To his surprise he found that person just as engrossed in the news as
ever, not a feature or an eyelash appearing to have moved since the time
he looked at him last.
Mr. Byrd was so astonished at this that when he left the room a few
minutes later he took occasion in passing the gentleman, to glance at
the paper he was studying so industriously, and, to his surprise, found
it to be nothing more nor less than the advertising sheet of the New
York _Herald_.
"A fellow of my own craft," was his instantaneous conclusion. But a
moment's consideration assured him that this could not be, as no
detective worthy the name would place so little value upon the
understanding of those about him as to sit for a half-hour with his eyes
upon a sheet of paper totally devoid of news, no matter what his purpose
might be, or how great was his interest in the conversation to which he
was secretly listening. No; this gentleman was doubtless what he seemed
to be, a mere stranger, with something of a serious and engrossing
nature upon his mind, or else he was an amateur, who for some reason was
acting the part of a detective without either the skill or experience of
one.
Whichever theory might be true, this gentleman was a person who at this
time and in this place was well worth watching: that is, if a man had
any reason for interesting himself in the pursuit of possible clues to
the mystery of Mrs. Clemmens' murder. But Mr. Byrd felt that he no
longer possessed a professional right to such interest; so, leaving
behind him this fine-looking gentleman, together with all the inevitable
conjectures which the latter's peculiar manner had irresistibly
awakened, he proceeded to regain his room and enter upon that
contemplation of the picture he had just made, which was naturally
demanded by his regard for one of the persons there depicted.
It was a vigorous sketch, and the slow blush crept up and dyed Mr.
Byrd's forehead as he gazed at it and realized the perfection of the
likeness he had drawn of Miss Dare. Yes, that was her form, her face,
her expression, her very self. She it was and no other who had been the
heroine of the strange scene enacted that day in the Syracuse depot; a
scene to which, by means of this impromptu sketch, he had now become as
nearly a witness as any one could hope for who had not been actually
upon the spot. Strange! And he had been so anxious to know what had
altered the mind of this lady and sent her back to Sibley before her
journey was half completed--had pondered so long and vainly upon the
whys and wherefores of an action whose motive he had never expected to
understand, but which he now saw suggested in a scene that seriously
whetted, if it did not thoroughly satisfy, his curiosity.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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