The Portland daily press., 1894-11-01
THE THUMB MARK.

black hair--ChabOt, think, was his name
was especially absorbed in the contem-
plation Of the wreck. 'tWas no one in
jurad?' he asked.
mo one, fortunately" said Wilderspin.
The new man grunteo.
Porch entered, shouting: "Have you
chaps heare.V Great anarchist outrage!
London in panic! Why aren't you terror
stricken? This comes of the abominable
examination system. Not one Of you has
had leisure to see newspaper this morn
ing"
We all started round.
Listen, said Porch, striking an atti-
tude, Yesterday that was the home of
Inspector Bulstrode-the celebrated In
spector Bulstroae-and we never knew it.
Now behold it!''
'sHow do they know it is the work of
an anarohsstS'' asked the new student as
Askin entered the room.
''They put every accident that happens
down to anarchists just now," said Will
derspin.
1.-THE police, !" said Porch, "have very
good reason to regard this outrage as the
work Of an anarchist, SO the papers say.
However, it's very nice of the anarchists
to pick a house right in front Of our win
dows. 1t will relieve the rigors Of our
last weeks cramming immensely"
1T has made Snith late for once" said
Wilderspin, looking at his watch.
II saw him over the way" said Askin,
as I was coming down the street. y
''Jovel What was he doing over therea"
asked the new man very quickly.
Prying, suppose, said Askin. HE
was talking to one of the policemen, and
he had a box in his hands with some black
stuff in it. suppose he will expect us to
analyze that.
'sHere he cones!'' said Wilderspin.
We all turned to the window again.
Mr.. Somerset Smith, our excellent in
structor in chemistry, had appeared at the
side door opposite and was coming along
by the side Of the house toward the street
gate. He carried a box, and in it was a
quantity of bfaokened rubbish, including,
among other curiosities, broken glass jar.
His broad face was screwed up into an
inscrutable expression. He came across
the roadway, deep in thought, and was
presently hidden from us as he approached
tho steps to the portico. We heard him
come up to his little preparation room
next the laboratory and slam the door.
The four OF five other students who con-
stituted the class came in one by one.
We were soon loud in an animated dis
cussion of anarchist outrages. Mason had
heard that it was Smith himself who had
discovered that the fire opposite was the
work OF an incendiary, and that he had
found charred scrap of an infammatory
placard. Askin made an obvious joke at
this. The new man asked great many
questions in quick, nervous manner.
The excitement seemed to be bringing out
his conversational gifts, for hitherto he
had been rather ccnspicuous for a reserve
that most of us considered sulky in its
quality. We stopped our clamor as Smith
entered.
Contrary to his usual practice he did
not go straight to the blackboard, but
came down the middle aisle of benches TO-
ward the window. He was carrying.a a pa
perweight of black marble in one hand and
in the other number of slips of white pa
per. These he put down on Wilderspins s
bench. He peered at the crowd of us from
beneath his heavy eyebrows
"Any one absent2' he asked
''No one, sir, - said somebody.
s'This fire over the way, gentlemen, is a
very singular affair indeed, very singular.
Possibly none Of you know how it was oc-
casioned. But you ought, I think, to know
without any delay that strong suspicion
attaches here-a suspicion, that is to say,
that the incendiary, for it was no acci-
dent, but deliberate arsen-obtained his
materials frem this place. So far as can
judge, the house was fired by means Of
phosphorus dissolved in carbon bisul-
phide.''
TsLo-a xuos a civoz,1tarpo17c evc1 a n, afior
from the class. las you are aware, gen
tlemen, from the course of elementary
study we pursued last autumn, when phos-
phorus dissolved in carbon bisulphide is
exposed to evaporation the phosphorus is
precipitated in such finely divided state
it catches fre. Well, the coal plate, it
would seem, had been taken up, consid-
erable amount of paper thrown down
among the frewood and small coai that
lay on the floor of the cellar, and then a
copious supply of this soiution-whioh,
must, gentlemen, have been mixed in this
house-was poured upon it, Evaporation
began at once, the phosphorus presently
caught and set the paper going, and in
half an hour nice little fire was burning
it's way up stairs to wake the inspector
and his family ''How did ascertain
GnlS! 9aftly Dy accluSib anu pdftiy ny TO-
search. The accident was this: About 10
O'Clock last night 1 bad occasion to visit
my preparation room, and Ismelt the very
distinctive smell Of carbon bisulphide va
por. traced this to the storercom next
door, and entering saw at once that the
stores had been tampered with. A bottle
of starch mucilage had been upset, and
the contents were dripping from the table
to the floor. Several other bottles had been
taken down and net replaced. Looking
round with the idea of discovering theft,
I failed to detect the absence Of anything
at first, except the carbon bisulphide, but
presently I noticed the phosphorus jar
was empty The inference was either that
some student contemplated chemical en-
tertainment at home at my expense, or
that some incendiarism was on foot. In
either case was naturally anxious to dis
cover the cuiprit, and it seemed to me that
no time was SO favorable as the immediate
moment, when the room was exactly as he
had left it. Yeu know we scientific people
are rather fond of problems of evidence. !"
He looked keenly round the group of us.
So did I. Unless he was far better physi-
ognomist than I, nothing was to be de-
tected. To me every one looked interested,