The Manitowoc pilot. [volume] (Manitowoc, Wis.) 1859-1932, 1900-08-23

letter. which. moreover, was not witt
ten here. as the superscriptlon would
seem to indicate. | have tried your
typewriter, and although it is OF the
same make as the one upon which this
letter was written, there are several
characteristic differences in the align
ment and in the imperfections of the
type.
Besides" continued Sturgis,
thoughtfully, 1.-The letter itself bears
evidence. on its face. that II could nos
have been written by Arbogaat Your
bookkeeper was of weak, nervous, eN-
citable temperament. as all his actions
plainly show. Before such man is
brought TO the point Of taking his own
life, he must have passed through
more or less protracted period OF ago
nizing nervous tension, of which YOU
and ] can hardly form any adequate
conception. Under the circumstances,
if he loved his wife. conscious that by
his guilt he was about to plunge her
into the depths of grief ana shame. he
might have written her an inc0herent
and hysterical letter, or tender and
repentaHt letter, but never this frigid,
matt er-of-fact statement of supreme
decision. This letter is the work of
cold and calculating nature, incapable
of ordinary human feeling. The man
who wrote it would not have written
10 his wife al all. or would have written
only to serve some selfish purpose.
From what | know of Arbogast, do
not believe he was capable of compos-
ing these lines"
You think. then, that the letter was
written by Chatham" said Dunlap.
"But what object could Chatham have
for writing such letter.?
NO" answered Sturgis II do not
think that Chatham wrote this letter.
That is the curious part of it. cannot
believe that if Chatham had been
aware of the important nature of its
contents. he could have been willing to
leave it for an instant within Arbo-
CASTS reach"
But who. then, could have been its
author. and why should he have in
trusted the letter to Chatham"
''To your second question, my answer
is. probably because he wanted it
mailed from the main post Office at
about the time that Arbogast would
leave the bank. TO the first, | cannot
yet give any positive answer, although,
as you will presently see, there are
some clews pointing TO our unknown
quantity X as the author of this let
ter. But let us not anticipate. Suppose
we return to our drama. When Arbo-
CAST read this letter, he evidently
thought, as | do, that somebody was
playing him false; that he was to be
gotten rid of in some safer way than
exile; in short, that. as somebody said
of one of the Turkish sultans, he was to
be 'suicided.' He must have had strong
reasons to suspect Chatham of treach-
cry; for he at once impulsively jumped
to the conclusion that his only chance
Of safety lay in striking before he
could be struck. At any rate, while Che
accountant was busy at the telephone,
Arbogast stood near this desk, mechan-
ically tearing to pieces this letter,
while he planned the accountants
death. He had taken with him your re-
yolver. As the thought of it flashed
upon his mind, his resolution was in
stantly taken. He stcalthily crept to
the paying teller's wicket. Through il
he could see the telephone closet, the
door of which stood open. Chatham
was in direct range, as Arbogast raised
the pistol, and, without a word of warn
ing, fired. The accountant held the re-
ceiyer of the telephone TO his ear. This
saved his life; for the bullet entered his
Left hand and remained embedded in
his flesh. When the bullet stuck him.
Chathamtell forward. striking lis head
against a corner Of the telephone
box, and intlicting n slight scalp
wound | found a few hairs of an
Intensely red hue, which ars evidently
his. | also found shreds OF his cloth
ing which caught on projecting nail
as he fell; and infer from these his
taste for loud dress. He recovered
himself before Arbogast was ready to
fire Il second time and ran into the
clerks room, probably hoping to make
his way TO the street through the
Exchange Place door. But AT the
same time, Arbogast rushed through
the reception room and This office,
reaching the vestibule in time to head
OF Chatham, who then turned back
ana ran through the secrctarys room.
with Arbogast in pursuit In the
meantime " to whom have al
ready alluded. was waiting IN TX
change place, where Chatham had "a
cab. Upon hearing the pistol shot he
went to the accountant assistance.
He passed into this Office, which hr
probably reached in time to see Chat
ham rush in from the S"crctary's
room, closely followed by Arbogast.
X seized that chair over there in the
corner and sprang between the hunt,
ed man and his pursuer MS the latter
raised his arm to fire our anony-
nous friend is probably man of
great strength; for with one blow Of
the chair he broke the boolilleepers
wrist. The hammer fell. but the