Page:The Death-Doctor.djvu/173

Rh and act, while the big nose and square jaw indicated pluck and determination.

I made a great mistake in going against one of my axioms, when I closed with him; he had bright red hair—and I always have distrusted, and always shall distrust the red-headed man—and pursue the red-headed woman.

I took him into my house, fixed him up a room which could serve both as a bed and sitting apartment if he wished to be alone; but he had the run of the house also.

I first suspected him of prying when I found a brown boot-button under a chair in my smoking-room, which chair I used to stand on in order to get at a little safe that I had had built into the panelled wall seven feet from the ground. It seemed to me that the button must have been forced off when a step up on to the chair was made, and—Anderson always wore brown button boots.

The inference was he had been examining, or tampering with my safe.

The question occurred at once, was he suspicious of me and consequently trying to find out what he could, or, was he simply a thief?

From that time I watched him closely, but