The Minneapolis journal. [volume] (Minneapolis, Minn.) 1888-1939, 1904-12-17

low, if ever he is caught, will be found
to be man of brains.'
CHAPTER II.
It was nearly a week before saw
Maitland again, and then only by
chance. We happened to meet in tho
Parker house, and, as he had some bust
ness pertaining to case he was on, to |
transact at the courthouse, walked up /
Beacon street with him. He seemed
to me to be in decidedly better spirits
than formerly, and I was at the time at
loss to account for it. The cause of |
his levity, however, was soon explained, |
for that night, as Gwen, my sister, and |
] were sitting costly in the study &C
cording to our usual custom, Maitland |
walked in, unannounced. He had come |
now to be a regular visitor, and I in
vented not few subterfuges to get |
him to call even oftener than he other
wise would for L perceived that his com
ing gave pleasure to Gwen. She exhib- |
tied less depression when in his presence
than at any other time. l had |
learned that hers was one of those deep
natures in which grief crystallizes slow
1y but with an unconqu cradle persist
ence. Instead Of her forgetting her
bereavement, or the sense thereof wax
ing weaker by time, she seemed to be
drifting toward that present con-
seriousness Of loss in which the soul feels
itself gradually, but surely, sinking
den so long borne, so we'll known, that
the mind no longer thinks of it. The
heart beats stolidly under it's load and
seems to forget the time when it was
not so oppressed. No one knows bet
ter than we physicians the danger, of
Gwen with solicitude at times al
most bordering on despair. But, as
] said before, she always seemed to
show more interest in affairs when
Maitland was present, and, on the night
in question, his abrupt and unexpected
entrance surprised her into the betrayal
of more pleasure than she would have
wished us to note, and, indeed, SO
quickly did she conceal her confusion
that I was the only one who noticed it.
he brought.
"WelI, Miss Darrow,' he began at
once, cat last your detective has got
O clue-not much Of one--but still
a clue. [ can pick the man for whom
we are looking from among million
enough to get the chance.'
Somebody has already called atten-
ton to the fact that women are more
or less curious, and there are well-au
thenticated cases on record where this
inquisitiveness has even extended to
Germ Themselves; SO I have little doubt
I shall be believed when l say the
women folk were in a fever of expec-
fancy, and besought Maitland with an
would have required a great deal to
have prevented his. telling TITO be-
gin at the beginning and relate the
whole thing. He readily acceded to this
request, and began by telling them the
experiences which have just narrated;
4 bo 1oc OF Of
Sardou's " Cleopatra - that the idea had
suddenly come to him to change the
plan Of search from the analytical to
"You see," he continued, IT had
assassin without knowing the exact
way in which the crime was commit tied.
I now determined to ascertain how,
~ under the same circumstances, l. could
commit such a crime and leave behind
those which are in our possession. !
began to read detective stori es with
all the avidity of Wester Union Tele:
graph messenger, and, OF course, read
those by Conan Doyle, The assertion
of Sherlock Holmes that there is nc
- tory, repeat themselves, and that
criminals read and copy each 9th
er's methods, deeply impressed me
and at once said to myself: If ou1
assassin was not original, whom did ht
e It was while reading 'yhe Sign Of
the Four which I had procured at th'
public library, that 1 made the frs
discovery. The crime therein narrate,
- had been committed in such a singula
manner that it at once attracted m,
attention. The victim had apparent,
been murdered without anyone havin!
either entered or left the ROOM, L
this respect it was like the probler
we are trying to solve. Might not thi
book. I said to myself, have suggeste
to your fathers assassin the course h
pursued. I concluded to 60 to tn
-- library and ask for a list of the name
of persons who had taken out this boo
death. I was fully aware that tn
chance of my learning anything in thi
way was very slight. In the frs
place, / reasoned that it was not es
pecially likely your father 8 murdere
had read 'The Sign Of the Four an!
in the second place, even 1t he ha(
what assurance had that he had rea
standing this, however. l felt impelle
to give my synthetical theory a fa
experimental trial T was informed b
the library attendants that the boo
had been much read, and given the III
of some twenty names of persons wi
had borrowed the book during the tin
had specified. With these twenty od
what my next step should be. wei
carefully over this chain of reasonir
link by link. Il wish to find certai
murderer, and have adopted this met
Cd in the hope that it may help m
If derive any assistance at all fro
it, it will be because my man has res
this particular copy of this worl
L ypn &c az Of