotized4  ',under these conditions  
,i succeeded in making him do very many 
wonderful things1 especially in the way 
of post-hypnotic suggestions2 a         
post-hypnotic suggestion is a command   
given to hypnotized subjects that at    
some future time they perform a certain 
act4 ,in most cases1 in waking from the 
hypnotic sleep they have forgotten that 
the suggestion has been given them1 but 
at the time set they perform the act    
unconsciously1 as though by their own   

volition4 ,not only will they do this1  
but after the act is performed they     
usually sink into a quiet sleep1#a from 
which they awake after passing into the 
normal sleep1 and1 as a rule1 have      
forgotten that they did anything        
unusual1 or that they have been         
hypnotized1 and take up the thread of   
thought again at the point where they   
first entered the hypnotic condition4   
,they do not remember what they have    
done or seen4 ,their mind is a blank as 
to all that occurred during the time    
they were hypnotized4  ,footnote #a3    
,this is unusual2 the subject rarely    
falls asleep after carrying out a       
post-hypnotic suggestion unless         
commanded to do so4--,,ed4  ',for the   
last two years ,i have been rather      
fortunate1 in a small way1 speculating  
in stocks4 ,my capital being small1 the 
amount of money ,i could make was1 of   
course1 comparatively little2 yet ,i    
succeeded in doing very well until about
 three weeks ago1 when1 by two or three 

unfortunate speculations1 ,i found      
myself absolutely destitute1 and without
 a penny in the world4 ,it was then the 
idea suggested itself to me to hypnotize
 ,mr4 ,herrick and make him bring me    
money from the bank4 ,this of course was
 perfectly possible1 if no accident     
occurred1 or no unforeseen difficulty   
presented itself1 which ,i had not      
previously thought of1 as the cashier   
would act simply as an instrument1 being
 governed entirely by my directions4 ,i 
asked him in a casual way several times 
about the affairs of the bank1 and      
learned one day that the bank would have
 an unusually large balance in settling 
with the clearing-house4 ,it was the    
custom for ,mr4 ,herrick to lock up his 
own funds1 and simply state to the      
cashier that he had done so4            
',according to a carefully arranged     
plan1 ,i hypnotized him last evening and
 commanded him to take all the money and
 securities he had in his possession1   
after settling with the clearing-house1 

and instead of locking them in his vault
 to put them in a bag1 of course taking 
precautions to do this when no one was  
observing him1 and then leave the bank  
in the usual manner4  ',he was to take a
 carriage and drive directly to a small1
 unoccupied house which is situated on  
the corner of ,blank and #aagth streets4
  ',it was my intention1 as ,i had gone 
so far1 to go still further4 ,i knew    
that ,mr4 ,herrick would bring me the   
money and securities1 and that ,i should
 find him asleep in the house1 but what 
,i did not know positively1 and what ,i 
feared was1 that he might not forget    
what he had done when he awoke4 ,as a   
rule1 sensitives obey the command to    
forget1 but in the course of my various 
experiments ,i have found sensitives who
 had a vague idea of what occurred1     
perhaps nothing tangible1 but still     
sufficient1 in a case like this1 when   
there would be a great row about the    
lost securities1 to suggest a possible  
clue4  ',it was a very cold day1 six    

degrees below1 ,i think1 and ,i had     
deliberately intended to leave ,mr4     
,herrick asleep after ,i had taken the  
money from him and let him take his     
chances1 sleeping without any fire or   
covering1 in an hypnotic condition1 with
 the temperature below zero1 and you can
 judge what his chances would have been4
 ,this scheme ,i thought out            
deliberately1 and what seems strange1 ,i
 had not the least repugnance against   
arranging for the death of my friend4   
,after ,i had once made up my mind to   
make him steal the securities his       
disappearance seemed to be the only way 
to insure my safety4 ,of course no one  
could know ,i was connected with this   
matter4 ,i would not go near the bank1  
and unless he was followed1 which was   
most unlikely1 as he had been with the  
bank some years and was a thoroughly    
trusted official1 there would be        
absolutely no chance of my detection4'  
,watson relighted his cigar1 which had  
gone out1 and continued--  ,while he had

 been speaking another train had arrived
 with a lot of workmen who were busily  
engaged jacking the car back on the     
rails4 ,the train was about to return to
 ,chicago1 so ,i inquired the name of   
the bank and its president1 and the     
address of the house1 writing them down 
so there could be no possible mistake4  
,i then hastened on board the train1    
leaving my patient under the care of    
,dr4 ,morse1 a local physician1 who     
agreed to notify me as to the condition 
of the man later in the day4  ,upon     
arriving in ,chicago ,i immediately     
drove to the bank1 but found it closed4 
,i was told1 however1 that ,mr4         
,bartlet1 the president1 was attending a
 corporation meeting in an office in the
 same building4 ,i immediately hunted   
him up1 and1 upon hearing my story he   
hastily ordered a carriage and we drove 
to the house as described4  ,on our way 
out we stopped and picked up ,dr4       
,marsh1 who as you know is very much    
interested in such matters4 ,it was     

quite a long drive1 but we found the    
place without difficulty4 ,it was       
unoccupied1 and many of the windows were
 broken1 and altogether it presented a  
very dilapidated appearance1 such as the
 cheap houses on the outskirts of a     
great city often do after having been   
unoccupied for a year or two4 ,we tried 
the door and found it unlocked4 ,on the 
first floor the rooms were entirely     
empty1 loose papers scattered about1 and
 no signs of any one having entered the 
house4 ,upon going upstairs we found the
 door on the first landing at the head  
of the stairs closed1 but not locked4   
,at the back of the room was a cracked  
wooden stool and a dilapidated hair     
sofa1 which had evidently been          
considered too used up to be of any     
value4 ,part of the cover was torn away1
 one of the legs was broken1 and some of
 the hair stuffing was lying scattered  
about the floor4 ,on this lounge lay    
,mr4 ,herrick apparently sound asleep2  
his lips blue with cold1 his face pale1 

and the general appearance of a man half
 frozen to death4 ,he was breathing very
 quietly1 however1 and his heart action 
was still fairly good1 although somewhat
 slow4 ,by his side lay a small bag1    
which1 it is needless to say1 was       
pounced upon by ,mr4 ,bartlet4 ,it      
contained some valuable securities1 and 
a great bundle of bank bills of large   
denomination4 ,both ,marsh and ,i       
considered ,herrick's condition as      
decidedly interesting and unusual1 and  
we were both of the opinion that1 as    
part of the story had proved true1 it   
was very likely the whole would turn out
 just as described4  ,if this proved to 
be the case1 all that now remained to be
 done was to restore ,herrick to his    
normal condition1 which might or might  
not be easy to accomplish4 ,the first   
thing to be done was to get him out of  
such a low temperature4 ,we tried       
various methods of restoring            
consciousness1 but without success4     
,what we did not like was that his heart

 action was gradually becoming weaker4  
,we gave a hypodermic injection of      
strychnia1 and the heart was soon acting
 in a much more satisfactory manner4    
,there was no return to consciousness1  
however1 so taking him in the carriage  
we drove back to ,dr4 ,marsh's house1   
and arriving there we all turned to and 
did what we could to restore ,herrick to
 consciousness4 ,now that he was in a   
warm room the drawn expression and the  
blue look left his face1 but otherwise  
he appeared to sleep as soundly as ever4
 ,the heart was now acting very well1   
and aside from the coma the condition of
 the patient gave us no cause for       
anxiety4 ,as time went on1 however1 and 
we absolutely failed to waken him1 and  
the heart again showed signs of         
weakness1 we began to feel somewhat     
uneasy4  ,you see1 said ,watson1 we did 
not know what suggestion was given the  
patient2 these post-hypnotic suggestions
 are peculiar in their action upon some 
sensitives4 ,if1 as it is fair to       

suppose1 this man was ordered to sleep1 
he should in the natural course of      
events sleep for a number of hours and  
then awake1 after passing from the      
hypnotic sleep to the normal sleep2 but 
we know very little of the effect on    
some nervous systems of post-hypnotic   
suggestions4 ,another thing1 in many    
cases the patient will not waken or     
cannot be wakened except by the person  
who put him to sleep4 ,the reason for   
this is plain enough4 ,part of the      
effect on the mind of hypnotic          
suggestion is due entirely to sleep4    
,the skilled hypnotist commands one of  
his sensitives to sleep under certain   
conditions4 ,the sensitive expects to be
 awakened by the same voice and in the  
same way1 and habit and association have
 fixed in his mind certain conditions   
which he associates with the order to   
awake4 ,there is no doubt whatever that 
,mr4 ,herrick heard what we were saying 
when we spoke to him in a loud voice1   
but he heard it without understanding1  

much as a person in a sleepy condition  
hears noises about him without trying to
 comprehend them4 ,it is undoubtedly    
true that the man who put ,herrick to   
sleep could have wakened him in a       
moment1 while we1 with all our knowledge
 and experience1 were unable to make his
 brain regain its normal condition4 ,we 
decided to let him sleep2 and if1 at the
 end of a few hours1 he did not regain  
consciousness1 we would try again what  
we could do to assist him1 of course    
watching the heart in the meanwhile and 
using nitro-glycerin or strychnia if    
indicated4  ,at that moment ,herrick    
suddenly spoke1 at first huskily and    
then in a loud1 clear voice1 shouting1  
',yes1 yes1 ,i hear you2 ,i am awake4'  
,then he sat up1 asking in a dazed way1 
',where am ,i8 ,what does this mean8'   
,as he did so the old-fashioned clock in
 the hall struck the hour of seven4     
,the queerest part of this story is     
suggested by a letter received from ,dr4
 ,morse the next day1 which read as     

follows3         ,,dear ,,watson3 ,you  
asked me to write you about the injured 
man1 and      ,i do so now to tell you  
he is dead4 ,he died a minute or two    
before      seven o'clock last evening2 
,i know the hour exactly1 because ,i was
      watching him at the time1 and for 
some moments he had been      whispering
 and muttering to himself1 but all ,i   
could catch was      something about1 ,i
 withdraw my command2 when1 suddenly    
raising      himself1 he shouted1 ,wake 
up1 wake up6 and fell back dead just as 
the clock in the church-yard struck     
seven4         ,i should be much        
interested to hear whether his story was
 true or      not4 ,drop me a line about
 it when you have time4                 
,very sincerely yours1                  
,f4 ,,morse4     ,,story ,,of ,,an      
,,insane ,,sailor4   ,that pocket-piece 
of yours1 said the doctor1 reminds me   
that ,i have an interesting one of my   
own2 perhaps you can tell me what it is4
 ,he took from his pocket a silver coin 

