Williston graphic. (Williston, Williams County, N.D.) 1895-1919, 1900-12-06
thing, tossed in weird and grotesquc
contortions in seething vortex.
Murdoch had escaped the justice of
men.
CHAPTER XIV.
THE MURDER SYNDICATE.

forbade you to do stroke OF work
to-day, or even to leave your bed; ant!
here you are scribbling away just as
though nothing had happened. l tell
you when man has the narrow squeak
you have, there has been tremendous
strain upon his heart, and it is posi-
lively dangerous"
'sDon't scold, old man; have never
in my life been better than l feel to-
day. And, besides, this work could not
be postponed"
sob, pshaw! That is what nine out
of every ten patients sayto their physi-
clan. They are modestly convinced
that the world must needs come to
standstill if they cannot accomplish
their tiny mite of work"
DR.. Thurston, who had assumed his
frown of professional severity, pro
cceded to feel the reporters pulse.
''Well, you are in luck; better than
you deserve. Almost any other man
would have been laid up for week by
the experience you have been through.
And here you have the face to recover
without the assistance of the medical
profession, and in spite of your insolent
disregard of my express orders to leave
work alone for the present. Now, there
is Sprague-"
"Ah, what of Sprague?" asked the
reporter, anxiously.
"Sprague has had close call. But
he is safe now. If tender and intelli-
gent nursing count for anything, he
will probably be up in day or two"
Miss Murdoclz-"
Eyes. She has a professional nurse
to help her; but she has insisted on
taking charge of the case herself. And
an excellent nurse she is, too, and a
charming girl into the bargain-and
what is more, a noble woman"
docs she know of her fathers
death?"
II broke the news as gently as
possible. She took it much more calm
ly than I supposed she would. There
evidently was but little sympathy be.
tween her and her father"
ION her side, at any rate"
eyes. Her first act on learning of her
fathers crimes was to send for law.
yer. She refuses to touch cent of his
money, and has instructed her attorney
to make such resolutions as may be
possible and to turn the rest to char.
liable institutions. This leaves her al.
most penniless; for the property she
held in her own right from her moth
er's estate amounts to very little. For.
tunately, Sprague is rich enough for
both. What are you doing there, if
may ask?'
DR.. Thurston pointed to bundle
which lay upon the table.
'That is Murdock's autobiography
legacy to me. The package was found
near his valise in the death chamber.
He had addressed it to me at the last
minute"
"Did it help you in your account Of
the Kniclerbocker bank case for the
Tempest?"
"a little; but naturally, Murdock's
account of that crime was not com.
plete. The entire journal, however
is of absorbing interest. 1t is pity
that it cannot be published"
"Why cannot it be published"
1T would be dangerous to the wei.
fare of society. Murdoch was an cx.
traordinary genius in his line; there
is marvellous originality and ingenu.
ity in his work. His crimes, nun.
bered by the hundred. were all OF
capital Importance in their results;
all deep-laid and skillfully executed
1t is hardly likely that such another
consummate artist in crime will OK.
ist once a century. To publish the
details of his schemes would be tn
put a formidable weapon in the hands
of the vulgar herd of ordinary Grim.
inals, who lack the Imagination CT
this brilliant villain.
II tell you, Thurston," continued
Sturgis, with what seemed very like
enthusiastic conviction, "this man
was the originator of almost every
unsolved mystery which has non.
plussed the police during the last Is
years. He had his agents in every i'm.
portant center throughout the coun'
try; agents working under potent in
centives, and yet working in the dark,
for few of them have ever known who
held the mysterious power which di'
rected their every move. Murder has
been done wholesale; and so quietly
and mysteriously has the work been
accomplished that, in all but this last
case, the detectives have found NJ
clue whatever which might lead 70
an explanation of he sudden and un.
accountable disappearance of wealthy
men, whose bodies, shipped to the
Manhattan Chemical company by
Murdock's agents, were quietly and
Systematically made away with in the
chemists laboratory"
Gle was the fiend incarnate!" ex'
claimed the physician.
"Well," said Sturgis. after a mo-
ment of thoughtful silence, "at any
rate, he was not wantonly cruel. Ee
was heartless; he was pitiless; but
his cruelty was always means to an
end, however selfish and illegitimate
that end might be. His cruelty il
that, in a measure. of every human
being destroying life that he may live
and trampling upon his fellow men
that he may be comfortable. Be-
tween Murdoch and the rest of us there
was a difference of degree, certainly,
but was there difference of kind?"
There is one thing which 1 can
not yet understand" said Thurston.
land that is, why Murdoch should
have pushed his audacity to the point
of defying you to ferret out the mys-
terry of this crime. when he might