Little Falls herald. [volume] (Little Falls, Morrison County, Minn.) 1889-1950, 1901-12-06

solicited from Murdoch. Not knov5A..
ing that the house was that Of the s.
chemist; his sole object had been
gain admittance, SO that he might b.
able to observe the Manhattan Chem
ical companys Offices from thesrear.
and if possible to ascertain how Chat.. if
ham had managed to give the deteo Il
tives the slip the first time he ap-sp
peared to them. sla.}ss
Now that he was in the house the Il
reporter was confronted with the ne-Se
cessity of explaining his presence
there without betraying his true pur
pose. This would not have been
difficult matter had the inmates or
the house been total strangers: bin a
he felt that it would be by no means
so easy to offer an explanation which 7
would be satisfactory to man OF
IMurdock's keen perception And Muir
dock was the last person to whom h9
would have confided the true REASON
Of his visit; not only because tho
chemist, as his opponent in the wager
concerning the Knickerbocker bank
mystery, was interested in thwarting
rather than in aiding his investiga-I,
ton, but chiefly because he felt % !
strong instructive distrust of the man. u
As these thoughts were passing
through the reporters mind, he slow-s.
~ paced the long hall, back ard
forth, with his hands behind his beck.
In 80 doing, he passed door wh1sh
was slightly ajar and caught
glimpse of long rows of bookshelves i
loaded with beautifully bound edi-
tons. The place was evidently tho
library. It occurred to him that . )
library is a public room and that he
would be more comfortable in there
than in the hall. = g.
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 Murdoch had entered, and
it was separated from each of these
rooms by folding-doors over which
hung heavy portieres. - ,
Sturgis was lover of books; his
interest was at once aroused in the 8
collection before him. 1t was adj
mirably selected from the standpoint
of philosopher and a man of SCI
ence. Every department of history,
of philosophy and of science had its !
section in which the volumes were
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
it's phases and in all ages. Criminal J,
statistics, criminal Jurisprudence and
the psychology of crime, as we'll 40
the biographies of all the noted Grim
mails Of ancient and modern times,
were completely represented. Almost
the only works of fiction in the col.
lection were in this section. and in
Guided every book Imaginable
corning criminals and their deeds.
Many rare and curious volumes were
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 valuab le,
library on the subjects kindred to; his
profession; but here were books many
of which none but Croesus could
ever hope to own. He was soon abb
sorbed in an examination Of some rare
volumes which he had often zlonged
to possess. ~: So ''r
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
30 characteristic Of Murdock's speech,
while the other, whose timbre and
modulations were unknown to him,
betrayed the. repressed excitement of
the speaker =s'..
/ It soon became evident that MUIR
dock 'ihterlocutor was fast losing
control of himself: for he gradually
pitched his voice in higher key, un,l
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 4
brought no connected sense, he
judged that it was time to move out
Of earshot Of the. conversations to
which he was becoming an involun-
tary listener.s Replacing upon its
sheh the book whit hes haad sheen ex.s
an,ining, he started toward han
door, AsSs he \ did soss he's heard The
now thoroughly excited Individual ;ezs
clsin1 Ill loud tones: Es
II don't care damn for the money.
I only went intosthe scheme bec1ull
you promised shed shave me-; and, ~ /
God, ~ I don't get her, I'll give IT,
whole cursed thing away" IS 5z'ss.s
~ 8turgis, who had reached tho hall
door; pricked up his deteetive's elxs
at these words. But in another So
ond he heard the: knobs Of The fold.
Ing doors rattle, % though some ohles
had placed his hands upon them.
|. Quick q Thought he opened the.