Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1928-06-27

! polishing it carefully, fitted it to his eye
Then he turned to the nearest book
shelves. / stepped forward and looked
over his shoulder; and, as my glance
ran over the dusty titles. could scarce
~ suppress an exclamation OF amaze
ment. Here was one of the most COM
plete and unusual private libraries OF
| criminology in America-and ] was IA
| n1iliar with many of the countrys ia
nous collections. Crime in all its phases
and qualifications was represented Rare
| old treatises, long out of print and now
the delight of bibliophiles, shouldered
one another In compact tiers on Tobias
Greene's shelves.
Nor were the subjects of these books
| limited to narrow Interpretation of
criminology. All the various allied
branches Of the subject were repre-
sented. There we're entire sections de-
voted to insanity and cretiniSn, social
and criminal pathology. suicide, paper
| ism and philanthropy, prison reform.
prostitution and morphinism. capital
punishment. abnormal psychology, legal
| codes, the argot of the underworld and
! code writing, toxicology and police
methods. The volumes were in many
/ anguages-English, French, German,
Italian, Spanish, Swedish, Russian,
| Dutch and Latin.
| Vance's eyes sparkled as he moved
along the crowded shelves Markham
also was deeply interested: and Heath,
| bending here and there toward a vol
ume. registered an expression Of be-
wildered curiosity.
MY world" murmured Vance. mo
wonder your department. sergeant, was
| chosen as the future custodian of these
tones. What a collectionl Extr'or-
din'ry! Aren't you glad, Markham, you
wangled the old lady into relinquishing
the key"
Suddenly he stiffened and jerked his
head toward the door. at the same time
lifting his hand for silence. I, too, had
heard a slight noise in the hall, like
Some one brushing against the wood
work Of the door. but had thought
nothing of it. For few moments We
waited tensely. But no further sound
came to us, and Vance stepped quickly
to the door and drew it open. The hall
was empty. He stood on the threshold
for while listening. Then he closed
the door and turned again to the room.
Il could have sworn some one was
listening in the hail."
IT heard a rustic Of some kind"
Markham corroborated him. II took 1t
for granted it was Sproot or the maid
passing by"
!,
Heath asked.
Il really couldn't say. don't y know.
But 1t bothers me, nevertheless. II
some one was at the door listening, 1t
shows that our presence here has pro-
duced q state of anxiety in the person
privy to the fact. It's possible, d. ye
see, that some one Is DESTROYS OF aScer-
tanning what we have found out"
well, can't see that we've found
out enough to make anybody lose any
Sleep" mumhled Heath.
You're so discouraging. sergeant"
Vance sighed and went to the book
shelves in front Of the wicker reading
chair There may be something in
this section to cheer US. Let us see If
there's glad tiding or two written in
the dust"
He struck match after match as he
carefully inspected the tops of the
books, beginning at the highest shelf |
and Systematically scrutinizing the VOL
umes of each row. He had reached the
second shelf from the floor when he
bent over curiously and gave second
long look at two thick gray volumes.
Then. putting out the match, he took
the volumes to the window.
(CDntinued in Tomorrow's Starr