and handed it to ,jennings1 as he spoke4
 ,one edge had been flattened1 and a    
hole pierced in it4  ,ah6 an old        
,spanish piece1 said ,jennings1         
evidently of the time of ,pope ,leo     
,fourth1 sometime in the sixteenth      
century4 ,a very interesting piece4     
,where did you get it8  ,there is a     
curious story connected with that coin1 
meditatively remarked ,dr4 ,watson2     
perhaps you would like to hear it4      
,illustration3 ,,one ,,edge ,,had ,,been
 ,,flattened ,,and ,a ,,hole ,,pierced  
,,in ,,it4  ,we had been dining with    
,watson and were now comfortably seated 
in the library before an old-fashioned  
open fire4 ,it was snowing outside1     
making the warm1 bright study all the   
more cheerful by contrast4  ,perhaps you
 remember1 said ,watson1 that during the
 winter of #ahhf ,i devoted much more of
 my time than usual to the ,insane      
,asylum4 ,i was very much interested in 
testing the value of hypnotism for      
insane patients1 especially mild cases  

and those having illusions and insistent
 ideas4 ,i had been quite successful in 
one case--a woman who had tried to      
starve herself to death under the       
impression that the devil commanded her 
not to eat was greatly benefited by     
post-hypnotic suggestion4 ,suggesting   
that the devil would not come any more  
induced pronounced hysteria1 but when   
hypnotized1 and told that the devil     
commanded her to eat1 instead of to     
abstain from food1 she took nourishment 
readily1 and soon developed an          
extraordinary appetite4  ,an immediate  
improvement in her condition was        
noticeable1 and as her general bodily   
health improved1 the illusions became   
less and less frequent1 and she was     
discharged from the asylum as cured in  
less than three months4  ,watson paused 
and gazed meditatively at the end of his
 cigar4 ,ever tried to hypnotize an     
insane person1 ,jennings8  ,not that ,i 
remember4  ,you1 ,morris8  ,can't say   
that ,i have4  ,hm6 ,well1 sometimes you

 succeed1 and sometimes you don't2 more 
often you don't4 ,there was one patient1
 a man by the name of ,allen1 who had   
been a sailor4 ,he was subject to fits  
of extreme melancholia1 and at times was
 positively dangerous1 as he imagined   
some one was trying to poison him4  ,i  
never succeeded in hypnotizing him1     
although ,i tried repeatedly4 ,however1 
,i saw him every day1 and as his general
 health improved1 his attacks of        
melancholia became less frequent4 ,he   
seemed grateful to me for taking an     
interest in him1 and often talked with  
me about his early life and the         
out-of-the-way countries he had visited4
 ,shortly after ,i was called away and  
did not return to the asylum for two    
weeks1 and when ,i did go back ,i found 
that ,allen was dead4 ,he had cut his   
throat one afternoon with a large       
pocket-knife and made a mighty clean job
 of it1 too4  ,well1 continued the      
doctor1 among his effects they found a  
package addressed to me1 which contained

 a letter and a silver coin4 ,the coin  
you now hold in your hand1 the letter ,i
 have here in my desk4  ,he opened a    
drawer and took out a large yellow      
envelope containing a number of pages of
 closely written manuscript4  ,this     
letter1 said ,watson1 as he slowly      
turned over the pages1 contains a story 
so strange that ,i did not for a moment 
believe it had any foundation in fact2  
but during the past year or two ,i have 
learned certain things which have caused
 me to change my opinion4 ,whether the  
story is true or not we will1 of course1
 never know1 but ,i now believe that it 
is a true record of events which        
actually happened4 ,i have made some    
inquiries and find that the places      
mentioned do exist1 or did at the time  
this story was written1 and--but never  
mind2 ,i will read you the letter and   
you can form your own conclusions3      
',,dr4 ,s4 ,t4 ,,watson3  ',,dear ,,sir3
 ,i have made up my mind to kill myself1
 but before ,i die ,i wish to make a    

confession of my wrong doings1 as he    
insists that ,i shall and ,i dare not   
disobey him4 ,i therefore write this    
confession1 to be read by you after ,i  
am dead4  ',you tell me ,i imagine ,i   
hear the voice and see the man4 ,i tell 
you1 doctor1 you who think me crazy are 
the one who is deceived4 ,you do not    
believe in telepathy and                
thought-transference1 and yet ,i could  
tell many times when you looked at me of
 what you were thinking4 ,i tell you    
that ,i hear ,jim's voice as plainly as 
,i ever heard yours1 and he talks to me 
and tells me that he will never leave me
 while ,i live1 and then he laughs4 ,oh1
 that laugh6 ,he comes often at night   
and wakes me out of a sound sleep with  
that awful laugh1 and then he whispers  
to me to go to sleep again4 ,of course  
you do not believe in spirits or ghosts1
 and you believe ,i am crazy1 and that  
the half-invisible form of my dead      
partner which comes to me and talks to  
me1 and whose voice ,i hear as plainly  

as ,i ever heard yours1 exists wholly in
 my imagination4 ,well1 doctor1 you have
 been kind to me1 and ,i hope and pray  
you will never suffer the way ,i have   
suffered during the past three years4   
',just three years ago to-day ,i was on 
board the ,ada ,gray1 a small schooner  
off the coast of ,florida1 bound for the
 ,isthmus4 ,there were seven of us in   
all1 including the captain and mate1 the
 latter an old pal of mine who had      
arranged to get me in as one of the     
crew4 ,in some way he had learned that  
the captain was to take with him some   
two thousand in gold1 and although we   
had no plans1 we intended to get the    
gold in some way4 ,on our way down we   
had talked over many schemes1 but none  
of them seemed satisfactory4 ,the gold  
was kept in a small fireproof safe in   
the captain's cabin1 but it was an      
old-fashioned key-lock affair1 and we   
did not anticipate much trouble from    
that quarter1 even if we could not find 
the key4 ,the great point was1 how we   

were to get the money and get away4 ,at 
last we decided to drug the men's       
coffee1 and when they were sleeping from
 its effects1 we would take the money   
and leave in the schooner's yawl1 in    
which1 as the weather was very calm and 
the ,florida coast could be seen in the 
distance1 we should have no difficulty  
in making the shore4  ',jim had         
overhauled the medicine chest and had   
found a vial containing a lot of        
morphine pills marked one-eighth grain1 
and as neither he nor ,i knew how much  
morphine it took to drug a man1 he      
watched his opportunity and emptied the 
contents of the vial into the coffee4   
',after supper we kept on deck for some 
time waiting results4 ,at last ,jim went
 forward and reported everything quiet  
and the men apparently all asleep4 ,we  
found the captain in his cabin lying on 
his bunk breathing heavily4 ,the key to 
the safe was in the captain's pocket1   
and we opened it without difficulty4    
,there were six rolls of twenty-dollar  

pieces marked two hundred dollars each1 
eight rolls of ten-dollar pieces1 and a 
bag of silver4  ',we took the money and 
some other things we found in the cabin1
 including a pair of revolvers1 a       
double-barrelled shot-gun1 and a rifle1 
and put them in the boat1 together with 
a small keg of water1 tinned meat1 and a
 bag of ship biscuit4 ,after these were 
carefully stowed away in the yawl1 ,jim 
went back to the cabin1 while ,i busied 
myself arranging things in the boat4 ,he
 soon came on deck again bringing       
several bottles of brandy1 and coming to
 the side of the schooner reached them  
one by one to me over the side4 ,as he  
handed me the last bottle ,i saw the    
burly form of our negro cook rise slowly
 out of the hatchway1 rubbing his eyes  
as if half asleep4 ,jim saw my stare of 
surprise1 and1 turning quickly1 faced   
the negro1 who was looking at us with a 
dazed expression4 ,he could not have    
drunk of the coffee1 for ,i have since  
learned the amount of morphine ,jim put 

in the pot was more than enough to kill 
the entire crew4  ',jim turned1 and1    
walking slowly up to the man1 said      
hoarsely3 ,go down1 at the same time    
pointing to the hatchway4  ',what for8  
asked the negro1 moving a step backward4
  ',none of your business what for2 go  
down1 ,i tell you4  ',i don't take no   
orders from you1 nohow1 answered the    
man4 ,where's the captain8  ',without a 
word ,jim struck him full in the face   
with all his strength4 ,the blow was an 
awful one1 and the negro staggered back1
 and would have fallen had not he       
brought up against the foremast4 ,he    
roared with rage1 and came at ,jim with 
a rush like a mad bull4 ,jim bent       
sideways1 and something flashed in his  
hand1 as he struck upwards under the    
man's arm4  ',instantly the negro       
stumbled forward1 and fell on the deck1 
and then sat up and began to cough4 ,he 
coughed incessantly1 like a man who has 
swallowed something which choked him4   
,jim looked at him a moment1 and then1  

without a word1 cast off the painter and
 jumped into the boat4 ,there was not a 
breath of wind1 so we each took an oar  
and pulled towards the faint line of    
land just visible in the western        
horizon4  ',the schooner lay almost     
motionless1 with the silence of death   
about her4 ,the negro had stopped       
coughing1 and all was still1 save the   
faint creaking of the masts and spars   
and the sounds of our oars in the       
rowlocks4  ',in the west the sun-painted
 clouds lay in great masses of gold and 
purple1 tinting the sea with            
ever-changing colors4  ',damn pretty    
sunset6 remarked ,jim1 as he drew in his
 oar1 and bent over to light his pipe1  
and then1 musingly3 ,i wish ,i hadn't   
had to kill that nigger4  ',shortly     
after dark a gentle breeze sprung up    
from the southeast1 and we put up a     
little sail we had brought with us4     
',fowley ,rocks light was in plain      
sight1 and about midnight we rounded    
,cape ,florida1 and entered ,biscayne   

