The Winslow mail., 1901-02-28


drawing-room door. He did not open
it very wide, however, neither did he
enter; for although the room was
rather dark, his quick eye caught a
passing glimpse of feminine head
cozily nestled upon a distinctly mas
culine shoulder, the owner of which
had his back turned to him. Bach
elor cynic though he was, Sturgis had
not the heart to interrupt so inter-
esting situations; and, as the couple
were so absorbed that they had not
noticed the intrusion upon their tete-
a-tete, he discreetly retreated and
softly closed the door.
By this time Murdocls had passed
into his study, so that Sturgis found
himself alone in the hall. He was
glad of short respite during which
he might collect his thoughts; for.
having been taken by surprise, he had
not had time to select a plausible
topic for the interview which he had
solicited from Murdock. Not know
ing that the house was that of the
chemist, his sole object had been to
gain admittance, SO that he might be
able to observe the Manhattan Chem
ical company's offices from the rear.
and if possible to ascertain how Chat
ham had managed to give the detec-
tives the slip the first time he ap-
peared to them.
Now that he was in the house the
| reporter was confronted with the me-
cessity of explaining his presence
there without betraying his true pur-
pose. This would not have been
difficult matter had the inmates OF
| the house been total strangers; but
| he felt that it would be by no means
SO easy to offer an explanation which
would be satisfactory to a man of
Murdock's keen perception. And Muir
dock was the last person to whom he
would have confded the true reason
of his visit; not only because the
chemist, as his opponent in the wager
concerning the Knickerbocker bank
| mystery, was interested in thwarting
rather than in aiding his investiga-
| ton, but chiefly because he felt a
| strong instructive distrust of the man.
AS these thoughts were passing
through the reporters mind, he slow
| ly paced the long hall, back and
| forth, with his hands behind his back.
In so doing, he passed a door which
was slightly ajar and caught a
| glimpse of long rows of bookshelves
loaded with beautifully bound edi
tions. The place was evidently the
r. 70 hi
library is a public room and that he
would be more comfortable in there
| than in the hall.
He pushed open the door and looked
in. The room was empty. He en-.
| tered.
The library occupied a space be.
tween the parlor and the rear room
into which Murdoch had entered, and
| it was separated from each of these
rooms by foldingdoors over which
hung heavy portieres.
Sturgis was a lover of books; his
| interest was at once aroused in the
collection before him. 1t was ad-
mirably selected from the standpoint
of a 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
| its phases and in all ages. Criminal
statistics, criminal jurisprudence and
| the psychology of crime, as well as
| the biographies of all the noted Grim
inals of ancient and modern times.
were completely represented. Almost
the only works of fiction in the col
| lection were in this section. and in
cluded every book imaginable con-
cerning 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 valuable
| library on the subjects kindred to his
professions; but here were books many
of which none but a Croesus could
ever hope to own. He was soon ab'
sorbed in an examination of some rare
volumes which he had often longed
to possess.
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 nc
special attention to them; but, in
stinctively he noted that one Of the
voices flowed in the calm, even tones
SO characteristic of Murdock's speech,
while the other, whose timbre and
modulations were unknown to him
betrayed the repressed excitement OF
the speaker
1t soon became evident that Muir
docks interlocutor was fast losing
control of himself: for he gradually
pitched his voice in higher key, un-
til occasional words began to reach
Sturgis' ears. The reporter was no
the man to wantonly play the par
of eavesdropper; therefore, although
the isolated words which reached him
brought no connected sense, he
judged that it was time to move out
of earshot of the conversation to
which he was becoming an involun-
tary listener. Replacing upon its
shelf the book which he had been eX-
amining, he started toward the hall
door. AS he did so, he heard the
now thoroughly excited individual eX-