Show A A i bvm age CIUL aho samuel sombud aj p A adan rimy ia 1 N 1 0 I 1 I R T ik lff mr A V R E jonea average jones his friends called him was waa tired of spending his dead uncles millions in new york and doing nothing more and craved to take part in the dynamic activities of life at the suggestion of waldemar owner of an important and decent newspaper he opened offices in astor court and went in for or following lo 10 up alue queer er advertisements in the newspapers and and tracing ig down fraudulent advertisers business boomed AKI from his inner sanctum average jones stared obliquely out upon the whirl of fifth avenue and mused upon a paragraph which had appeared appear ed in all the important new york morning papers of the day before REWARD 1000 REWARD FOR information for matlon as to slayer slaver of brindle bulldog rags killed in office of malcolm dorr stengel building union square march 29 too much money tor for a dog decided average jones slipping on his coat he walked briskly down the avenue and entered a gloomy bloomy old office building step ping from the ele elevator vitor at the seventh floor li be piuse paused d underneath this sign MALCOLM DORR analytical and consulting chemist hours 10 to 4 entering average jones jonee found a fat young man with mild blue eyes sitting at a desk mr dorr I 1 am an expert on advertising ver mer and I 1 want vant that one thousand dollars reward the chemist pushed hla his chair back and stared at ai him in silence you are very fond of dogs mr dorr 1 I 1 a w eh oh yes yes certainly said the other mechanically mechanicals mechanic all yih average jones smiled with wl almost affectionate admiration at the crease along the knee of his carefully pressed trousers mr dorr he drawled who er owned your er dog why I 1 I 1 did said the startled c chemist her alst who gave him to you A friend quite so was it 11 that or er friend who er offered the reward 1 what makes you 1 think that this to be frank the minute you answered my question as to whether you cared tor for dogs I 1 knew you mr do dorr who er has been er threatening your life the chemist swung around in his chair what do you youl know he demanded nothing im guessing its a fair guess that a reasonably valuable brindle bull presented to a man who cares nothing for dogs without some reason the most likely reason is protection Is it in your case yes it Is replied theother the other after some hesitation and now the protection Is gone dont you think better let me in on this lehme d speak to my my legal adviser first he called up a downtown number on the telephone and asked to W be connected with judge elverson it If that ls is united states district dis brict attorney roser roger elverson tell him thit that it Is A V R jones johes who wants to know 1 almost lm u average jones was called back from the hallway whither he had gone elverson says to tell you the whole thing 4 said the chemist in confidence of course understood now who is it that wants to get rid of you the paragon pressed company a 11 average jones became vitally concerned in removing an infinitesimal speck from his left cuff ali ah he commented the canned meat trust what have you been doing to them 11 sold bold them a preparation of my invention V for deodorizing deodor izing pert certain aln byproducts used for manufacturing purposes several months ago I 1 found they were using it on canned meats that had gone bad and then selling the stuff would the meat so treated be onous well dangerous to any one eiting eating it habitually I 1 wrote warning them that they must stop did ahe they reply A ma man n came to se see e me and told me I 1 was vas mistaken he hinted that it I 1 thought my invention was worth more than id received his principals would woud i be glad to take the matter tie up with mi me shortly atter after I 1 heard that the federal authorities were going after the trilan so BO I 1 called on mr elverson 11 d mistake number one elverson to la straight but buthis his office Is fuller ot of leaks than a sieve probably why I 1 found my private laboratory reeking of cyanide fumes a fortnight later remarked dorr dryly 1 I got to the outer air alive but not much more where Is IB this laboratory over in flatbush where I 1 live or did live within a month atter after that a man sneaked up behind me and shot at me the police told me to be sure and not let the newspapers know then they forgot it average jones laughed of course they did you take any other precautions ohi yes yea I 1 reported the attempt to judge elverson ile he gave me the two dogs two yes rags and tatters both killed right here in this room average jones became suddenly very much worried about the second button of his coat er where were you lie he drawled 1 I was here when tatters got his death I 1 had gone to tho the washroom at the farther end of thelwall the hall liall when rags was poisoned pol was there evidence of poison pathological only in tatters case etwas it was very marked ile he was dozing in a corner near the radiator when I 1 heard him yelp and saw him snapping at his belly it was like strychnine poisoning before I 1 could get a veterinary or nary here he was dead what about the other dog rags that was the day before yesterday yeste iday we had just come over from flatbush and rags was nosing around