,bay1 and by daylight we made the mouth 
of the ,miami ,river1 where we tied up  
to a small pier1 owned by a man named   
,brickle4 ,on the other side of the     
river stood a long1 low stone building1 
which1 they told us1 was once used as a 
government building1 and was called     
,fort ,dallas4  ',we told the people we 
had come from ,key ,west1 following the 
coast along inside the keys1 and were on
 a hunting and fishing trip4 ,upon      
inquiry we learned that there was very  
little game about the bay except        
crocodiles1 but that we could get       
splendid sport by going up the river    
into the everglades and following the   
shore line north to ,new ,river4 ,they  
advised us to get an ,indian to go with 
us4 ,this plan suited us exactly1 as    
once having disappeared in the          
wilderness we could come out at some    
other point1 and having assumed new     
names could go forth into the world in  
perfect safety4  ',before starting we   
bought a light flat-bottomed boat for   

use in shallow water1 and after rowing  
up the river a few miles we made camp   
and burned the yawl1 first breaking her 
up with our axes4 ,this took up the     
greater part of the day4 ,in the        
afternoon ,jim went up to the head of   
the river and reported meeting an       
,indian who told him of a large island  
which was1 as near as he could judge1   
about thirty miles to the north1 on     
which there were deer and turkeys4  ',we
 had plenty of provisions1 and for three
 days we pushed our boat northward among
 the islands of the great grassy lake4  
,in many places the water was so shallow
 we had to push our way through grass   
and reeds4 ,we noticed a great many     
white flowers growing on the banks of   
the islands1 and water-lilies were      
abundant1 but they had no smell4        
',towards evening1 on the third day1 we 
landed on a large island on which there 
was a high mound4 ,hundreds of white    
herons and various other kinds of birds 
were nesting in the trees1 and there    

were a good many ducks about4 ,we shot  
some of the herons and cut off the long 
hair-like plumes1 but the flesh was     
strong and unpalatable4 ,the ducks1     
however1 were very good4  ',we camped on
 the mound1 which was much higher than  
the rest of the island1 and decided to  
stay there for a day or two4 ,while     
putting up the tent ,i saw something    
shine1 and picked up a silver coin which
 had evidently been worn as a medal1 as 
one edge had been flattened and a hole  
pierced in it4 ,there was no date1 but  
it was evidently very old4  ',that day  
we tried fishing1 and shot several      
ducks4 ,we had but one shot-gun1 so took
 turns with it at the ducks4  ',that    
evening ,jim produced an old pack of    
cards from his pocket and suggested a   
game of poker4 ,my luck went against me 
from the beginning1 and when we stopped 
playing ,i had lost fully two-thirds of 
my share4 ,the next morning ,i awoke    
feeling remorseful and sulky1 and       
demanded that ,jim play another game to 

give me a chance to get even4 ,he       
assented readily enough1 but my bad luck
 continued1 and in an hour ,i had lost  
all of my money and had nothing left to 
bet4 ,jim got up1 taking the gun1 and   
went down to the boat to repair a leak  
which had bothered us the day before4 ,i
 sat on a log1 inwardly raging and      
cursing myself for my foolishness4 ,the 
rifle was leaning against the log near  
me1 and involuntarily ,i took it and    
dropped the lever to see if it was      
loaded4 ,it was empty1 and the hammer   
moved back and forth at the touch of my 
finger4 ,evidently the spring was       
broken4 ,but how8 ,why8 ,i felt in my   
pocket for my revolver with feverish    
haste4 ,gone4 ,then ,i understood6  ',i 
rose and walked slowly down the slope of
 the mound1 and nearly stepped on a     
large rattlesnake which lay coiled up   
beside a palmetto root4 ,i looked at the
 snake as he lay there watching me1     
rattling angrily all the while1 and then
 ,i looked at ,jim's coat which hung on 

a branch near by1 and at the doctored   
rifle in my hand1 and the more ,i looked
 the more wicked thoughts came into my  
mind4 ,i glanced towards ,jim2 he was   
apparently busy with the boat1 and ,i   
could just see the top of his back as he
 bent over4 ,i hastily fastened one of  
the dead herons to a stick and held it  
in front of the snake1 which immediately
 struck it in the breast1 and then      
uncoiled and slowly retreated into the  
scrub4 ,taking two pins from my coat1 ,i
 inserted them into the holes made by   
the fangs of the rattlesnake1 and took  
them out covered with blood and poison4 
,in a few minutes this dried1 and ,i    
then fastened the pins inside the arm of
 ,jim's coat in such a way that his hand
 would be scratched when he put it on4  
',this done1 ,i hung the coat back on   
the branch and walked off a little way1 
but feeling more than half inclined to  
go back and take the pins out again     
while there was yet time4 ,perhaps ,jim 
did not mean to kill me1 but simply     

wished to protect himself against       
treachery on my part2--but then ,i      
remembered the negro and the morphine1  
and--well1 dead men tell no tales4 ,as  
,i turned to go back1 ,i saw ,jim in the
 act of taking down his coat1 and ,i    
felt a queer choky sensation in my      
throat and a sort of half catch to my   
breath as he pushed his arm through the 
sleeve1 at the same time putting the    
back of his hand to his lips in a way   
that could only have one meaning4 ,i    
watched him with an ugly feeling of     
satisfaction1 wondering how long it     
would take for the poison to begin to   
take effect4  ',jim put a couple of     
sticks on the fire1 and then sat down on
 a log and commenced to fill his pipe1  
but soon laid it down4 ,curse it6 he    
said2 ,i feel queer4  ',he got up and   
walked up and down1 rubbing his arm4 ,he
 looked at me in an odd sort of way once
 or twice1 and then went into the tent  
and lay down4 ,shortly after he called  
to me1 and on my going to the door of   

the tent he tried to rise1 but fell back
 and became delirious1 laughing and     
shouting my name1 and muttering to      
himself4 ,he breathed with difficulty1  
and in a little while became            
unconscious1 and just as the sun was    
sinking over the faint line of trees in 
the west he died4  ',i took down the    
tent and dug a hole and buried him where
 he lay4 ,i built a huge fire and sat by
 it all night without closing my eyes4  
,towards morning the moon came up and   
the sounds of the night noises ceased1  
and as soon as it was light ,i put the  
gold and what things ,i needed in the   
boat and made haste to leave the island4
 ,i paddled for two or three hours      
before ,i noticed that the sun1 which   
had been to my right when ,i started1   
was at my left1 and ,i knew that ,i must
 have turned the boat around4  ',i      
turned about and paddled on steadily all
 day long1 but night found me with no   
signs of dry land anywhere1 nothing but 
an unending stretch of grass and water  

as far as the eye could reach4  ',when  
it grew dark ,i lay down in the bottom  
of the boat and tried to sleep2 but as  
soon as ,i closed my eyes ,i felt cold  
all over1 a creepy sort of cold1 and    
heard voices whispering4 ,at first ,i   
told myself they were not voices1 'twas 
a trick of my imagination1 the wind1    
perhaps1 or the rustle of the grass     
about me2 but then ,i heard ,jim's      
voice4 ,there could be no mistaking his 
horrid1 sneering laugh2 it made me      
afraid1 but do what ,i would ,i could   
not help hearing it4 ,i stopped my ears 
and wrapped my head in my coat2 but     
still1 from time to time1 ,i could hear 
the voices whispering1 and ,jim's laugh1
 and at times ,i felt cold4  ',the next 
day ,i poled and paddled until late in  
the afternoon4 ,i felt very hot1 and my 
head ached as though it would split4 ,i 
had a pain in the back of my neck and   
drank a great deal of water4 ,i knew ,i 
had some sort of a fever1 but having no 
medicine ,i could do nothing but push   

on1 hoping to find my way to dry land4  
',all that day ,i continually heard     
,jim's voice laughing at me1 and the    
next ,i knew ,i found myself in an      
,indian camp1 and was told that ,i had  
been found in the boat sick4 ,the gold  
was gone2 the ,indians claimed it was   
not in the boat4 ,one of them seemed to 
be a chief and wore a big turban on his 
head with a silver band around it4 ,they
 told me his name was ,tom ,tiger4      
',and now1 doctor1 good-by4 ,jim is     
whispering to me again and telling me it
 is time4 ,in five minutes after ,i sign
 this ,i shall be dead4 ,i shall make no
 mistake4 ,my knife is very sharp4      
',,john ,,allen4'     ,,the ,,elixir    
,,of ,,life4   ,behold1 said ,doctor    
,watson1 the ,elixir of ,life6          
,robinson looked up from his writing and
 assumed an expression of deep interest4
  ,wonderful6 ,i have often heard of it4
 ,is it the true ,elixir vitae of the   
ancients1 or a new and more subtle      
compound8  ,listen1 scoffer2 if you will

 behave with a decorum consistent with  
the gravity of the subject1 ,i will     
explain how ,i became the possessor of  
this wonderful powder4 ,perhaps in your 
life of seclusion and deep toil you may 
not have noticed this advertisement     
which has appeared for the last month   
regularly in the morning paper8 ,watson 
took from his pocket-book a newspaper   
clipping and read as follows3           
,,methuselah ,,club4      ,the object of
 this club is to enable its members to  
live to     be one hundred and fifty    
years old4 ,all persons desiring to     
become members should apply for         
particulars to ,rengee ,sing1     ,no4  
-- ,twenty-seventh street1 ,city4  ,are 
you a member8 inquired ,robinson4  ,not 
as yet1 but ,jones is1 and it was       
through ,jones that ,i came into        
possession of this mysterious drug4 ,it 
seems that ,jones decided after reading 
the advertisement that he would like to 
become a member of the club4 ,jones'    
health is not very good1 as you know1   

and he called on ,rengee ,sing1 and the 
result of the interview was that he came
 away with this small vial of the       
wonderful ,elixir1 for which he paid    
twenty good dollars4 ,he was so         
impressed by the gentleman who sold him 
the powder that he came to me1 as his   
medical adviser1 to ask my opinion as to
 the advisability of taking some of it4 
,he brought with him a paper purporting 
to be the translation of an ancient     
papyrus manuscript1 the original of     
which was in ,thibetian or ,sanscrit and
 which was ingenious1 if fraudulent4 ,he
 told me a rambling story of how this   
,rengee ,sing had procured this powder1 
and the whole thing was so peculiar that
 ,i decided to interview the gentleman  
myself2 but first ,i made a point of    
getting our friend ,strauss to analyze  
the powder4 ,his report of the analysis 
shows it to be composed entirely of     
chloride of sodium or common salt1 with 
a small quantity of some unknown        
vegetable matter which gives it a yellow

