The Winslow mail., 1901-03-07

II am not man of science now, but
only a reporter
"In that case" replied Murdoch, ''let
us talk of something else. l should be
pleased to discuss my chemical re-
searches with MIR. Sturgis, the scientist;
but with Mr.. Sturgis, the reporter.
should prefer to talk about something
in his line of knowledge; let me see,
shall we say the Knickerbocker bank
mystery, for instance?"
The reporters ear detected the VEN
omous sarcasm to which he was now
accustomed from this strange man.
He raised his eyes to those Of the chem
ist, and for the space of few seconds
the two men looked steadily into each
others souls.
Then a sudden light flashed across
Sturgis' brain, and he started percepti-
bly,. At the same time he thought he
saw a shadow cross Murdock's impas-
sive features; but in this he might have
been mistaken, for when he looked
again the chemist was regarding him
with an air of M q curiosity.
SIS anything the matter, Mr.. Stur-
gis?' he asked.
"Only a sudden thought" carelessly
replied Sturgis, who to all appearances
haGr completely recovered from the mo-
mentary shock produced by the sud
denness of the suspicion which had
crossed his mind. Your mention Of
the Knickerbocker bank mystery re-
minded me Of something, that is all.'
Ever since Sprague's dinner" said
Murdock, 81 have been devoting al my
spare time to the reading of the Tenn
pest, in the hope of finding there SEN
sational account, with glaring head
lines, of the brilliant work of our dis
tinguished reporter, Mr.. Sturgis.'
Sturgis made no reply. His eyes were
fixed upon the typewriter which stood
near Murdock's desk.
up to the present time continued
Murdock, 81 have not seen anything to
cause me to worry about my stakes"
Il have still % days in which to COM
plete my case" said Sturgis.
True" replied Murdock. "Well, I
wish you luck. If l can render you any
assistance in your Investigations L
hope you will call upon me. In the
cause of science l would willingly jeop-
ardize my stakes. For instance, if you
need to consult any works of reference,
my library is at your disposal. l am
told that, at least on the subjects in
40
complete"
He observed the reporter narrowly,
as if to mark the effect of his words.
''It is,'' replied Sturgis, after an al
most imperceptible hesitation; Il have
already admired it."
'Indeed?" said Murdock, arching his
brows in mild surprise.
''Yes; / stepped into the library for
a few minutes while l was waiting for
you"
"Ah! yes: see."
Murdock gave the reporter another
searching look. Then he leant back
in his easy chair with half-closed eyes
and silently puffed away at his cigar
for a few minutes.
Had Sturgis been able to read the
sinister thoughts which were passing
through the mind of this impassiye
man as he sat apparently in lazy en-
ioyment of his agrant Havana, it is
probable that he might have lost some
of the interest which he seemed sud-
denly to have developed in the type
writer. But he was busy with his own
train of thought, and therefore was
not paying any particular attention to
Murdock.
Presently the chemist spoke again:
"On second thoughts, Mr.. Sturgis, if
you will step into my laboratory L
shall be pleased to show you those of
the results of my recent researches
which are ready for pubiication.''
The reporter was surprised at this
sudden change of front, and perhaps a