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Show r Carlton Clarke's Zinc Case By FRANK LOVBLL NELSON i Romance and Mystery Entwined in Master Mind's Coup CTT" ODY Found In Trunk,'" 'D begnn CUrko. "Hut I'll D skip the headlines. l Upon opening a box ijAjJWii which they Imil purchased WsSal nt nn uncalled-for-freight CSSSSSr sale two young men resld-ln resld-ln In Austin were horrified horri-fied yesterday to discover the body of a man. It was hermetically Healed In a 2lnc cniie which was Inclosed In an ordinary round-topped trunk, which In turn was packed In sawdust within n pine dry goods box. Considering the fact that the box had remained for three years and a half In the freight warehouse, the body was In a remarkable state of preservation, due probably to the manner man-ner of packing It. There Is no clue to the Identity of the body other than that it woji billed to a fictitious address on South Jefferson street and was shipped from Bait Lake City, having been rebllled there from JCtteno, Wash. "That's tho gist of It, but, of course, after the fashion of you reporters the story Is told from several angles In or- dor to fill the column. It looks like " a promising mystery." a "Yes, but ono that probobly Is lm- jj posslblo of solution considering tho length of time," I nnsworod. "I'm not so sure of that. Did It ever occur to you that any crlmo can be solved If Homeono Is willing to expend ex-pend money, time, and travel? Given unlimited resources, I bellovo I could organize a dotectlvo force which would make punishment a certainty for every crlmlnnl. Crlmo goes unsolved bo- cause tho men cnpablo of doing ef- fcctlvo work can make more money in other lines. I'd rather like to look into this case. Does your Influence extend to tho county morgue?" ' "Deputy Coroner McNally In charge thero Is one qf my particular friends. SI am sure ho will fnvor us?' "Supposo wo call there this after-a after-a noon, If your engagements will per mit." i I acceded, but shortly after break- . fast something arose that put tho mat- tor entirely out of our minds for "the moment. I was busy nt my own do- vices, and Clarko was deep In a very erudite work on oriental mysticism when there was n vlolont tug nt our door bell. I opened the door and ad- mlttod a handsome, nthlotle young fel low, square of Jaw nnd keen of eye, -. but apparently laboring under tho jp. most Intense excitement. "Where Is Mr. Clnrke? I must boo him at once," ho gasped. Knowing Clarke's rulo to soe all call-ers call-ers when possible, I Immediately ushered him Into tho llhrary. "Oh, Mr. Clarko," ho began without ! awaiting an Introduction. "I am sure I havo a word from hor. I must hnvo your help. Tho pollco will laugh itt ; mo hut I feel It is n clue. I shall go ' mad If it falls. I know she Is living. I hnvo never given her up." ; "Hut calm yoursolf, my denr sir, and lot me havo your story connectedly," said Clarke. "Itemembor, I am Ig-nornnt Ig-nornnt oven of your name.'' "Pardon mo, I forgot. I nm so full of this now clue. My nnmo Is Klch-unl Klch-unl Dudloy." lie needed to say no more to Clurke or myself. Tho name recalled In stantly tho disappearance, six months boforo, of livlyn Mason. Tho country coun-try had rung with It. The papers had been filled with It. Tho best dotoc-lives dotoc-lives In the country hud struggled with It. Clnrko himself, though not called In by the family hud taken n deep Interest In the progress of the case. A note of romanoo had been added to tho affair by tho recently announced an-nounced engagement of the Iron magnate's mag-nate's daughter to Richard Dudley, Harvard's old crack hnlf-bnck who, nt the tltno she so mysteriously dropped out of sight, was traveling In tho orient. ori-ent. He had hastened home ns fast as steamor and train could carry him f nnd had taken up tho thread where "ft tho police had dropped it In despair. "Then you havo a cluo, Mr. Dud- J ?) ley?" asked Clarko when ho had as- I ' " sured our caller that his trouble was well known to us. . "I think so. Here Is what I re- & colved this morning. I hurried to you nt once." And Dudley handed Clarko a slip of paper. Clarke lead the paper and handed It over to me. It contained but ono word, "Osette," written In n sprawling hand. "Where did you got this?" asked Clarke. "It was slipped under my door lust night. I