 color4 ,armed with this information1 ,i
 called upon ,rengee ,sing at his office
 on ,twenty-seventh street4  ,you       
interest me1 said ,robinson1 glancing at
 his work1 and palpably attempting to   
suppress a yawn4  ,watson arose1 and    
gently but firmly removed the pen from  
,robinson's fingers2 he then placed a   
book on the papers1 and continued3  ,the
 office was distinctly oriental1 and    
there were numerous ,bokhara and other  
good rugs scattered about2 besides there
 were gorgeous divans1 and the air was  
heavy with peculiar ,eastern odors4 ,i  
was admitted by a gigantic negro dressed
 in oriental costume1 and another negro 
arose as ,i entered1 and stood          
respectfully at the inner door4 ,i asked
 for ,rengee ,sing1 and was informed    
that he would 'be at liberty in a few   
moments1' and 'would ,i sit down and    
wait1' all in very good ,english from   
one of the gigantic sable guardians who 
bowed me in4 ,i was kept waiting but a  
few moments1 when the door opened and a 

small black-bearded ,hindoo came softly 
into the room dressed in the ordinary   
,european costume4 ,there was nothing   
striking about him except his eyes1     
which were really the most wonderful    
eyes ,i have ever seen in a human being4
 ,with the gentle manner peculiar to his
 race he smiled and asked me to take a  
seat near the window4  ,is it possible8 
said ,robinson1 languidly1 lighting a   
cigarette4  ,is what possible8 inquired 
,watson1 frowning slightly4  ,why1 that 
he asked you to take a seat near the    
window4  ,robinson1 remarked ,watson    
sternly1 remember that your mental      
infirmities will not prevent my punching
 your head if you interrupt me with any 
more foolish questions4  ,robinson      
grinned1 and after ostentatiously       
placing a paper-weight within easy      
reach1 ,watson continued4  ,i inquired  
if he was the person to whom ,i should  
apply for information about the         
,methuselah ,club4  ,he answered that he
 had the honor of being the president of

 the club1 and would be glad to supply  
me with all information in his power4   
,did ,i wish to join8  ',a friend of    
mine1' ,i said1 'has already become a   
member1 and the description of a        
wonderful powder has interested me1     
likewise the history of the powder4'    
,the ,hindoo smiled gently1 showing his 
white teeth1 and said that he was not   
surprised at my curiosity4 ,he then went
 to a desk and took from it the printed 
circular which ,jones had already shown 
me1 and which was supposed to be a      
translation of the ancient manuscript4  
,it is the one ,i hold in my hand2      
please glance over it before ,i continue
 my story4  ,robinson took the paper4   
,what is this hieroglyphic affair at the
 top here8 he asked4  ,that1 said ,dr4  
,watson1 is probably a copy of some very
 ancient amulet or talisman4 ,the fish  
at the bottom was often used to         
designate ',dag1' or the master2 next   
above we have the ,solomon's seal1 then 
the four ,chaldaic letters              

,jod-,he-,van-,he-,iaho1 which is ',the 
,deity2' the other symbols are strange  
to me4  ,ah1 said ,robinson1 a weird    
sort of thing1 is it not8  ,don't be    
sarcastic1 read it1 sententiously       
remarked ,watson4  ,robinson did so4    
,illustration  ',let him who dares to   
live forever take of the powder1 but let
 him think of ,aum2 but speak it not on 
pain of death2 let absolute muckta be   
known to him2 let him study the secret  
mantras1 and ponder on the mysteries of 
,vach2 let him also say each day in his 
prayer ,aum ma-ni pad-me hum4  ',he who 
takes of the powder three times should  
acquaint himself with ,hebrew3 khet     
dalet the marcaba and the lah gash1 then
 he will never die4 ,even though he     
wished to live a thousand years1 so it  
shall be6'#b  ,footnote #b3 ,translation
 of the sacred manuscript found with the
 ,elixir of ,life4  ,well1 remarked     
,watson1 what do you think of it8       
,fake1 answered ,robinson4  ,verily1 out
 of the mouths of babes1 etc41 said     

,watson1 but1 ,o learned friend1 you    
have not heard the whole story4 ,listen4
 ,i asked ,rengee ,sing if he would be  
good enough to explain to me fully about
 the powder and especially how and where
 he obtained it4  ',my dear sir1' he    
said1 ',i see you are a scientific man1 
and it always gives me great pleasure to
 meet such1 and to explain to them as   
fully as possible how ,i1 ,rengee ,sing1
 obtained possession of one of the most 
valuable treasures in the world1 the    
,elixir of ,life2 but before doing so ,i
 must enroll your name among the members
 of our ,society2 in fact1 one of the   
rules of the ,society is that unless a  
person becomes a member we can tell him 
nothing1 beyond allowing him to read the
 circular which you have already seen4  
,the initiation fee is five dollars1 and
 you are at liberty not to take the     
powder if you desire not to do so after 
you have become a member1 but if you    
wish to become a member in high         
standing1 and to take the powder1 which 

will insure you a length of life far    
beyond that of ordinary mortals1 an     
additional fee of twenty dollars is     
charged for the powder4'  ,i decided1   
continued ,watson1 that the experience  
was worth five dollars1 so ,i intimated 
that ,i should be delighted to become a 
member of the ,society1 and handed ,mr4 
,sing five dollars1 whereupon he wrote  
me a receipt and gave me a member's     
card1 which stated that ,i was a member 
of the ,methuselah ,club of the second  
class1 and entitled to receive the      
,elixir1 and to become a member of the  
first class upon the further payment of 
twenty dollars any time within the next 
ten days4 ,after which1 if ,i had not   
been made a member of the first class1  
my name should be dropped from the      
rolls4  ,rengee ,sing was the embodiment
 of courtesy when he bowed low and      
handed me my receipt4  ',my dear sir1'  
he said1 ',i shall now be happy to      
explain to you anything that ,i can4'   
',i would like1' ,i said1 'if possible1 

to see the original papyrus which ,i    
understand was found with the ,elixir1  
and ,i also would like to learn more    
fully the details as to how and where   
this ,elixir was obtained4'  ,rengee    
,sing bowed1 and1 going to the corner of
 the room1 opened a small fireproof     
safe1 taking from it a roll of what     
proved after being unrolled to be an    
ancient papyrus manuscript written in   
the ,sanscrit language4 ,as far as ,i   
could make out it seemed to be the      
original of which the printed circular  
was a translation4 ,it certainly        
appeared ancient enough4  ',this        
manuscript1' said ,sing1 'and the box of
 powder was obtained by my brother and  
given to me at his death4 ,he died from 
the effects of a fall from his horse1   
which broke three ribs and otherwise    
injured him internally4 ,he never would 
have died except from the accident1 as  
he had taken several doses of the       
,elixir4 ,just how long it will enable a
 man to live we do not know1 but        

certainly one hundred and fifty years   
and perhaps even two hundred years4 ,he 
obtained it in the following manner3 ,my
 brother had long been desirous of      
visiting ,lassa1 which is1 as you know1 
the wonderful capital of ,thibet1 but   
was unable to do so until a few years   
before his death1 when he accompanied a 
,hindoo who went there for the purpose  
of making certain reports to a foreign  
government4 ,his name ,i am not at      
liberty to disclose1 but his report was 
simply signed ,punjaub ,a4,b4 ,my dear  
brother described ,lassa to me very     
minutely1 and from all accounts it must 
be the most wonderful city in the world4
 ,as you probably know1 no ,european or 
,christian has ever been allowed to     
enter within its walls4 ,according to my
 brother's description the city is      
situated in a fertile plain on the      
,sampo river some six hundred miles     
north of ,calcutta1 and has a population
 of fully sixty thousand persons4 ,the  
streets are wide1 and the houses have   

their walls whitened and the frames of  
the doors and windows colored red and   
yellow4  ',nearly west of the city1     
connected with it by a splendid avenue1 
is the mountain of ,buddha1 where now   
stands the temple of the ,grand ,lama4  
,this temple is four stories high1 and  
therein dwells the ,grand ,lama and his 
,high ,priests4 ,some idea of the       
magnificence of this temple may be      
obtained when ,i tell you that its great
 pillars are covered with plates of pure
 gold4 ,the ,grand ,lama can live       
forever1 and many people believe he does
 so1 but he really does not4 ,after a   
certain time he reincarnates himself    
into a new body4 ,all of the priests1   
however1 are very old4 ,it is claimed   
the ,pandita is at least one hundred and
 fifty years old4 ,the ,grand ,lama has 
about him two priests of the highest    
grades1 one the ,pandita and the other  
,tchoiji4 ,the ,grand ,lama sits upon an
 altar or throne for hours at a time1   
clothed in gold-woven cloth and jewels  

of fabulous value4 ,over his head is a  
magnificent peacock's tail composed     
entirely of gold and precious stones4   
,it is the custom of the ,grand ,lama to
 receive persons who desire to receive  
his blessing at certain hours of the    
day4 ,for a small amount of money one is
 allowed to bow before him2 for a little
 more one may touch his garment1 and    
receive his silent blessing2 but for the
 sum of twenty rupees he will speak to  
the person and touch him with a little  
wand4 ,the ,punjaub ,a4,b4 in describing
 his interview states that the ,grand   
,lama talks in a hoarse voice which he  
tries to make as much as possible like  
,god's4  ',it was during his visit to   
the temple that my brother learned of   
the wonderful treasures preserved there1
 fabulous stories being told about a    
huge emerald with an ancient inscription
 engraved upon it1--the mystic seal of  
the first ,lama1 which had been handed  
down for ages1 together with the        
greatest treasure of them all1 known as 

the ,elixir of ,life4  ',the wonderful  
powder was and is used by the high      
priests1 some of whom are of great age4 
,it is supposed to have been brought    
into ,thibet by ,king ,srongb ,tsan1    
during the seventh century1 and that it 
originally came from ,nepaul4'  ',how   
did your brother procure it8' ,i asked4 
',by bribing one of the priests4 ,my    
brother was wealthy1 and being very     
desirous of procuring some of this      
wonderful powder1 he tried to buy some  
of it4 ,under no circumstances1 however1
 would they listen to him or even allow 
him to see it4 ,he succeeded1 however1  
as ,i said1 in bribing one of the       
priests1 paying him a large sum of      
money1 several hundred rupees1 ,i       
believe1 and was shown the sacred chests
 containing this powder1 and other      
treasures1 including precious           
manuscripts and some jewels of great    
value4 ,the powder was contained in five
 little gold boxes1 of beautiful        
workmanship4 ,while examining them they 

