Page:Raymond Spears--Diamond Tolls.djvu/199

 Alexander Murdong. Instead, the river had only just begun. That afternoon, about 6 o'clock, when darkness of autumn was very near at hand, Murdong awakened and arose greatly refreshed by his sleep. He looked forth into the evening, and decided that he would not float down that night. Instead, he would give free rein to his imagination and curiosity. His curiosity got the upper hand, and he began to take an inventory of the things which were in and of the houseboat which he had purchased. He turned to the bookcase and inspected the books, papers, magazines, and writing material there. He wondered if she had meant to leave so many things, or had they been overlooked? He comforted himself by the thought that she would meet him down in Spanish Moss Bend—he would rather meet her there than at some prosaically named landing.

There were a number of old newspapers—Chicago, Pittsburgh, Cincinnati, and so on. He read their headlines impatiently. One newspaper featured a president's note, a Wall Street flurry, a fevered magnate, and a diamond mystery. Another paper featured an actress's divorce, a murder, a captive smuggler, and lost rubies and diamonds. A third paper featured a meeting of a common council, a sermon on municipal lack of reform, a street car strike, and one question persisted, "Where is this gem salesman?"