The true northerner. [volume] (Paw Paw, Mich.) 1855-1920, 1873-08-22

those which warmed several of the lee
ture-rooms, and then proceeded, as was
his wont, to "clear up" the rooms oc-
cupied by Prof. Webser. The door by
which he usually entered he found bolt
ed. There were other doors. He tried
them one after the other They were
likewise bolted. He, however, heard
some one walking about inside, and rec
ognized the sound of the Cochituate
water running. Then he went back to
his kitchen (the ianitor and his family
lived in the college) to wait until Prof.
Webster should have got through. A
little after he returned to the bolted
doors. They were still bolted. About
half-past 8, while sitting in his kitchen,
footsteps were heard on the back stairs
that led from the front entry. Going
out into the entry, he saw that it was
Prof. Webster coming down. The Pro-
lessor had candle in his hand, which
he blew out and left on the settee, and
then passed out through the shed. Lit
tlefield, having party to attend that
night, deferred third attempt to get
into the rooms for the purpose of
clearing up" until his return, about
10 o'clock, and then he found the labor
atory door still locked-an occurrence
which he did not remember ever to have
known before. On Saturday morning
he got into the lecture-rOom, but could
not get through private room into the
lower laboratory. A little later in the
day Prof. Webster appeared, and re-
quested Littlefield to make fire for
him. Littlefeld did so, and heard
times during the day He also heard
the water running There was no lee
lures this day in Prot Webster's rooms.
On Monday and Tuesday these Incl
dents were repeated with unimportant
variations; the janitor repeatedly at
tempting to enter the rooms, and as
often finding the Professor in Occupa-
ton at unexpected hours or else the
doors fastened. On Tuesday he found
him in the lecture-room, locked in. He
offered to build fire in the furnace,
but Prof. Webster said no, the things
for his lecture that day would not stand
much heat" 1t was Thanksgiving
week, and there were to be no lectures
at the college after Tuesday, yet on
Wednesday Prof. Webster was in his
rooms early. That afternoon Little
field, passing up one of the staircases,
felt heat through the wall which he
knew must come from fire in furnace
in Prof. Webster's laboratory, which
was seldom if ever used. After making
one or two unsuccessful attempts to en-
ter the apartment by the usual APP
proaches, he succeeded in gaining ac-
cess by a window, and found, as he
suspected, a fire in this unused furnace.
1t was covered, however, by piece of
soapstone, on which had been laid sew
eral pots of minerals and an iron cylin-
der, and the janitor did not venture to
move anything. He saw nothing of
Prof. Webster. 1t should be said here
that Littlefeld had accompanied the
officers in;their examination of the,prem-
Uses on Tuesday.
All the foregoing circumstances, with
a few others of the same sort, were
quite enough to awaken suspicion in
Littlefelds mind, but suspicion so
dreadful that he was some time in fairly
entertaining it, and altogether 10th to
impart to anybody but his wife. But
by this time, the middle of the week,
the suspicion had become well defined,
and he secretly determined to make
some further Investigations on his own
account. 1t was beginning to be felt
outside, he saw, that if the body of DIR.
Parkman was to be found anywhere, it
would be somewhere within the walls of
h 1,a h,,,1 IL i, ,al,
he had been seen to enter on the Friday
before, and never TO leave. Who so
likely to be connected in peoples minds
with the disappearance of such n man,
under such circumstances, as the JAM
tor of the building? Littlefield rea-
soned that perhaps his own safety lay in
the detection of the real criminal.
On Thursday, the Doth, he began his
operations. 1t was Thanksgiving-day.
His first object was to get access to the
vault of Prof. Websters private privy,
the only place which had not been
searched before. 1t had seemed to him
that on Tuesday when the officers ap-
preached the privy door, which opened
out of the lower laboratory, and had
inquired, "What place is this ?" Prof.
Webster had tried to draw their atten-
ton to other parts of the room.
1t is unnecessary to describe in detail
the method or the progress of the JAM
tors explorations in the cellar of the
Medical College. 1t is enough to say
that by dint of much secrecy and no lit
tie labor, and encouraged by some of
the authorities whom he found to be al
ready sharing his own suspicious, he
succeeded in breaking through the
heavy brick wall which divided off the
vault from the cellar There was no
opening whatever to the vault save that
i'll the seat above, but through the in
terstices in the stone at one side the
tide water of the Charles river ebbed
and flowed. The vault was thus so ar
ranged as to be regularly and thorough
ly cleansed of its liquid contents, while
any solid body it would necessarily re-
tain. And here, in this dark and fetid
chamber, on Friday, the Both, just one
week from the disappearance of DIR.
Parkham, Littlefield discovered por-
tons of his dismembered and mutilated
body. With them were towels marked
with the letter "W," similar to those
used by Prof. Webster in the rooms
above.
The effect of this astounding discov-
cay upon Littlefeld, and upon those to
4 A