heard a door close and the sounds of    
footsteps in the passageway4 ,the priest
 became very much frightened and begged 
my brother to replace the boxes and     
manuscript at once1 and was so agitated 
that he did not notice my brother when  
he slipped one of the gold boxes into   
his pocket4 ,the person1 whoever he was1
 passed on down the passageway1 and as  
soon as they dared they hurriedly left  
the vault4 ,luckily for my brother he   
left ,lassa with the ,punjaub that      
evening1 and never learned whether the  
theft was discovered or not4 ,probably  
his powder would have done him little   
good had it been so and had he been     
suspected4'  ',but how1' ,i asked1 'do  
you know that this ,elixir will really  
prolong life8'  ,sing smiled sweetly1   
and said1 ',i myself1 my dear sir1 am a 
living proof of that2 ,i am one hundred 
and ten years old1 and to-day there are 
in ,new ,york some sixty men who will   
live to that age1 having taken the      
powder1 unless they die from some form  

of disease4 ,this elixir will not       
protect them against poison or diseases 
where the poison germ has entered the   
system4 ,that is impossible2 but it acts
 upon the nerve centres and upon the    
blood corpuscles in such a wonderful way
 that there is no degeneration4 ,the    
person simply lives along the same as he
 would between the ages of thirty and   
forty2 he is always the same4 ,he may   
die from many causes1 but it would not  
be from old age4'  ',my friend1' ,i     
said1 'took the liberty to analyze some 
of this powder4'  ',ah6 ,and may ,i     
inquire the result of his analysis8'  ,a
 peculiar yellow light came into those  
eyes1 and although he smiled--,have you 
ever seen a caged tiger languidly       
looking at the crowd of people in front 
of his cage suddenly discover a dog near
 him8  ,i don't know that ,i have1 said 
,robinson4  ,well1 if you do you will   
notice the same yellow light flash into 
his eyes1 and the sudden change of      
expression that ,i saw in the eyes of   

our friend ,sing4 ,it was gone in a     
moment1 however1 and he was again       
smiling sweetly4  ',i understand he     
found it to consist principally of      
common salt4'  ',quite so1' answered    
,sing2 'but he must have discovered that
 it also contained something else8'     
',that is true1' ,i answered1 'there was
 a small amount of vegetable matter     
which gave it a yellow color4'  ',that  
is the true ,elixir1' said ,sing2 'salt 
is merely necessary for the results4    
,you1 as a scientific man1 know that the
 poison which kills so quickly from the 
fang of a cobra and the ordinary white  
of an egg can hardly be distinguished by
 the chemist4 ,he finds them both to be 
albumen4'  ',why1 then1 should one kill 
and the other be harmless8' ,i asked4   
',simply the minute something else which
 is contained in the snake poison and   
which is held in solution by the        
albumen4'  ',have you any other proof of
 the power of this ,elixir8' ,i         
inquired4  ',my dear sir1 ,i trust you  

do not question the truth of my         
statement regarding my own age4'  ,he   
frowned slightly1 and those wonderful   
eyes of his glanced like lightning      
towards the two huge attendants standing
 in plain sight in the hallway4  ',not  
at all1' ,i hastened to assure him4 ',it
 all seems so wonderful to me1 you must 
excuse my apparent incredulity4'  ',the 
most natural thing in the world1' smiled
 ,sing with grave courtesy1 'but ,i will
 let your own eyes banish any doubt you 
may have as to the wonderful properties 
of this strange powder4  ',ashmed1' he  
called1 'ask my son to come here a      
moment if he will be so good4'  ,the    
attendant who had spoken to me when ,i  
entered immediately disappeared1 and in 
a moment a back door opened and the bent
 figure of a very old man entered the   
room and spoke to ,sing in a weak voice4
 ,the language was evidently            
,hindustani1 but ,i caught a word here  
and there which sounded familiar4 ,sing 
spoke to him sharply1 and turning to me 

said1 ',this is my son2 he is nearly    
eighty years old1 but refuses to take   
the powder on account of his religious  
principles--he belongs to the sect who  
believes that to die is better than to  
live1 that his spirit will become       
incarnate in another body1 and in his   
next life he will be at least a         
,kobtchie4'  ,my eyes must have betrayed
 my incredulity4  ',you do not doubt    
that he is my son8' sweetly asked ,mr4  
,sing4  ',certainly not1' ,i answered4  
',i trust1 then1 that ,i shall have the 
pleasure of furnishing you with some of 
the wonderful powder8 ,there is not very
 much of it left1 but luckily it        
requires a very small dose4 ,i have     
enough probably to supply one hundred   
men to insure them existence for one    
hundred and fifty years4 ,when that is  
gone the supply can never be            
replenished4'  ,he sighed4  ',thank     
you1' ,i answered4 ',i shall think the  
matter over and in all probability give 
myself the pleasure of calling upon you 

again4'  ,then ,i came away1 being bowed
 out by the sable attendants with all   
ceremony possible4 ,there6 ,what do you 
think of that8  ,do you intend to return
 and purchase the powder8 asked         
,robinson4  ,perhaps1 answered ,watson1 
but ,i think ,i will wait awhile and see
 if ,jones lives to be one hundred and  
fifty6     ,,the ,,voodoo ,,idol4       
,jones lay on the sofa watching the     
consul mix a long1 cool drink of        
,apollinaris water and crushed sour-sop4
 ,his arm pained him a good deal and the
 bandages felt hot and uncomfortable4   
,by his side was a little table on which
 were piled numerous articles in a      
manner common to mankind1 among which   
were a bottle of whiskey1 a revolver1   
several books1 and a plate containing   
some bananas and sapodillias4 ,a light  
breeze stirred the curtains behind him1 
and under the awning he could see the   
long stretch of green palms and waving  
cocoanuts1 back of the city4 ,a faint   
white line indicated the road to        

,lecoup4  ,i tell you what1 old man1    
said the consul1 as he poured the       
mixture from the shaker into the tall1  
thin glasses1 you are almightly lucky to
 get out alive1 and you took big        
chances4 ,stealing a god of the ,voodoo 
priests is about as dangerous an        
experiment as playing with fire over a  
barrel of gunpowder4 ,from your         
description ,i should judge the place   
you found it was about fifteen miles    
back of ,gantier4  ,jones nodded in     
silence4  ,well1 continued the consul1  
it was somewhere in that vicinity they  
killed that ,frenchman last year1 and   
how they ever let you get out alive ,i  
don't know4 ,they meant to kill you fast
 enough1 tried to poison you at         
,gantier1 and knocked out that servant  
of yours4 ,you escaped by not drinking  
the coffee4 ,then some one shot at you  
on the road1 and even then you did not  
have sense enough to throw away the     
idol2 but even if you had ,i don't know 
that it would have made any difference4 

,then the day before yesterday they put 
a bullet through your arm at ,lecoup1   
and if old ,chabeau had not gone himself
 with you part of the way1 ,i do not    
believe you would ever have reached here
 alive4 ,what on earth made you monkey  
with that idol anyway8  ,jones explained
 that he could not resist the temptation
 to steal it4 ,he had been camping on   
the banks of a nearly dry stream1 ten   
miles or more east of ,gantier1 where he
 had found the little hummingbird1      
,mellisuga minima1 the smallest bird in 
the world1 very abundant4 ,he had also  
trapped a specimen of the extremely rare
 ,solenodon1 and being anxious to       
procure more he had stayed there for    
several days4 ,within half a mile of his
 camp was a small stone tower open at   
the sides1 in the middle of which stood 
a little idol on a sort of pedestal4    
,this little idol was about eighteen    
inches high and was carved out of stone1
 the eyes oddly enough being bone4      
,jones had cast longing glances on this 

idol1 but did not dare to touch it1 or  
in fact to go into the tower1 as the    
natives were sullen and suspicious1 and 
on more than one occasion showed signs  
of being decidedly ugly4  ,jones saw    
enough to confirm his impression that   
these people were a bad lot1 and one    
dark night he folded his tent like the  
,arabs and silently stole away1 taking  
with him as a souvenir the little idol1 
which he had carefully rolled in a      
blanket and packed on one side of his   
pack-horse to balance his box of        
specimens on the other4 ,fear of        
possible unpleasant consequences had    
caused ,jones to ride fast1 but he had  
been followed and three separate        
attempts made on his life by unknown    
persons4 ,the last one resulted in a    
bullet through the upper part of the    
left arm4 ,he was safe enough now1      
however1 as he remarked1 there being    
little likelihood of danger while under 
the protection of the ,american consul  
in the city of ,porto ,prince4  ,don't  

you be too sure of that1 said the       
consul4 ,there1 try that and see how you
 like it4  ,jones sipped the cool       
mixture2 it seemed like nectar to him in
 his feverish condition4 ,the bullet    
which had passed through his arm had    
made a wound1 which1 while not in itself
 serious1 had left him weak and         
feverish4  ,yes1 continued the consul1  
you were mighty lucky to get off as you 
did4 ,you may not know it1 but right    
here in ,hayti the people in the        
interior are as savage and bloodthirsty 
as any ,central ,african tribe4 ,most of
 the inhabitants are descendants of     
negroes brought from the ,gold ,coast   
many years ago4 ,they have reverted to  
their original wild state1 keeping up   
many of the ancient customs4 ,mixing as 
they have with the ,indians of the      
interior1 the present race is even worse
 than their ancestors4 ,from ,toussant  
l',overture in #ahjd1 when he first     
ruled1 to ,hyppolite ,florvil and       
,salomon1 the island has been the scene 

of continuous insurrection1 intrigue1   
and murder4  ,salomon was probably the  
best of them all4 ,he was an immense    
negro1 some six feet four inches tall1  
with a pock-marked face1 who had        
received an education in ,paris and     
married a ,frenchwoman4 ,he1 like the   
rest1 however1 was superstitious and    
cruel at heart4 ,hyppolite was a ,voodoo
 priest and1 it is said1 an             
anthropophagist4 ,the people of the     
interior have an intense hatred for the 
white man1 and still retain many of the 
barbarous customs of the savages of the 
,african interior4  ,the ,voodoo dance  
is presided over by a high priest1 who  
usually commands a goat or a hen to be  
killed1 but in some of the more         
important ceremonies a child is         
murdered1 and its blood mixed with the  
tafia and drunk by the dancers4 ,the    
high priest is called ,papoloy4 ,every  
two years after the dance of the moon a 
human sacrifice is ordered2 generally a 
young girl is killed and eaten4 ,you    

