Ottumwa semi-weekly courier. [volume] (Ottumwa, Iowa) 1899-1903, 1900-12-06

cozily nestled upon d1stlnctly mas
culine shoulder, the owner of which
had his back turned to him. Bach
elor cynic though he was, Sturgis had
not the heart to interrupt SO inter-
esting situation; and, as the couple
were so absorbed that they had not
noticed the intrusion upon their tete-
a-tete, he discreetly retreated and
softly closed the door.
BY this time Murdoch had passed
into his study, so that Sturgis found
himself alone in the hall. He was
glad Of a short respite during which
he might collect his thoughts; for,
having been taken by surprise, he had
not had time to select a plausible
tonic for the interview which he had
solicited from Murdoch. Not know
ing that the house was that of the
chemist, his sole object had been to
gain admittance, so that he might be
able to observe the Manhattan Chem
ical company's offices from the rear,
and if possible to ascertain how Chat
ham had managed to give the detec-
tives the slip the first time he APP
peared to them.
Now that he was in the house the
reporter was confronted with the ne
cessity of explaining his presence
there without betraying his true pur-
pose. This would not have been a
difficult matter had the inmates Of
the house been total strangers; but
he felt that it would be by no means
SO easy to offer an explanation which
would be satisfactory to man of
Murdocl1's keen perception. And Muir
dock was the last person to whom he
would have confded the true reason
of his visit; not only because the
chemist, as his opponent in the wager
concerning the Knickerbocker bank
mystery, was interested in thwarting
rather than in aiding his investiga-
ton, but chiefly because he felt a
strong instructive distrust of the man.
AS these thoughts were passing
through the reporters mind, he slow
ly paced the. long hall, back and
forth, with his hands behind his back.
In SO doing, he passed a door which
was slightly ajar and caught a
glimpse of long rows of bookshelves
loaded with beautifully bound edi-
tions. The place was evidently the
library. 1t occurred to him that a
library is a public room and that he
would be more comfortable in there
than in the hall.
| He pushed open the door and looked
in. The room was empty. He en-
| tered.
The library occupied space be-
tween the .parlor and the rear room
into which MurdoclS had entered, and
/ it was. separated from each of these
rooms by folding=doors over which
hung heavy portieres.
Sturgis was n lover. of books; his
| interest was at once aroused in the
collection before him. 1t was adj
E1irably selected from the standpoint
of philosopher and man of sci
| ence. Every department of history,
of philosophy and of science had its
classified and arranged with intelli-
gent care. But curiously enough, po-
| etry and art were but meagerly rep
resented.
One section specially attracted
| Sturgis' attention. 1t was devoted en-
tirely to the history of crime in all
its phases and in all ages. Criminal
| statistics, criminal Jurisprudence and
the psychology of crime, as well as
| the biographies of all the noted crftn-
inals of ancient and modern times,
We're completely represented. Almost
the only works of fiction in the col
lection We're in this section, and in
Guided every book imaginable con-
| corning criminals and their deeds.
there-some of them so rare that they
could be found in only few of the
great libraries of the world.
Here Sturgis was in his element.
He had himself collected a valuable
library on the subjects kindred to his
of which none but a Croesus could
ever hope to own. He was soon alb
sorbed in an examina ton of some rare
volumes which he had often longed
to possess.
While thus engaged he became
aware of the murmur of voices from
the rear room. AS the words spoken
could not be distinguished, he paid no
special attention to them; but, in
stinctively, he noted that one of the
voices flowed in the calm, even tones
SO characteristic of Murdock's speech,
while the other, whose timhre and
modulations were unknown to him,
betrayed the depressed excitement OF
the speaker.
1t soon became evident that MUIR
docks interlocutor was fast losing
control of himself: for he gradually
pitched his voice in higher key, I'M
til occasional words began to reach
Sturgis' ears. The reporter was not
the man to wantonly play the part
of eavesdropper; therefore, although
the isolated words which reached him
brought no connected sense, he
| judged that it was time to move out
of earshot of the conversation to