in the corner was alas if it the same corner where tatters was attacked yes near the radiator he seemed to ta be interested in sor something bething there when I 1 left the room I 1 was gone not mor ethan two minutes minute lock the door after you it has a special spring lock which 1 I had put on myself average jones crossed over and looked at the contrivance then T hen his h glance fell to a huge old fashioned keyhole below the bevc new fastening you uwe use that larger lock no J I 1 for months the the key Is lost I 1 think retracing his steps the investigator sighted the hole from the radiator and shook his head had its not in range hs he said aid go on As I 1 reached the door on my return I 1 heard rags yelp he was pawing wildly at his nose the veterinary believe it was strychnine said the attacks were different whatever it was I 1 find any trace of it in the stomach the veterinary took the body away and made a complete autopsy did he fie discover anything i yes the blood was coagulated and on the upper appe r lip he lound found a circle of small pustules pus tules he agreed that both dogs probably swallowed something that was left in my office though I 1 duet see how it could have got there that wont do returned average jones positively A dog cry out when he swallows poison unless its some corrosive it was no corrosive corro sivo I 1 examined the mouth what about the iad radiator lator asked average jones getting down on his knees beside bilat that antiquated contrivance it if seems to have been the center of disturbance it if youre thinking of fumes replied the chemist 1 I tested for that it possible no not and yet theres the curious feature that the fatal influence seems to have emanated from the corner which Is the most remote from both windows find and nor aboor theres no fire escape and its too far up for anything to come in from the street average jones examined th tle e walls with attention and returned to the big keyhole through which he peeped after politely offering some chewing gum to his host he chewed up a single stick thoroughly this he rolled out to an extremely tenuous consistency and spread it deftly across the unused keyhole which it completely though thinly veiled now waa tsa that tor for inquired the chemist eying the improvised closure with some contempt dont know exactly yet replied the deviser de cheerfully all right agreed young mr leorr isora whatever your little game Is ill play it give me your address in case you i leave town As 1 may do I 1 am going to hire a press clipping bureau on special order to dig through the flies files of the local and neighboring city newspapers for recent items concerning dog pots anin 9 cases dog poisoning seemed to average jones to have become a popular pastime judging from the news items from the clipping bureau several days were exhausted by false clues then one morning there arrived an article from the bridgeport morning delineator detailing the g of several dogs under p peculiar circum stances three hours later he was in the bustling connecticut city thero there he took carriage for the house of mr air curtis fleming whose valuable great dane dog had been the last victim mr air curtis fleming revealed himself as an elderly gentleman all grown to a point pointed nose eyes ahat were pinpoints pin points ot irascible gleam and 0 most most pointed manner of speech who are you lie he demanded ran as his visitor was ushered in average jones recognized the he t type ile ho knew of but one way to deal with it and retain jones jonel he retorted with such astounding toun ding emphasis that the monosyllable fairly exploded in the others face well well well said the e elder ade r man his aspect suddenly mollified dont bite me what kind of a jones are you and what do you want wani ot of me ordinary variety of jones I 1 want 1 to know about your dog I 1 1 had toy my reporters on this case found nothing I 1 own the bridgeport delineator what about the dog good boyll boy approved the old martinet sticks to his point dog was ith me crossing a vacant lot loft on oil next square chased Cha seda a rat rat raf ran into a heap of old timber dog nosed around gave a yelp and came back to me had spasm died in fifteen minutes fourth dog to go the same way ln in the last week all on golden hill any suspicions suspicions certainly young man certainly look at this average jones took the smutted newspaper proof which his bis host ex ext t tended and read WARNING RESIDENTS OF tilt golden hill neighborhood are earnestly cautioned against unguarded handling of 0 umber about woo woodpiles wood piles aplies or out buildings until further lier notice danger who offered if it 1 professor moseley tenant of mine frame house on the next corner with old fashioned conservatory acted half crazy when he brought it to tho the office so the business manager mai inger said eald Would nit sign his name to the thing say anything about it begged the manager manager to let him ir ITTLE CAPITAL 41 a n got in to the newsy a ame in coun 1 a man ma ao 20 mu estern no ape aper REWARD reopard for information 1 NE pr f i as to slayer of brindle bulldog raga 3 a x killed in office of malcolm darr stengel d we F building union square march fl fl EP NEWS AND JO plant well louled n I 1 POR t r d 01 you use that larger lock have the