Bonners Ferry herald. [volume] (Bonners Ferry, Idaho) 1904-current, 1906-12-29

ly, the most extraordinary discomforts.
1T seems a pity. my dear cousin, that
Nature, which endowed you with 50 many
admirable qualities, should have omitted
the saving grace Of humor," he rejoined
Aud then changing his tone to greater
sobrety: you shall hear ali that know
or conjecture. IL will, at least, help us
on our journey.
First, as TO the facts at my disposal
For myself, / had heard much Of Rudolf
Marnac. but only as a Heidelberg pro-
fessor Ok distinction, whose stupendous
effort Science and Belief had set edu-
Gated Europe by the ears. From you
learned Of his quarrel with Won Stock
mar, a quarrel originating In the latter's
attack on the work In question. Of which
Marnac was inordlnately vain. Then
came the chain Of facts that proved-to
our mind at least--that Marnac had muir
dered his colleague with a diabolical in
genuity. Could such a crime be inspired
by quarrel so triAlng7 II was almost
past belief. Further evidence was nee
essary; and this evidence the investiga-
tions of the police have supplied.
when l learned that his father. Jean
Marnac, had died in a Paris asylum, |
ntNhh 10 STE my way nut IL was Aho
statements Of his servants that cleared
up my last doubt. An eccentriclty which
at one time amused them had Of late
been changed to a violence that filed
them with terror He had presented
them with copies Of the book, deliberately
bound. A housekeeper who had served
him for twenty years was loaded with
abuse and discharged because the old
creature admitted that she could not fol-
low bis arguments. He was the victim
Of partial mania. Such cases are not
uncommon.
"Whither had this dangerous creature
fed2 1t seemed mystery insoluble
He was well provided with money; on
all topics but one he was admirably sens
ibe. The police admitted that he had
beaten them. But only yesterday | OBJ
tanned a clue. 1t may be valueless; but
for myself think otherwise. At least it
is worth the journey | am asking you to
make in my company.
AT my urgent request the police nd
mitted me to his rooms. His papers
they had already examined, without re-
suit. | found that he possessed a fine
library. | am a book-lover, and my first
step was to examine it. Tucked away In
corner Of shelf, yet within easy reach
of his customary chair, | found a vol
ume. 1t was typical Of the man that II
should be elegantly bound. Within were
collected the hostile criticisms with which
his book had been loaded. The more
severe were scrubbed over with the vilest
epithets. Won Stockmar was personally
threatened, as was also a certain Mech
ersky, professor Of the Imperial Uni
versity at Petersburg. | distracted the
volume. You may like to examine il"
He drew 1t from the capacious pocket
Of his travelling ulster and gave 1t to me.
The cover was Of the choicest morocco
upon 1t, In gold, were emblazoned the
arms Of the university. 1t was a triumph
of the binders art, yet | handled it with
singular feeling Of disgust.
The interior was oddly divided. The
greater part consisted Of clippings from
papers and magazines, neatly gummed
upon blank pages. But here and there
were interpolated pamphlets, held In
their place by elastic bands. In contrast
with this orderly arrangement, scarcely
page but was defaced by penciled re-
marks. satirical or abusive. ran through
them hastily until came upon the arti-
Gle which bore Mechersky's name, ex-
tracted apparently from some French re-
view. Its severity seemed 10 have dashed
Marnac to fury. 1t was covered with
maze of pencilings. But my attention
was soon centered on a portion of the
text which, being underlined In red, stood
out from the page with some prominence.
The author of Science aud Belief" for
thus il ran, seems to have lost touch
with humanity. His deductions might be
correct if men were bloodless, merciless
automatons. He regards them as might
some reptie--let us say. a toad scientif-
ically inclined" Across this criticism,
which seemed to me unnecessarily severe.
scoundrell Would that | might crush
you like a toad!"
"a curious WISH" said, pointing to
the passage
"And from Marnac a most dangerous
one" he answered. 81 can only hope we
shall reach Lemsdorf in time"
"Lemsdorf again! And why Lens
dorfT
"For the excellent reason, Cousin Rob
ert, that Mechersky. who comes of land
owning Polish stock. is holiday-making at
Castle Oster, place he has in that
neighborhood. And as sure as | sit here
where Mechersky is, there win be that
mailman, Rudolf Marnac. If he means
to murder the man. he will have had
nigh on a month to bring it OFF. Heaven
grant that we're in time"
The tone in which he spoke thrilled
me with a dreadful anxiety. The danger
was indefnable; but fear draws its dark
est terrors from the unknown.
zone thing more" l said. How did
you discover Mechersky's whereaboutsT
IL had thought him at St Petersburg
but wire to a friend there gave me the
information | required"