havo no Iden by whom. I found It thoro this morning. Oh, Mr. 1 , ' Clarke, tell mo tliat you havo hope I and t.hut wo will llnd her." ' V "What particular Impoitanco do you ' attach to this paper?" "Oh, chu't you see? Hut I forgot. No ono knows It but myBolf and her . . Immediate family. Why, man! that's f Kvlyn'a middle name! Uvlyn Osotto Mason. Sho never used It. No ono knows It. Don't yon see sho must havo sent this?" "In that case, Mr. Dudloy, you have Indeed a most valuable clue; inoro vat- Telepatho-Deductive Solver of Criminal Mysteries Tackles a Problem Embodying Smuggling, the Fearful White Plague and Two Lovers Are Brought Together in Grand Finale Solution of the Complex Puzzle. unble, I trust, than you suspect. It will however take time and labor to dovolop It. I lmoglno It may take us to tho Puclflo coast. Ao you pro-pared pro-pared to tako such a trip?" "At onco, If necessary. Oh! wo shall find hor, shan't wo, Mr. Clnrke?" The body already hod beon prepared for burial, and Clnrke did not ask to soo It, Tho pine box ho glanced nt Just long enough to rend tho fictitious address. The trunk also ho passed with a look. When ho enmo to tho zinc case, howovor, It riveted his attention. at-tention. Ho oxamlned closely every seam and earner of It. Clarko decided upon a trip to tho Pacific coast. When wo finally reached the ond of our long Journey and succeeded In locating lo-cating tho town of Rtteso, wo found, a Utile hnmlet numbering about liOO souls. Across ti snug harbor shono tho broad oxynnso of tho Pacific. After some search wo located tho private sanitarium of' Dr. Clinton Wlthoishee, a man known to Clarko to bo u villain of tho deepest dye. Wo ontored a room In Withorsbeo's asylum. asy-lum. What I havo next to relato Iiub beon pieced toeethor out of n blur of hazy memories. I am not awaro Just when I lost consciousness. My first sensation sensa-tion was that some ono was looking Intently nt tho back of my head. Then a soft, purring, volco snid: "Mr. Carlton Clarko, Mr. Itlchnrd Dudloy and Mr. Paul Sexton, I bellovo; be-llovo; Dr. Wlthersbeo Is at your service." serv-ice." When I nwoko to consciousness some one wus nltornatoly snapping his lingers In my fnco and roughly shaking shak-ing mo. I was In pitchy darkness, and the air was chill and clammy. "Sexton, I'm ashamed of you," said Clarke's volco through tho gloom. "You nro a particularly easy subject. I should havo given you some lesjons In resistance." "Where aro wo? What has happened? hap-pened? Where Is Dudley?" I oslted. In a breath. "Dudley Is bore. Ho recovered bo-foio bo-foio you did," answered Clarke, a fact which Dudley's volco confirmed. "Wo seem to bo la somo sort of an oubliette, oubli-ette, of that dear Dr. WIthorsbeo." In single fllo we mndo tho round of our dungeon. Wo found It to bo about 12 foot squaro, walled with masonry which dripped dampness, and floored with cement. On one side we came upon a door the height of my head, I being the tallest of tho party. From the rivet hendB wo Judged It to bo of plate steel and It closed Into a Steel frnmo set Into tho masonry In n manner man-ner which offered no entrnnco for tho point of n pick had wo had ono at hand. Tho absence of any keyhole, bolt or lever showed that it was never Intended to be opened from tho Inside. In-side. At last, after a wait which seemed an eternity, I heard n soft footfall outside of the door. Then Iron bars clanked nnd grntcd. I heard the hinges creak and tho door nwlng slowly slow-ly open, A dark form framed In tho doorway was outlined through tho gloom. Thou It stepped Into our midst. My hands shot to his tin oat. which was cold and clammy ns that of a corpse. There was no resistance. I heard Dudley wrenching tho lantern lan-tern from his bolt. At Clnrko'a command com-mand I released him. Dudley was about to strlko tho light when Clarke shunted: "Quick, Dudloy; tho door!" We emerged on tho rugged Bide of n hill overlooking tho broad expanse of tho bay. Lying lint on my hack on tho sand my heart tugging and thuuiping, m; breath coming in rasping gasps which scorned to sonr my throat, 1 waited, I know not how long. At last I was nroused by a soft "hello," "hel-lo," and tho nose of a swift gasollno launch shot Into tho creek. Wo had not long to wait. Clarko lifted IiIb eyes from his Intent watch on tho shoro