Bonners Ferry herald. [volume] (Bonners Ferry, Idaho) 1904-current, 1906-12-22
CHAPTER ".

10 Opldln.
"A conviction for murder"
CHAPTER ".
l stared at him In the most pro-
found Amusement
Yes, murder, Cousin Robert; as de-
liberate and cold-blooded doing to
death Of an innocent man us has ever
befouled a corner oil Gods fair world"
He rose from IS chair and plowed
heavily up and down the room. The
veins started In his forehead: his huge
hands knotted themselves tensely.
Listen. This afternoon man lay
asleep on that couch In the corner. We
know the manner Of mana keen in
yestigator, an indefatigable worker, an
honest fighter; but one who had never
done In all his life mean or ignoble
action. There comes 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 q luna
ticl Is this act premeditated. or the
sudden tempting OF opportunity Who
eased lima gination he has come to regard
the sleeper as an enemy who maliciously
set himself to destroy his theories aud
to bring ridcule on the laborious work Of
years. His desire for revenge is con
centrated on the man before him.
"How the thing came into his pos
session | cannot guess, though that
should be point easily discovered. He
/ how oh 3
RIGA, or il may have come into his hands
by chance. as the chief Of the Entomo-
logical Museum. But he has 1t safe
enough shut up in the tin box which fell
from his pocket in your rooms. The
spring of the lid vas detective, you may
remember; it is that same defective
spring that will hang him.
HE stands over there, listening and
watching. There Is no sound; the sleeper
will not wake. He opens the case upon
the dressing-table and lifts the thing
with tweezers-for every hair Of II has
its poison. With scissors he cuts on
some score Of hairs. catching them in
the crease Of folded sheet of note
paper. He replaces Il in the case and
closes the lid. Like an ugly shadow
he dts across to the couch. kneels by IL.
|
the hairs from the creased paper across
the intake Of the sleepers breath. He
turns, snatches up the case from the
table. and Is gone. In five hours Profess
sor Won Stockmar is dead Of nHamma-
ton Of the lungs. There is not doc
tor In all Germany who would chal-
lenge that diagnosis. In nine hours Pro
lessor Rudolf Msrnac Is accused by me,
| 81
but this deadly 'thing'r cried with
a sinking horror at my heart. This
beast. reptile, insect-what is It? Where
is IL now7"
For answer he thrust his fingers into
his pocket and drew out the same wooden
matchbox that | had seen him with by
the bedside Of the dead man. He slid
il half open and tapped IL sideways on
the table under the lamp. A round,
fluffy ball rolled out and lay motionless.
Suddenly little black head protruded.
a score Of tiny feet padded into motion.
and across the table there crept a hairy
caterpillar-a loathsome, disreputabe
object, for across its back lay a ragged
scar, where the hairs had been shorn
away.
do you recognize the species?"
| n 1
to grasp II. but with a sudden motion he
brushed my hand aside.
81 see you do not" said he grimly.
at Is common enough In South Africa"
With the end of a match he carefully
pushed the insect back into the box.
and replaced It In his pocket.
1.-The luck was against Marnac," he
continued. mot for one moment do
Al 4 4 -
pected the truth. To begin with. the de-
fective spring Of the case allowed the
caterpillar TO escape while he was bend
ing over poor Hermann. After he had
done his awful work he slipped it back
hastily into his pocket. He never real
lied what had occurred until upon acct
dentally pulling 1t out with his hand
kerchief in your lodgings, he found II
empty. 1t was for that reason he
searched so anxiously. What became Of
it did not matter so long as II was not
found in this room; though, as a matter
Of fact. there was very small danger even
then of II affording a clue.
"And now we come to a stroke Of
abominable luck, Of which Msrnac has
every right to complain. | found the
caterpillar on the sheet Of the bed.
where II had crawled in its wanderings.
But that was not the worst Of Il. for
happened TO be the one man In all
Heidelberg who knew Of its peculiar
properties; who knew that its hairs are
slightly poisoned. sufncient indeed TO
raise a nasty rash on the hand; who
knew that the old-time Hottentots en-
ployed 1t for removing their enemies by
blowing the hairs into their lungs.
took out matchbox, emptied il. and
collected the caterpillar | was closing
the box when looked up and saw Mar
nae watching me with shocking ex-
preston, which could hardly have dis
torted the face Of a perfectly sane man.
however provoked. Nearly every muir
derer has a screw loose somewhere; but.
In my opinion. Marnac Is in an unusually
bad way. II may turn out more Of an
asylum than a gallows business, after
all"