weather reports in advance every day the manager put the advertisement verti la in type decided not to run it and returned the money weather reports eh average jones mused for a moment how long was the ad to run until the first hard frost has there er been a er frost since drawled dr average jones no who is this moseley dont know much about him eclen scientific experimenter of some kind ibe lieve very exclusive added mr air curtis fleming with a grin never associated socia ted with any of us neighbors rent on the nail though insane too I 1 think writes letters to himself with nothing in them hows that inquired average jones the other took an envelope from his pocket and handed it over it got by mistake with the copy for the advertisement the handwriting on the envelope is his own look inside A glance had shown average jonos jones that the letter had been mal ledin new york on march 25 he took out the ille inclosure it was a small slip of paper the date was stamped on with a rubber stamp there was no writing of any kind near the center of the sheet were three dots they seemed to have been made with red ink your interest in all this my mysterious young friend two dogs in new york poisoned in something the same way as yours well ive got goi my man ile he con fessel confessed echoed average jones practically ive ite kept the point paint af pf of the story to the last professor joao ley cut his throat about nine this morning pursued the other dead when wh enthey they found him do yuu mind not talking to me for a minute said average jon jones s curtly told to holomy tongue in my own house by an 11 uninvited sirl stripling pling cackled the other youre a singular young man have it your youe own way after a five minutes silence the visitor turned from the window and spoke there has been beeh a deadly danger loose about here for which professor moseley felt himself ble ile he had killed hilled himself why because I 1 was on his trail declared blared mr curtis fleming afraid to face me nonsense I 1 believe some human being has been killed by this thing whatever it may be and that the horror of it drove moseley to suicide prove it give me a morning paper his host handed him the current assue of the delineator average jones studied the local page wheres galvins alley he asked presently in the golden section yes yea read that mr air curtla curtis fleming took the paper hla his eyes were directed to a paragraph telling of the death of an italian child living in galvins alley cause convulsions B By jovel Jove said bald he somewhat awed you can reason young man I 1 ive got to reason a lot further it if arn to get anywhere in this affair said bald average jones with conviction ado do you care to come to galvins alley withee with me together er tb they ey went down the hill to a poor little house marked by white crepe the occupants were italians who spoke some engi english ish the dead childs father sail said a strange gentleman had come that morning a queer bent little gentleman very bald and with big bye eyeglasses glasses who was kind and wept with them and gave them money to bury the bambino barn Vino i moseley by the lord harry exclaimed mr curtis flegl fleming ng but what whai was the death agent average jones shook his head too early to do more than guess will you take me to professor mose leys place the old house stood foursquare four square with a patched up conservatory on an one wang ng in the front room they found the recluses body decently disposed with an undertakers assistant in charge from the greenhouse came a subdued hissing that asked jones fumigating Fumi gating the conservatory there was a note found near the body insisting on its being done for safe bate ty 1 it said so I 1 ordered tt it looked to come and look athis at his papers you won wont t find much in the old fashioned desk among a heap of undecipherable matter apparently patently ly bearing upon scientific experiments peri perl ments were three self addressed envelopes bearing new york postmarks of dates respectively march 12 march 14 and march 20 each contained a date stamped sheet of paper p a similar to that which mr curtis fleming had shown to average jones the one of earliest date bore awo two red dots the tha second three red dots and the third two all the envelopes were indorsed endorsed Indor sed in professor moseley Mose leys 6 handwriting the first with the one word filled tho the second writing was held for warmer weather the last was inscribed one in poor condition I 1 of these average jones made care ful note nofe thie the two men went to the conservatory and gazed in upon a ruin of limp leaves and flaccid petals killed by the powerful gases suddenly with an an exclamation of astonish ment the investigator stooped and lifted from the floor fl a maryel marvel of ermine body and cafe gre green en win wins wings s the moth spead ing nearly a toot was vas quite dead heres the mate sir said the fu migrating mi gating expert handing him another specimen a trifle smaller the place was ci crowded owned with all kinds of pretty ones all gone where the good bugs go now average jones took the pair of 0 moths to the desk measured them and laid them carefully away in a drawer and now said average jones to mr air fleming im going back to new york it if any collectors come |