lino and said: "Ho'a coming." I know who "ho" meant nnd I 'shivered 'shiv-ered at mooting Wlthersbeo on thoso black waters. Then my enr caught tho "puff puff" of a launch. "Down In tho boat, follows, ho's going go-ing to fire," shouted Clarko. Dudloy nnd I dropped. Six times In rnpld succession his revolver cracked. Hut a swiftly flying launch is not easy to hit and wo heard tho bullets whlstlo overhead.' Withorsbeo's boat wnB almost upon us whon Clnrko gavo tho wheol n quick twist and our pursuer shot past within with-in threo feet of our gunwnlo. As ho throw the wheel Clarke's right arm shot Into tho basket at his side. I saw his hand como out holding n writhing blnck object. Ho swung it about his head onco and let go. I saw It hurtto through tho air nnd strlko the doctor full betweon tho shoulders. Wlthersbeo Wlthers-beo dropped tho wheol and Btood up trying to fight tho thing off whllo his boat, freo of her holm, swung 'round In circles. Suddenly ho sprang to tho gunwnlo of tho boat, throw up his arms and with a piercing, terrified shriek disappeared disap-peared in tho blnck waters of tho bay. Clarko shot our bont ovor to tho staggering derelict, reached over her side nnd stopped her onglno. I held tho gunwnles together whllo Dudley leaped Into tho doctor's boat nt a bound nnd roturncd bearing In hla powerful arms tho unconscious form of a young womnn. Tho flguro In tho stern sat fixed nnd motionless. Dudloy swiftly cut tho ropes which bound her. "It's Bho. It's she," ho muttorcd. Clarko felt hor pulse. "She's only fainted," ho said. Wo fell to dialing her wrlBls and Dudley scooped up a handful of sea water and bathod her brow. At tho tavern, after MIbs Mason had been safely stowed away In n clean warm bed by tho mothorly landlady wo patched togothor tho ragged threads of tho story ovor tho best in the landlord's cellar. "First," snid Clnrko, "If you aro Oliver Dike, whoso was tho body that Dr. Wlthersbeo shipped to Chicago in an opium cnBO?" "Ho was another attendant, a young fellow by tho name of Frank Williams. Wo wore very similar In nppcnrnuco even to the fillings In our teeth. "I didn't worry much about her for ho treated her well and she seomed to bo in no danger from him, nnd 1 had seen so many terrible things In cases where ho didn't want to marry them that I was sort of hardoned to It anyway. any-way. I was tho watchman of tho wholo plnco aftor Williams disappeared disap-peared and tho only whlto man about tho Institution, all tho rest being Chinks. I talkod with Miss Mason on tho sly sometimes hut 1' paid no attention to her appeals until one day sho mentioned the uamo of Mr. Dudley Dud-ley here. Ho wus one of my boyhood football heroes and I determined to do something. "Hut, Clarke, how did you seo through all this when we were In Chicago?" Chi-cago?" I asked. "I didn't seo through It by any means. Only I saw some things which you didn't. Part of It you know. Then a connecting link wns tho zinc can which I recognized at once as ono used In smuggling opium. I picked up tho threads of Miss Ma-sou's Ma-sou's enso whore I had dropped thorn beforo, nnd tho list of guests continued con-tinued my hnzy recollection that there wus ono from Etteso. Tho name of tho town did not Btrlko mo tho first time, of course, but tho nnmo of tho doctor did, for whllo turning tho case over In my mind I -thought of something some-thing which I should have romembered tho first time. It was that -onco In n Clark street opium den I had heard tho uamo 'Wlthersbeo' In a cautious whisper. My visit to Chinatown continued con-tinued this. I havo n Chinaman there that I depend on a good deal, and In toply to my question of who was the greatest dealer In smuggled opium In the country ho whlBpercd 'WIthorsbeo,' 'WIthors-beo,' swenrlng that ho would never live to see another day for having told." Dudloy and Miss Mason wero mnr-rled mnr-rled thfi noxt spring and Clnrko and I nro often guests at their beautiful Kako Forest homo. Wltbersbeo's so-called so-called asylum, from which, aided by tho powerful Chinese tongs In which ho wielded greut Itilliience, he conducted conduct-ed his extensive smuggling operations, now atones for Its past sins ns oco of tho principal outposts In tlw war against "Tho Groat White Plavna." (Copyright. IWS. by W. a C'hnpimui.) (Copyright In Grout Urituiu.j |