The Nezperce herald. (Nezperce, Idaho) 1900-1957, 1906-10-25
CHAPTER Nv.

| ChaL Err ~.
| stared at him in the most pro-
found amazement
Yes. murder. Cousin Robert: as de
loerate and cold-blooded a doing to
death Of an innocent man as has ever
oefouled corner OIL Gods fair world"
de rose from s chair and plowed
heavily up and down the room The
veins started in his forehead: his huge
hands knotted themselves rensely.
Listen This afternoon a man lay
asleep on that couch In the corner We
know the manner Of mana keen in
vestigator. an indefatigable worker. an
honest fighter; but one who had never
done in all hid life a mean or Ignoble
action There comes a creak upon the
stairs, the door Is opened softly, head
peers in He-the murderer-enters the
room He knew the custom Of the house
in this warm September weather: the
doors open. the old servant asleep. the !
master taking his regular siesta- How |
far Is he a criminal. how far a luna
ties Is this act premeditated. or the i
sudden tempting of opportunity Who /
can say7 IL is enough that in his dis
eased ina gination be has come TO regard /
the sleeper as an enemy who malieiously /
set himself to destroy his theories and
10 bring ridicule on the laborious work Of
years His desire for revenge is con-
on the man before him
How the thing came into his pos
session / cannot guess. though that
should be a point easily discovered. He
himself may have obtained II from AZ
-ica, or IL may have come into his hands
,y chance. as the chief of the Entomo-
ogieal Museum But he has 1t safe
'nough shut up in the tin box which fell
rom his pocket In your roomg The ,
pring Of the lid was detective, you may ,
emember; il is that same defective
pring that viii hang him
HE stands over there, listening and
There Is no sound: the sleeper
viii not wake He opens the case upon {
he dressing-tabie and lifts the thing I
nth tweezers-for every hair Of il has I
3 poison With scissors he cuts of /
ONE score Of hairs, catching them in :
be crease Of a folded sheet of note !.
aper. He replaces It In the case and
loses the lid Like an ugly shadow y
e fits across to the couch, kneels By its
de, and one, two, three times blows q
he hairs from the creased paper across u
he intake of the sleeper's breath. He o
inns, snatches up the case from the h
sble, and Is gone In FIVE hours Profess m
)r Won Stockmar Is dead of iniamma- =,
on of the lungs. There Is not a doc
II In all Germany who would chal- !,
nge that diagnosis. In nine hours Pro W
ssor Rudolf Marnac Is accused By me. e
enry Graden, Of murder" m
But this deadly 'thing'r' / cried, with fr
sinking horror at my heart. This Fl,
asst, reptile, insect-what Is it? Where ri
Il nowT
For answer he thrust his fingers into
8 pocket and drew out the same wooden
atch-box that / had seen him with By yc
Q bedside Of the dead man. He slid %
half open and tapped II sideways on
g table under the lamp. A round. /,
fly ball rolled out and lay motionless. eu
ddenly little black head protruded,
score OF tiny feet padded into motion. sa
d across the table there crept a hairy pu
terpillar-a loathsome. disreputable tie
ject, for across its back lay a ragged nh
II, where the hairs had been shorn
az.
DO you recognize the speciesY
In faint-hearted way / leaned across
grasp It, but with sudden motion he 10
lshed my hand aside
4 see you do not" said he 0rimIv
Is common enough In South Africa"
With the end Of a match be carefully cor
he'd the insect back into the box. ~,
replaced II IN his pocket.
The luck was against Marnac.y he
tinued. mot for one moment do 7 8
gest that otherwise should have sus- div
ted the truth. To begin with, the de- .
w - 81
over poor Hermann. After he hid ma
o his awful work he slipped 1t back Jut