probably ran up against one of the      
,voodoo gods1 and the large stone in    
front was undoubtedly the sacrificial   
stone4 ,how you ever got away alive     
passes my comprehension4 ,they evidently
 thought that you would try to leave in 
the day-time1 and had things all        
arranged for taking a shot at you       
somewhere1 but your nocturnal skedaddle 
knocked their plans galley west4 ,there 
is one thing dead sure1 those ,voodoo   
priests are bad medicine1 as we used to 
say out ,west1 and you want to keep your
 weather-eye open until you are safe on 
board a steamer and out of the harbor4  
,i wouldn't give five cents for your    
life if you walked about the streets of 
,porto ,prince4 ,when the time comes to 
leave ,i will have you smuggled on      
board4 ,the authorities would wink at   
your assassination1 but they would not  
openly countenance it4  ,jones remarked 
wearily that he had begun to believe it 
might be as well for him to rest quietly
 in the consulate1 and not give them    

another chance4  ,the soft              
flower-scented breeze blew softly in    
through the open window and was soothing
 to ,jones4 ,lying there on the lounge  
with his eyes closed1 he soon fell      
asleep1 and the consul left him to      
attend to his various duties4 ,when     
,jones awoke he lay in a sort of drowsy 
condition--half asleep and half awake4  
,through his partly open eyes he looked 
through the open door leading out on the
 broad piazza4 ,there was a chair in    
front of the door1 and over the top of  
this he saw a face and a pair of very   
black eyes looking at him intently4 ,for
 a moment he imagined it was some freak 
of his imagination1 as the face was as  
still as though it was carved in wax4   
,right in line with ,jones' eyes1 and   
within a foot of his half extended arm1 
was the little table1 and the handle of 
the revolver seemed to stand out as     
though placed there for his especial    
benefit4 ,that was certainly real1 and  
it required a very slight movement for  

his fingers to close over the pistol    
handle2 but he did not move and lay     
watching the figure1 which began to rise
 slowly and developed into the form of a
 large1 ugly-looking negro4 ,jones      
remembered particularly noticing a white
 scar across the cheek just under the   
eye4 ,the man was not looking at him    
now1 but was glancing about with the    
stealthy look of a hunted animal4 ,at   
the same time he drew from under his    
coat a long1 unpleasant-looking knife4  
,as he did so ,jones lifted his pistol1 
and1 aiming hurriedly at the breast1    
fired4 ,the man dropped1 grasping at the
 chair as he did so1 but immediately    
rose to his feet1 swaying unsteadily4   
,bang6 went ,jones' pistol again4 ,this 
time the negro did not fall1 but stood  
seeming half dazed1 steadying himself by
 holding on to the back of the chair4   
,jones fired again1 and at the report   
the man clapped his left hand tightly   
over his heart1 and with a muttered     
imprecation threw the knife at ,jones   

just as he fired his fourth shot1 the   
thud of the knife driving deep into the 
wood close to ,jones' head being        
followed by the sound of a falling body 
on the hard floor4 ,as the consul ran   
into the room followed by one of his men
 he found ,jones sitting on the lounge1 
pale and weak from excitement and fever4
  ,lucky you had the pistol1 remarked   
the consul2 might have been unpleasant4 
,see that gummy green stuff on the      
knife8 ,well1 that is poison1 and a     
mighty bad poison1 too2 one little      
scratch--,but all's well that ends well2
 the steamer is in1 and if ,i were you  
,i would make a bee line for the pier1  
and get on board just as soon as the    
,lord will let you6  ,jones rose with   
some difficulty and went out upon the   
wide balcony4 ,on the blue waters of the
 bay he saw a large steamer1 and at her 
stern1 floating in the breeze1 the most 
beautiful flag in the world1 the ,stars 
and ,stripes4  ,the effect on him1 in   
his half hysterical condition1 was to   

make him want to cry and cheer at the   
same time4 ,the room he had just left   
was dark in contrast to the bright      
sunshine outside2 but he could see the  
knife and the dead body of the negro1   
from which a narrow dark red streak was 
slowly making its way across the floor4 
,we can't go any too quick to suit me1  
said ,jones4     ,,an ,,arizona         
,,episode4   ,i4  ,wendell ,harrison was
 a club man with no ambition in life    
beyond making his small income pay his  
club fees1 and leave enough for him to  
live in the manner peculiar to young men
 of his class4 ,his one hope in life1 as
 he often told his particular crony1 was
 to find a rich wife1 and it seemed to  
,harrison that chance had played into   
his hands when he received an invitation
 from old ,john ,stiversant to join his 
party on a trip to the ,grand ,canyon in
 ,northern ,arizona4  ,harrison had met 
old ,stiversant on the yacht of a mutual
 friend a few weeks before1 and knowing 
how to make himself agreeable he had    

done so to the best of his ability1 with
 the result that he had been asked to   
make one of a party on this western trip
 in ,mr4 ,stiversant's private car4     
,good luck to you1 old man1 said his    
chum as he was leaving the club on his  
way to the station4 ,go in and win4     
,trust me for that1 answered ,harrison4 
,the trip out proved a delightful one4  
,miss ,nellie ,stiversant1 the young    
lady who1 ,harrison had decided1 was the
 most likely catch1 did not prove as    
easy as he imagined4 ,while charming and
 agreeable1 she had evidently seen more 
or less of the world1 and was not to be 
gathered in by the first man who made up
 his mind he would like to have her     
ornament his home4 ,likewise1 she was a 
girl with common sense1 and knowing her 
position and advantages did not lose her
 head when a man showed an inclination  
for her society4 ,in fact1 just before  
the party arrived in ,flagstaff she had 
made it very evident that she did not   
care for serious attentions from any    

one4 ,she was1 however1 of a decidedly  
romantic nature1 and ,harrison pondered 
deep and long as to the best method of  
gaining her affections4 ,late that      
evening he was reading a sensational    
novel1 when suddenly he laid it down and
 a far-away look came into his eyes4    
,by ,jove1 he muttered1 the very        
thing--on this very road too4 ,whether  
the story is true or not1 it is         
reasonable enough1 although a trifle    
dramatic1 but that is what is wanted to 
attract a girl like ,nell4 ,she don't   
care for me and never will1 and all she 
wants is excitement and novelty1 but if 
she thinks ,i saved her life or risked  
my own in protecting her1 there might be
 a chance4 ,in this story the chap had  
led rather a tough life1 but had        
reformed1 and the road-agents recognized
 him and knew he meant business4 ,he got
 pretty well shot up1 but the whole     
thing cast a halo around him1 which     
would undoubtedly attract any romantic  
girl4 ,damn it1 why couldn't ,i do it8  

,it is that or nothing1 the trip will be
 over in two weeks1 and it is pretty    
evident that ,i am not in it unless     
something extraordinary happens4   ,,ii4
  ,the saloon was pretty well filled    
with a sprinkling of miners1 ,mexicans1 
and ranchers4 ,men in blue overalls1    
flannel shirts1 and wide-brimmed hats   
were playing the different games of     
chance or standing in groups in front of
 the bar4 ,a harsh brass-sounding piano 
on a raised platform at the end of the  
room was being played by a short-haired 
individual in a dress suit1 and a young 
lady who evidently did not object to the
 calsomining process to aid nature was  
singing a topical song4 ,in the corner  
stood ,wendell ,harrison surrounded by  
four rough-looking men1 who seemed very 
much interested in what he was saying4  
,now ,i think you understand thoroughly 
what is required1 said ,harrison4 ,i am 
to pay you five dollars each now1 and   
twenty dollars each when the job is     
done1 likewise if it comes off          

successfully and the bluff works ,i am  
to give you twenty dollars more upon our
 return to ,flagstaff4 ,don't forget to 
carry out the plan exactly as we have   
agreed4 ,when ,i spring from the coach  
waving my pistol and firing blank       
cartridges1 one of you is to shout1     
',fighting ,harrison1 by ,god6' and     
shoot two or three times as you run4    
,the thing is easy1 but requires a      
little judgment4 ,i do not care where   
you stop the stage4 ,stop it any old    
place1 but not too near ,flagstaff4 ,i  
shall be alone in the coach with an old 
man and two young girls1 so there is not
 the slightest danger1 and ,i will see  
that the old man is unarmed4   ,,iii4   
,say1 ,jimmie1 ,i must tell yer         
something1 but let me larf first4 ,say1 
,i nearly fell down in a fit4 ,i am     
going to tell yer all about it1 but     
don't call me a liar1 or ,i'll kill yer4
 ,what do yer think8 ,oh1 ,lord1 how my 
stomach aches6--what do yer think8 ,wait
 a minute--,i'll tell yer in a minute1  

let me larf it out now1 or ,i shall drop
 down right here6  ,say1 ,i sat in that 
booth over there having a quiet drink1  
and what do yer think8 ,a dude in the   
next booth commenced putting up a job   
with four ducks2 one of them is ,mexican
 ,john and the other is ,brady1 our     
assistant bar-keeper here4 ,as far as ,i
 can make it out ,brady got the three   
other ducks4 ,say1 wait a minute6 ,i    
don't believe ,i ever will stop larfin'4
 ,what do yer think8 this dude is going 
up to the ,canyon on my next trip1 and  
is going to have these four fellers stop
 the stage to put up a bluff on his girl
 to show what a fighter he is1 and he is
 to give um twenty dollars each4 ,he is 
going to jump out and pull his gun and  
clean out the crowd1 and then go back   
and bask in the sunshine and admiration 
of the young girls4 ,oh1 ,lord6 ,the    
skunk don't care how much he scares the 
girls and the old man who are goin'     
along1 but all he wants is to pose as a 
fighter from away back4 ,but say1       

