d what he wanted:

PRISONER HANGS SELF

An unidentified man, held by the county sheriff's office for
suspicion of criminal syndicalism, was found dead this morning, by--

He finished the item. It was vague, uninforming. He needed more. He
carried the _Gazette_ back to the racks and then, after a moment's
hesitation, approached the librarian.

"More?" he asked. "More papers. Old ones?"

She frowned. "How old? Which papers?"

"Months old. And--before."

"Of the _Gazette_? This is all we have. What did you want? What are you
looking for? Maybe I can help you."

He was silent.

"You might find older issues at the _Gazette_ office," the woman said,
taking off her glasses. "Why don't you try there? But if you'd tell me,
maybe I could help you--"

He went out.

The _Gazette_ office was down a side street; the sidewalk was broken and
cracked. He went inside. A heater glowed in the corner of the small
office. A heavy-set man stood up and came slowly over to the counter.

"What did you want, mister?" he said.

"Old papers. A month. Or more."

"To buy? You want to buy them?"

"Yes." He held out some of the money he had. The man stared.

"Sure," he said. "Sure. Wait a minute." He went quickly out of the room.
When he came back he was staggering under the weight of his armload, his
face red. "Here are some," he grunted. "Took what I could find. Covers
the whole year. And if you want more--"

Conger carried the papers outside. He sat down by the road and began to
go through them.

* * * * *

What he wanted was four months back, in December. It was a tiny item, so
small that he almost missed it. His hands trembled as he scanned it,
using the small dictionary for some of the archaic terms.

MAN ARRESTED FOR UNLICENSED DEMONSTRATION

An unidentified man who refused to give his name was picked up in
Cooper Creek by special agents of the sheriff's office, according to
Sheriff Duff. It was said the man was recently noticed in this area
and had been watched continually. It was--

Cooper Creek. December, 1960. His heart pounded. That was all he needed
to know. He stood up, shaking himself, stamping his feet on the cold
ground. The sun had moved across the sky to the very edge of the hills.
He smiled. Already he had discovered the exact time and place. Now he
needed only to go back, perhaps to November, to Cooper Creek--

He walked back through the ma