Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1910-08-23
CHAPTER VII.
The Uusociable Mr.. Arms.

/ took the paper in my hands and ex-
amined it closely. The printing had peen
done with a writing fluid and very re-
Gently, for the ink. which in time would
be black was still blue. 1t had peen
done hastily, too. or by a person labor
ing under intense excitement, for the
lettering was irregular. The paper was
a half sheet of ordinary lined foolscap, q
trifle ragged on the edge which had been
cut.
NY first act was to drop to the floor
careful not to obliterate any possible
footprints.
The rug which covered the greater por-
ton of the room had a background OF
straw color, and while dusty, showed lit
tie tracking. On the south side of the
room il reached to the thing before the
fireplace: on the other three sides there
was q border three feet wide, perhaps,
between IL and the bookcases or the door
and windows. of a light-colored hard
wood. From the door to the nearer win
dow the prints of two pairs of shoes
crossing and recrossing were unmistak-
ably mine and Horsford's. My prints.
that tracked toward the farther WINDOW.
crossed the room diagonaly and ran oil,
rectly from the doorway to the table l
also found. But before the farther WIN
dow, on the corresponding side OF the
Ia Die, ana. lnueeu, Al lHttTNdiS thiOueh
out the southern end Of the room from
east to west the dust was swept aside In
wide swaths. Obviously this had been
done to cover the tracks of the INTRUDER.
and il showed me that i had q farseeinS
rascal with whom to deal.
| could not doubt that he had entered
by the farther window-which. by the
way, was the very one by which the as
sassin of Mr.. Somhers was believed TO
have left-had put the warning upon the
hal Cd ~
route. brushing vigorously the spots
where he had trod. From the width of
the marks 1t was evident that they had
been made with a small brush like a
whisk broom. But why did my mystic
rious stranger use his brush beyond the
line of the table and the fireplace. even
to the southeast corner? All! A book
was missing from the second shelf in the
southeast corner!
In vain l searched for a footprint that
the brush had overlooked. Not one re-
manned. The bookshelf even gave me no
assistance, except to show that the miss
ing volume was one OF set or Byron
poems. Now, would Horsford take away
volume of Byron? Improbable, unless
he were a cleverer man than / gave him
credit for being, or unless he were acting
under the instruction Of a deep brain. In
deed. before had fully analysed the sit
uation had reached the conclusion that
IL Horsford had entered the room while
him still hurrying fieldward. he was but
the instrument Of a cleverer man than
himself.
The door leading from the entry to the
tiny portico held back reluctantly when
tried to open IL. and creaked with tn
stiffness of unused hinges when at last
succeeded. The window through which
my warner must have entered was but
step from this portico, and though ex-
amined the ground and grass about II ]
could find no indication that they had
been recently trodden upon, curious
condition, as the window sill stood full
four feet above the ground, and the In
truder must have come down with some
emphasis.
With an uncomfortable sense OF beine
worsted. returned to the library. and
closed and locked the windows and drew
| the shades Then I closed and fastened
| the other windows. which Il had so re-
Gently opened throughout the first floor
and / saw that all doors were locked be-
| hind me as l left the house. | would see
/ that screens were put i'm place before
left the windows open again. locked
| screen does not prevent admission. blu,
IL is likely to bear some trace II tamperec
| with
/ looked at my watch and found that II