The Winslow mail., 1901-03-07
CHAPTER XVIII.
THE EXTENSION,

A few minutes later Sturgis, ap-
parently absorbed in TIE conUempIa-
ton of the paintings which hung in
the hail, heard the door Of Murdocks S
study open softly. Although the re-
porter did not turn his head, he at
once became conscious that the chem
lists piercing eyes were fixed upon
him. The observation lasted so long
that Sturgis, seIf-possessed as was his
wont, was beginning to feel trifie
nervous, when at last DR.. Murdock
broke the silence:
Il have tc apologize for leaving you
standing in the hall, Mr.. Sturgis. L
was UDder the impression that L had
invited you to step into the parlor."
The words, courteous in themselves,
conveyed to the hearer an impression
of biting sarcasm.
Il found the parlor already occu-
pied; / hesitated to disturb a tete-a-
tete," replied Sturgis, quietly.
Murdock eyed him narrowly for a
moment. and then invited him into
the study.
The chemists study was a spacious
room, plainly but luxuriously fur
nished, and containing every conven-
ience and comfort calculated to light
en- the labor of a busy man. The
table, Uttered with books and papers.
stood near a small safe and almost
directly opposite the hall door.
Speaking-tubes and electric call but
tons were within reach of the occu-
pant of the easy chair, and probably
placed him in communication with
the various portions of the house
hold; while a telephone on one side
and a typewriter on the other showed
that the chemist kept in touch also
with the outside world.
Murdock's interlocutor. whoever he
had been. had disappeared. But how?
The question interested Sturgis. and
his mind at once began to seek an
answer to it.
There were three doors leading
from the study. One of these was the
one by which Murdock and Sturgis
had just entered from the hall. No
one could have passed out that way
without meeting them.
Then there were the folding doors
leading into the library; but, as the
door leading from the library to the
hall had remained slightly ajar, Stur-
gis felt sure that he would have heard
the man had he gone out by that
way.
The third door led to a small eX-
tension.
''He must have gone into the ex-
tension" thought Sturgis.
The only alternative was an exit
through the windows. This in itself
would not have presented any special
difficulty; for the distance to the
tagging below was hardly more than
IL or 13 feet. But the yard, which
was of diminutive size on account of
the space allotted to the garden on
the street, was inclosed by an un-
usually high fence, protected by a
row of sharp and closely set spikes
These looked so formidable that the
thought of anyone attempting to
scale the fence instantly suggested
visions of impaled wretches writhing
in oriental tortures. The only pos
sible exit from the yard, therefore,
seemed to be through the basement;
that is to say, past the kitchen and
the servants department.
All these thoughts flashed through
the reporters brain in a small frac-
tion of the time which is required to
record them. They occurred to him
unbidden, while his conscious efforts
were centered upon discovering how
Chatham had managed to escape from
the rear of the Manhattan Chemical
company's building.
This Sturgis recognized without
much difficulty. 1t was directly in
line with the house in which he now
was, and it's yard did not differ from
the neighboring ones, the fences of
which could be scaled without much
trouble. Chatham evidently might
have passed into any one of several
buildings which lacked the protection
of the formidable spikes that so eff
fectually guarded the. approach to
Murdock's house from the rear.
One point, however, was puzzling.
Why should Chatham take the trou-
bic and the risk of scaling fences in
broad daylight, only to return a few
hours later by the street door under
the very noses of the detectives from
whom he had presumably wished to
escape? There seemed to be no plaus-
ible answer to this question.
But Sturgis was not given much
time in which to consider it; for Muir
dock, who had waited for him to
broach the subject of his interview,
now coldly remarked:
Perhaps, Mr.. Sturgis, you will be
good enough to inform me to what
l owe the honor of this visit?"
Sturgis took as a preteXt the first
subject which came into his mind
Doctor" said he, Il have been told
brilliant chemical researches; that
you had proved, or were on the point
of proving, that several, at least, of
the so-called elementary metals are
compounds; thus ushering in the
realization of the dream of the al
chemists-the transmutation of met
ais
"You have not come here to inter-
view me ON the subject of my chemical
researches" laughed MurGock.
why not?"
Because L gave you credit for pos
sessing the scientific spirit. y man
spends years in making series of eX-