Troy weekly news. (Troy, Idaho) 1897-1933, 1906-10-19

We are going to Lemsdort.
ITO Lemsdorfl 1 have never heard Of
the place"
mo more had an hour ago. Allow
me to discover it."
He pulled red-bound Baedeker out of
his pocket and huttered through the
pages.
Here we have it-'Lemsdorf: four
teen to fifteen hours from Berlin. Rising
town in West Prussia; 1900 inhabi-
tants. Large dye-works. 'Prinz Won
Preussen,' 'Goldner Adler'-hotels well
spoken of. Cab from the station, rs pig.
Little of historical interest. Excursions
to Denker and the Huren, a wild and
desolato district with several large lakes,
on the Russian frontier Not altogether
an inviting prospect at the latter end of
October eh, Cousin RobertT'
81 did not imagine we were going there
for pleasure"
''PessimistI Do neither the 'Prinz Won
Preussen' nor the 'Isoldner Adler well
spoken Of as Baedeker describes these
hostelries, attract you? Then the dye
works, they are sure to be interesting"
Henry Graden," cried l with deter
mination, you try me too far! l am as
eager as yourself that this criminal
should be brought to justice. For this
reason alone have every right to know
the why and wherefore Of an expedition
which will entail upon me, as see clear
ly, the most extraordinary discomforts-"
at seems a pity, my dear cousin, that
Nature, which endowed you with so many
admirable qualities, should have omitted
the saving grace of humor," he rejoined.
And then changing his tone to q greater
sobriety: You shall hear all that l know
or conjecture. 1t will, at least, help us
on our journey.
First, as to the facts at my disposal
For myself, l had heard much of Rudolf
Marnac, but only as a Heidelberg pro-
fessor of distinction, whose stupendous
effort, Science and Belief had set edu-
Gated Europe by the ears. From you 1
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 Unfortunately 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 trifing7 1t 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, l
began to see my way. But it was the
statements of his servants that cleared
up my last doubt. An eccentricity 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 his arguments He was the victim
of a partial mania. Such cases are not
| uncommon.
whittier had this dangerous creature
fiedG 1t seemed mystery insoiuble.
He was we'll provided with money; on
all topics but one he was admirably sons
ible The police admitted that he had
beaten them. But only yesterday l OBJ
tanned clue. 1t may be valueless; but
for myself l think otherwise. At least il
is worth the journey 1 am asking you to
make in my company.
"At my urgent request the police ad-
mitted me to his rooms. His papers
they had already examined, without re-
suit. l found that he possessed a fine
library. i am a book-lover, and my first
step was to examine it. Tucked away In
a corner of a shelf, yet within easy reach
Of his customary chair, l found a vol
ume. 1t was typical of the man that il
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, a professor of the Imperial Uni
versity at Petersburg. | distracted ths
volume. You may like to examine It."
He drew il from the capacious pocket
Of his travelling ulster and gave it to me
The cover was of the choicest morocco
upon it, in gold. were emblazoned tn,
arms Of the university. 1t was a triumph
of the binders art, yet l handled it Will
a singular feeling of disgust
The interior was oddly divided. TIL,
greater part consisted of clippings from
papers and magazines, neatly gummeC
upon blank pages. But here and thert
we're interpolated pamphlets, held IL
their place by elastic bands. In contras
With this orderly arrangement. scarcely
a page but was defaced by penciled re
marks, satiricsl or abusive. ran through
them hastily until I came upon the arti
Gle which bore Mechersky's name, ex
trscted apparently from some French re
view. Its severity seemed to have lsshet
Marnac to fury. 1t was covered with
a maze of pencilings. But my attention
was soon centered on a portion of tn,
text which. being underlined in red, stood
out from the page with some prominence
THE author OF Science and Belief" fol
thus It ran, seems to have lost toucl
with humanity. His deductions might b,
correct If men were bloodless, mercilesi
automatons. He regards them as nigh