,jimmie1 what do yer think8 ,i have been
 thinkin' this thing over1 and ,i don't 
believe his little picnic will          
transpire4 ,he calculates to blow in    
eighty dollars to make a monkey of      
himself1 and ,i am thinkin' that we can 
use that eighty dollars in our business 
and teach the fellow a good lesson all  
ter wonce4 ,what breaks me up more than 
anythin' is that he told ,brady to hunt 
me up and tell me on the quiet that     
there was a reformed desperado going    
with me who used to be known by the name
 of ',fightin' ,harrison4' ,worked me   
into the job too1 see8 ,what do yer     
think8   ,,iv4  ,the stage was slowly   
toiling up a dusty hill some five miles 
from ,flagstaff4 ,the road was rough and
 the day was warm4 ,the stage-driver let
 the horses take things easy1 and from  
time to time shook with suppressed      
emotion4 ,i hope ,i may die1 said he to 
himself1 if this ain't the damndest4    
,in the back seats the two young girls1 
the old man1 and the would-be hero were 

enjoying the scenery and the novelty of 
the trip in spite of the dust4 ,suddenly
 three men sprang into the road1 and a  
loud voice commanded the stage to hold  
up4  ,what is the matter8 asked ,nellie 
excitedly4  ,don't be afraid1 said      
,wendell1 pressing her hand1 remember ,i
 am with you4  ,a rough-looking man     
appeared at the side of the stage4  ,is 
your name ,harrison8 he said1 addressing
 ,wendell4  ,it is1 answered ,harrison  
boldly2 what do you want8  ,i have a    
bill here for eighty dollars against    
you1 which will have to be paid or you  
will have to get out and go back to town
 with me4  ,what do you mean8 gasped    
,harrison4  ,just what ,i say1 young    
man2 your name is ,wendell ,harrison1   
isn't it8 ,you used to be known here by 
the name of ',fighting ,harrison1'      
didn't you8  ,certainly not1 you have   
the wrong party1 answered ,harrison     
indignantly4  ,well1 ,i don't know about
 that2 didn't somebody tell you that    
this fellow was ',fighting ,harrison1'  

,bill8  ,they certainly did1 answered   
the stage-driver4  ,it is all a mistake1
 said ,harrison4  ,mistake or not1 you  
will have to pay or go back to town with
 us2 that is all there is to it4 ,i     
believe you are the ,harrison ,i want4  
,oh1 ,mr4 ,harrison1 said ,nell1 do pay 
this man and let us go on2 you can      
easily recover the money when you go    
back to town4  ,yes1 said ,mr4          
,stiversant1 that certainly is the best 
way to settle the matter2 it is1        
undoubtedly1 a case of mistaken         
identity1 but this man is evidently     
acting in good faith1 and you will have 
no difficulty in straightening matters  
upon your return at ,flagstaff4         
,harrison's face was very red1 and he   
looked and acted ugly2 but this man     
evidently meant business1 and there was 
no way out of it but to pay the money1  
which he did with a very bad grace1     
taking a receipt made out to ,wendell   
,harrison1 alias ,fighting ,harrison of 
,arizona4  ,an exciting incident1 said  

,nell1 as the party rode away4  ,yes1   
said ,harrison1 but one that might just 
as well have been left out of the       
programme4  ,the stage moved on1 but    
,harrison seemed uneasy2 every few      
minutes he mopped his face with his     
handkerchief and pressed his hand to his
 head as if in pain4 ,visions of the    
little reception committee some few     
miles ahead were constantly in his mind4
 ,what would he say and do when the     
stage was stopped1 and he received his  
cue to spring out and fire off his      
six-shooter1 especially as he had only  
fifteen dollars left in his pocket4     
,what would these pseudo-gentlemen of   
the road do to him1 if1 after his little
 exhibit of bravery1 he failed to wind  
up the melodrama by settling with the   
actors8 ,he didn't care to find out1 and
 his mind was bent now in deciding the  
best way to get back to ,flagstaff4 ,he 
continued mopping his face1 and once or 
twice he groaned4  ,what is the matter8 
asked ,mr4 ,stiversant2 are you ill8  ,i

 fear so1 answered ,harrison faintly4 ,i
 have a dull pain in my head and ,i feel
 faint4  ,oh1 let us go back1 said      
,nell1 it is only five miles1 and we can
 start again to-morrow just as well4    
,perhaps it would be as well1 said      
,harrison weakly2 ,i fear ,i am going to
 be ill4  ,in the privacy of a room at  
the hotel ,harrison hastily manufactured
 an urgent telegram calling him at once 
to ,san ,francisco to see a sick uncle1 
and had barely time to explain matters  
and express his deep regret at being    
forced to leave the party at such short 
notice4  ,an hour later he lay back in a
 luxurious chair in the smoking         
compartment of the ,california ,limited1
 and gazed out of the windows at the    
vast desert plains through which they   
passed4 ,his eyes had a far-away look in
 them1 and ever and anon he sighed4     
,far up the ,grand ,canyon road late    
that evening ,brady and his three       
companions still sat watching sadly for 
the stage which came not4 ,there they   

had sat in the burning sun without food 
or water since ten o'clock that morning4
 ,they did not speak to each other1 but 
occasionally they cursed1 sometimes the 
birds1 sometimes the inanimate things   
about them4 ,at times they thought of   
,harrison--but what their thoughts were 
no one will ever know4     ,,one ,,touch
 ,,of ,,nature4   ,pretty good cigar    
this1 remarked the ,cowboy4  ,the       
,eastern man nodded4  ,nowadays we can  
buy good ones out where ,i live1 but    
'twa'n't very long ago when good cigars 
were as rare out there as buffaloes are 
now round ,kansas ,city4  ,the enormous 
increase in population in some of your  
,western cities is astonishing1 remarked
 the ,eastern man4  ,the ,cowboy glanced
 at him with an amused smile4 ,the      
,eastern man smiled back good-naturedly4
  ,what's the joke8 he asked4           
,illustration3 ,,resting ,,his ,,head   
,,on ,,the ,,cowboy',s ,,knee4  ,oh1    
nothin'1 answered the ,cowboy1 only ,i  
was thinkin' maybe you didn't live out  

,west4  ,no1 ,i am a ,new ,yorker1      
answered the ,eastern man4  ,well1 ,i   
guess they raise pretty good men in both
 places1 remarked the ,cowboy4  ,our    
late war proved that1 ,i think4  ,the   
train had stopped1 but there were no    
signs of a station1 although two or     
three rather dilapidated houses and a   
typical ,western saloon could be seen a 
short distance ahead4  ,wonder what we  
are stopping here for1 remarked the     
,cowboy2 it strikes me we've been here a
 pretty long time4  ,just then the      
porter passed the door of the smoking   
compartment1 and the ,cowboy called to  
him3  ,say1 porter1 what's the matter8  
,seems to me we have been stoppin' here 
a whole lot4 ,what's the name of this   
metropolis8  ,it's mighty lucky you've  
got whole necks1 answered the porter4   
,the eccentric1 or something about the  
engine1 is broke1 and we came mighty    
near having a bad accident4 ,they've    
sent on for another engine4  ,that's    
pleasant1 remarked the ,eastern man4    

,how long do you think we shall have to 
stay here before the other engine       
arrives8  ,give it up1 said the porter4 
,maybe an hour1 maybe two2 can't tell   
exactly4 ,the train conductor will be   
along pretty soon and he will know all  
about it4  ,guess ,i'll have to appoint 
myself a committee of one to            
investigate1 remarked the ,cowboy4  ,he 
arose and went out on the platform of   
the car1 followed by the ,eastern man4  
,they climbed down and walked forward to
 where they saw a crowd gathered about  
the engine4 ,the eccentric rod had      
broken short off1 and had the engine not
 been slowing up at the time1 the result
 might have been serious4  ,the two men 
strolled down the track for a short     
distance1 and the ,cowboy discovered a  
small colony of prairie dogs4 ,several  
of the comical little creatures were    
sitting on their hind legs on the mounds
 beside their holes ready to disappear  
at the least sign of danger4            
,occasionally one would run from one    

hole to another a short distance away1  
usually diving out of sight1 to reappear
 again in a few moments when satisfied  
that there was no immediate cause for   
alarm4  ,the ,cowboy amused himself by  
listlessly throwing small stones at the 
little animals4 ,after a few moments of 
this he turned to the ,eastern man and  
said3  ,say1 ,i am goin' to take a      
little stroll over yonder towards that  
luxurious mansion and get a drink from  
the well4 ,want to go along8  ,with     
pleasure1 answered the ,eastern man4    
,the two strolled slowly towards the    
house1 which was decidedly in need of   
repair4 ,the fence surrounding it was   
broken down in many places1 weeds and   
grass filled the little yard in which   
there were still evidences of some past 
attempts at ornamentation in the way of 
flower-beds1 and the whole place gave   
evidence of poverty and lack of care4   
,on the porch was seated a girl         
apparently between twelve and fourteen  
years of age4 ,she was hugging an       

immense shaggy dog and crying as if her 
heart would break4  ,what's the matter1 
sis8 sympathetically inquired the       
,cowboy4  ,oh1 sir 7sob71 ,jake's goin' 
to kill my ,rover4  ,what for8  ,the    
sobs subsided a little and the girl     
looked up1 wiping her eyes on her torn  
apron4  ,why1 he bited ,jake because he 
tried to kiss me and ,i didn't--want him
 to--and they are goin' to come and kill
 him4  ,who is goin' to come and kill   
him8  ,the feller he bited--,jake4      
,there1 don't cry1 little un2 seems to  
me the purp did the proper caper4 ,what 
do you think1 pardner8  ,in my opinion1 
answered the ,eastern man1 the dog's    
action was decidedly laudatory4  ,and   
yer think same as ,i do that the pup    
hadn't ought to be killed for doin' it8 
,decidedly not4  ,say1 sis1 ain't yer   
got any friends to sort of stand off the
 feller as allows to do the killin'8    
,no1 sir1 nobody except father1 and     
he--drinks sometimes and don't care for 
,rover1 and he says he don't want no    

trouble4  ,ain't yer got no one else8   
,no1 sir2 nobody but ,rover4 ,mother's  
dead and ,i ain't got nobody but ,rover4
 ,oh1 dear me6  ,the girl buried her    
face in the shaggy coat of her friend   
and sobbed4  ,the ,cowboy sat down on   
the step beside her2 the dog eyed him   
inquiringly1 but evidently decided he   
was a friend and wagged his tail        
slightly4  ,don't cry1 my girl2 brace   
up1 now2 perhaps they won't kill him    
after all4  ,oh1 yes1 they will4 ,jake  
is over in the saloon now2 ,i saw him go
 in4 ,he'll do it sure2 he hates ,rover4
  ,may ,i speak to your lap-dog8 ,will  
he tear me up much if ,i pat him8       
inquired the ,cowboy4  ,i wouldn't fool 
with him1 sir2 ,rover don't like        
strangers4  ,the ,cowboy snapped his    
fingers at the dog and called to him3   
,come here1 ,rover4  ,the splendid      
animal walked solemnly to him and1      
resting his head on his knee1 looked up 
steadily into his face4  ,don't seem to 
be too savage nor nothin'--pretty decent

