Manchester Democrat. [volume] (Manchester, Iowa) 1875-1930, 1900-08-08
VS. Yas eis.a At@sapalsiatnses

@x 3e@eA
Sturgis quickly held the lighted ear
lie above his head and pecred in the
direction whence came the sound. A
panel of the door at the head of the
stairs had been pushed up, revealing a
small opening, covered by a strong and
slosely-woven wire netting.
"As we were saying, invader will
ont!' Nevertheless, it is sometimes
/ sasier to weld chain, even of circum-
;tantial evidence, than it is to pre-
aict who will be bound in it,"
Sturgis and Sprague stood in the
,limmering light of the candle, silent
y watching the glowing eyes behind
The screen.
MIR. Sturgis, you are u clever man, v
continued Murdoch, .an uncommonly
slever man. I frankly admit that
had moderated your ability. But then
we are all fallible, after all. ! made my
share of blunders, as you seem to have
discovered; but you will doubtless now
.oncede that your own course has not
been entirely free from errors. And
aow that we have reached the conclll-
sion of this interesting game, have
the honor to announces: Mate in one
novel! Perhaps you are surprised that
[ should take the trouble to explain the
situation to you so clearly. do SO il,
recognition of your superior intelli-
sence. see in you peer. If matters
could have been SO arranged, 1 should
have been proud to work in harmony
with such man as you; and indeed,
when short time ago 1 invited you to
my laboratory. it was my intention to
offer you compromise which hoped
might be able to persuade you to ac-
cept. l felt that you would prove an
ally who could be trusted. But, alas,
that is impossible now, on account OF
your friends presence. With all due
respect to Mr.. Sprague, as an amiable
man OF the world and prince of good
fellows, it may be said that he is not
one of us. Much to my sorrow, there
fore, l am left no alternative to the
course am about to adopt. The fault,
if anybody's, is your own, after all, Mr..
SPrague. There is homely but ex-
pressiye adage concerning the danger
of 'monkeying' with buzz saw. Why,
my dear friend, did you monkey with
Mr.. Sturgis' buzz saw, instead of stick
ing to your palette and maulstick?
but 1 fear am growing garrulous,
gentlemen. 1T / had time, / should like
to explain to Mr.. Stnrgis the details
of some of the more important, and, in
my humble opinion, more brilliant,
schemes of which have been the-ah
the promoter; for dislike to be
judged by the bungling operations
which have so nearly caused me to lose
this latest little game. But this can.
not be. shall have to continue to con-
fde to the pages of my journal. as |
have done for years. the interesting
events of. / may say, somewhat re-
nasbsbie oarssr, waGsA / hspA viii
soEe day. after p,y death, And their
way in print to public favor. My dream
has always been that some such man
as Mr.. sturgis might ultimately edit
these memoirs; but, alas, the f,hdest
OF human dreams are seldom dastined
to be realized.
"Now, thon. gentlemen, before final
ly parting with you, wish to honor
ably carry out the terms of my wager
with Slr. Sturgis. l concede the fact
that, to all intents and purposes, he
has won the bet, and l authorize you,
Mr.. Sprague, Us stakeholder, to pay
him the amount l deposited with ysu.
AS | have already suggested, he has
made some perhaps excusable mis-
takes; but, then, as he himself stated
the other night, a detective has life
time in which to correct blunder.'
lifetime! 1t is not in accordance with
Mr.. sturgis' usual practice to use so
vague a term. A lifetime is not neces-
sarily very long time, Mr.. Sturgis. !"
ITO be continued.l