The Newport miner. [volume] (Newport, Wash.) 1899-current, 1910-07-14


misfortune. When he was telling me
about the singular things he finds be-
| tween the leaves Of books returned to
the library I forgot my trouble. he
says he finds evefythins from q love
letter to hairpin. How careless we
women are! Men seldom leave things
between the pages Of books, but men
don't read as many books as women.
May Fl.
The will has been found. am heir
ess to great fortune. have been
congratulated. / limited to one Of my
congratulations that shall be suspect
ed Of having poisoned uncle. He re-
piled that would at least have mil
lions for defense" But that would not
remove the charge. the trial and the
stain to follow. The same person babe
me not worry. He says that detec-
tives have been watching my every
act since the crime was committed
and they have admitted to not getting
single item Of evidence against me.
knew it. That woman who insisted
on coming In to make dress for me
for a song was one Of them. That
man I saw at so many places. in the
shops. on the street, everywhere. was
another I am not treasured by the
person who has comforted me, but l
have finished my book and will go for
another. / long to talk to my friend
the librarian about what Is on my
mind. He has become my only conf
dant.
am electrified by spark Of hope.
This morning l received letter ad-
dressed in q strange hand. ! studied
the superscription long while, but
could not make out from whom It
could be. It was postmarked as sent
from this town. Finally it occurred to
me to open it. suppose would have
done so before had my mind not been
so tortured by the frightful specter
that has been hanging over me. What
was my surprise to see at the bottom
Of the letter. "Your friend The Libra
rian."
This is what he says:
After talking with you yesterday went
home and, taking up newspaper. read
a detailed report of the doctors who were
deputed to anAlyze the poison found In
the case Of your late uncle. Suddenly
my fingers released their grip on the pa
per, and it fell to the floor. An idea had
flashed upon me. What singular fac
ulty Is memory, and how marvelously 1t Is
awakened! l remembered q wet, dismal
night q month ago when l was sitting at
A
stranger to me. came In and asked for a
rare work of q foreign author. Since 1t
had never been called for before l should
not have remembered it except for its
rarity. I went to the shelf. where I
found It covered with dust, took it down
and gave it to the stranger.
It was treatise on poisons.
A group of events recorded in my brain
had led me to this remembrance. My
chats with you as to your uncle's death.
all have heard about 1t and lastly this
report of the doctors-might not that book
contain mention Of the poison reported by
them as having been used to kill your un-
Gle, and might not this in some way con-
meet this stranger with the murder?
hurried to the library. found the book.
which had been returned, and opened it.
You remember that the first day you
came here l told you how many articles
are left carelessly between the leaves OF
returned books. Well, the book opened
contained an instance Of this kind. On
running over the leaves looking for men,
ton of the poison named by the doctors
found lying between two pages devoted
to a description of it and its effects q
so1led piece of paper. On 1t was a note
written In q peculiar hand referring to
the chapter and page on which this pol
son that killed your uncle was described.
But one thing more remained for me to
do to establish my find as a bit OF evil
dence. l referred to the record of the
books withdrawal and found the name of
the person who had withdrawn it, or at
least the name he had given. l also found
that the book had not been taken out
since he had taken it.
The volume. the bit Of paper-evidently
slipped in between the pages for a place
mark and forgotten-and the record con-
corning its withdrawal are now all in the
hands of the police. write this to you
before going to bed that with the morning
nght you may have hope of being re-
Heved OF that unspoken suspicion that you
cannot but feel overshadows you.
Isn't it delightful? If it really turns
out that this man who seems to have
been so interested in this especial poi
son killed uncle l shall be indicated
and rich.
But 1t may turn out that he wished
the poison for another purpose. They
may never find him. If not, at any
rate this bit Of evidence proves his
existence and diverts suspicion from
me:
June 20.
The Young man who took rho hoolr