 sort of dog4  ,oh1 he is1 sir2 he is   
just the sweetest1 lovingest dog that   
ever lived4 ,i had him when he wa'n't no
 bigger than a coon1 and couldn't eat   
nothin' but milk1 and he loves me1 don't
 you1 ,rover8 and ,i love him1 and he's 
all ,i've got to love in the world1 and 
they're goin' to kill him4 ,oh1 ,rover1 
,rover1 what shall ,i do8 what shall ,i 
do8  ,now1 sis1 tell us about the       
row--did the dog begin the trouble8     
,oh1 no1 sir2 ,jake came along this     
morning and ,i was settin' here playin' 
with ,rover1 and ,jake he grabbed me and
 tried to kiss me1 and ,i put up a      
holler and ,rover bited him in the leg4 
,jake swore and wanted to kill him1 but 
he didn't darst to1 and he didn't have  
no gun2 so he's gone home to get his gun
 and he'll be back pretty quick and he's
 goin' to kill him4  ,the girl had      
stopped crying1 but little hysterical   
sobs choked her from time to time as she
 talked4  ,the ,cowboy pulled the dog's 
ears gently and the animal responded by 

licking his hand4  ,seems to me1        
pardner1 that ,jake ain't actin' quite  
white in this deal4  ,it's an outrage1  
warmly responded the ,eastern man4  ,i  
see two fellers1 continued the ,cowboy1 
gently stroking the dog's head1 comin'  
around the corner of the house2 maybe   
we'd better ask 'um please not to hurt  
the dog4  ,i agree with you1 most       
decidedly4  ,the girl caught sight of   
the men and uttered a cry of fear4      
,seizing ,rover by the collar1 she      
attempted to drag him inside the house1 
but the dog braced himself and growled  
savagely1 facing the newcomers4  ,say1  
pard1 remarked the ,cowboy quietly1     
suppose they are impolite8  ,well4  ,can
 you fight8  ,i can try4  ,bully for    
you1 pard2 that's the stuff6 ,shake4    
,the two men shook hands warmly4 ,jake  
and his companion were now very near1   
and as they came up ,jake pulled a large
 revolver from its holster4  ,now1 girl1
 get away from that dog2 ,i'm goin' to  
shoot him and ,i don't want to hurt yer4

  ,the girl turned white1 but she placed
 herself in front of ,rover1 shielding  
him as much as she could with her       
slender body4  ,hold on1 my friend1     
interposed the ,cowboy2 you mus'n't     
shoot that dog4  ,who's goin' to stop   
me8 sneered ,jake4  ,i am4  ,you are1   
are you8 ,well1 ,i'm goin' to shoot him 
just the same4  ,if you shoot that dog  
,i'll give you such a beating yer own   
mother won't know yer4 ,sabby8  ,won't1 
hey8 ,perhaps you notice ,i've got a    
gun8 said ,jake1 with an evil look in   
his eyes4  ,i've got one1 too1 but ,i   
ain't pulled it yet1 answered the       
,cowboy slowly4  ,see here1 now1        
interposed ,jake's companion1 where do  
,i come in8 ,what'll ,i be doin' all the
 time when you're smashin' up my pard   
here8  ,i will try and occupy your      
attention1 quietly said the ,eastern    
man4  ,the hell you will6  ,i will4     
,now1 gentlemen1 said the ,cowboy1 we   
don't want no trouble1 but there is a   
peck of it around here if you fellers   

try to hurt that dog4 ,the dog bit yer  
because yer tried to kiss the girl1 and 
he served you damn well right6  ,it's a 
lie6 interrupted ,jake sullenly4  ,how  
it was done the ,eastern man never knew1
 but ,jake went staggering backward1 and
 when he recovered himself and stood    
with the blood trickling from a cut     
under his eye1 the ,cowboy had him      
covered with a big ,colt's #de1 and the 
eyes which looked at him over the barrel
 were ugly enough to make a gamer man   
than ,jake feel uneasy4  ,drop yer gun4 
,jake dropped it4  ,now move away from  
it4  ,jake did so4  ,the ,cowboy handed 
his big pistol to the ,eastern man and  
walked straight up to ,jake1 who looked 
decidedly uncomfortable4  ,now take it  
back1 or ,i'll smash yer face1 said the 
,cowboy savagely4  ,all right1 but1 damn
 you1 if it warn't that my leg is sore  
where the dog bit me ,i'd fight yer till
 ,i couldn't see6  ,the ,cowboy smiled  
grimly4  ,good enough6 ,now get out of  
here4  ,wait a minute1 interposed the   

,eastern man2 may ,i make a suggestion8 
,cert1 pard1--why1 sure6 answered the   
,cowboy4  ,well1 it seems to me this    
matter had better be settled amicably if
 possible2 if not1 after we are gone    
something might happen to the dog4      
,after what has happened the gentleman  
naturally feels an animosity towards the
 animal4 ,now1 ,i would suggest that he 
name a sum of money which he would      
consider sufficient to compensate him   
for injuries received4 ,i would be glad 
to pay a reasonable amount--say ten     
dollars--in settlement of all damages1  
if the gentleman will agree not to      
attempt to injure the dog in any way4   
,i'll agree to that1 cried ,jake        
eagerly4  ,very well1 here is the money4
 ,the ,eastern man held out a ten-dollar
 gold piece1 which was seized upon by   
,jake1 and without a word he and his    
companion started in a straight line for
 the saloon4  ,the ,cowboy shouted after
 them3 ,remember1 ,i'll be back here    
next week1 and if the dog isn't all     

right there'll be trouble4 ,then1       
turning to the girl1 he said3  ,well1   
sis1 the show's over2 the dog's all     
right1 so ,i guess ,i'll get aboard the 
train4 ,so1 so long4  ,please tell me   
your name1 sir1 and you1 too1 sir1      
turning to the ,eastern man4  ,why1 sis1
 what do you want to know my name for8  
,to pray for you1 sir2 mother's dead1   
but ,i pray every night just the same1  
and ,i ask ,god to bless ,rover--he's   
all ,i've got now1 you know4 ,is that   
wrong1 sir8 and to-night and every night
 ,i'm goin' to ask ,god to bless both o'
 you for bein' so kind ter ,rover and   
me4  ,oh1 that's all right1 sis2 don't  
think of it2 the ,cowboy's voice was    
husky4 ,good-by2 good-by1 ,rover1 old   
boy4  ,he seized the big dog in his arms
 and turned him over on his back1       
holding him down4 ,the dog caught one of
 the man's hands in his huge mouth and  
chewed it gently1 while the ,cowboy     
poked him playfully in the ribs with the
 other4 ,then the man jumped up and ran 

for the car1 with ,rover leaping and    
romping about him1 uttering great deep  
barks of joy4 ,the ,eastern man followed
 more slowly2 a cinder or something had 
got into his eye1 and he was            
ostentatiously wiping it out with the   
corner of his handkerchief4  ,that      
night1 in the darkness of her room1 the 
girl knelt by the side of her rough bed1
 and whispered softly her little prayer3
                         ,god bless     
mamma1                         ,god     
bless papa1     ,god bless ,rover1 and  
bless the two fellers that was good to  
me and ,rover--,i dunno their names1    
,god1 but you do4  ,the sounds of a     
slight figure getting into bed were     
followed by ',scuse me1 ,rover1 ,i      
didn't mean to step on yer foot2        
goodnight1 ,rover1 dear4 ,several heavy 
blows on the floor answered her1 and    
then for a time there was silence4 ,the 
wind moaned faintly in the chimney and a
 rat squeaked and scampered across the  
floor2 then a board creaked1--the child 

slept on oblivious to it all1--but at   
each new sound the dark form on the     
floor stirred slightly1 a shaggy head   
was raised1 and wide-open1 faithful eyes
 gazed in the direction from whence it  
came1 intent1 alert1 and watchful4      
----------------------------------------
--------------------------------        
,transcriber's ,note3  ,two ,hebrew     
characters 7dalet on the left and khet  
on the right7 on p4 #ahj of the original
 book appear in this ,,ascii version as 
,hebrew3 khet dalet1 as ,hebrew is read 
right-to-left4  ,spelling variants and  
dialect have been left as they appear in
 the original 7e4g4 purp1 p4 #bbc2      
damndest1 p4 #bab2 and almightly1 p4    
#aie74 ,two misspellings of foreign     
words have also been retained4 7matats  
for metates1 p4 #ha2 sapodillias for    
sapodillas1 p4 #aid74  ,the following   
corrections and changes were made3    p4
 #ai3 pocket knife to pocket-knife   p4 
#hg3  to ' 7will say1 ',haven't you got 
any real good blankets87   p4 #aba3     

is'nt to isn't 7,nonsense1 man1 there   
isn't any dog47   p4 #ace3              
thought-transferrence to                
thought-transference 7what is called    
telepathy or thought-transference7   p4 
#adc3 is to was 7,it was a very cold    
day7   p4 #ade3 meetting to meeting     
7attending a corporation meeting7   p4  
#agf-agg3 duplicate text removed        
7original read3 dressed in the          
ordinary ,european costume4 ,there ,page
 ,break in the ordinary ,european       
costume4 ,there was nothing striking    
about him7   p4 #ahj3 etc1 to etc41     
7,verily1 out of the mouths of babes1   
etc417   p4 #aif3 ,mellissuga minima to 
,mellisuga minima   p4 #bjb3 ugly       
looking to ugly-looking   p4 #bje3      
,heading for section added 7,i47        
,commas were changed to question marks  
in the following sentences3    p4 #ajd3 
,were you a doctor when alive8 ,i asked4
   p4 #agh3 ,what is this hieroglyphic  
affair at the top here8 he asked4   p4  
#ahg3 ',how did your brother procure    

it8' ,i asked4  ,accents or ligatures in
 the following words were modified for  
this ,,ascii version3    -,canyon1      
canyon 7n-tilde changed to 'ny'7        
-vitae 7ae-ligature removed7            
-,zoological 7diaeresis on #bnd 'o'     
removed7   -,phoenix1 chef-d'oeuvre     
7oe-ligatures removed7   -degrees       
7degree sign changed to word degrees7   
----------------------------------------
--------------------------------