uty. Finding there was no moving him by fair means, I took his
chair and pulled it away, while Robert Lorrie laid hold of the table
and carried it to the other end of the room. The crippled gentleman flew
into a furious rage with me for presuming to touch his chair. 'My chair
is Me,' he said: 'how dare you lay hands on Me?' I first opened the
door, and then, by way of accommodating him, gave the chair a good push
behind with my stick instead of my hand, and so sent it and him safely
and swiftly out of the room.
"Having locked the door, so as to prevent any further intrusion, I
joined Robert Lorrie in examining the bedside table. It had one drawer
in it, and that drawer we found secured.
"We asked the prisoner for the key.
"He flatly refused to give it to us, and said we had no right to unlock
his drawers. He was so angry that he even declared it was lucky for us
he was too weak to rise from his bed. I answered civilly that our duty
obliged us to examine the drawer, and that if he still declined to
produce the key, he would only oblige us to take the table away and have
the lock opened by a smith.
"While we were still disputing there was a knock at the door of the
room.
"I opened the door cautiously. Instead of the crippled gentleman, whom I
had expected to see again, there was another stranger standing outside.
The prisoner hailed him as a friend and neighbor, and eagerly called
upon him for protection from us. We found this second gentleman pleasant
enough to deal with. He informed us readily that he had been sent for
by Mr. Dexter, and that he was himself a lawyer, and he asked to see
our warrant. Having looked at it, he at once informed the prisoner
(evidently very much to the prisoner's surprise) that he must submit to
have the drawer examined, under protest. And then, without more ado, he
got the key, and opened the table drawer for us himself.
"We found inside several letters, and a large book with a lock to it,
having the words 'My Diary' inscribed on it in gilt letters. As a matter
of course, we took possession of the letters and the Diary, and sealed
them up, to be given to the Fiscal. At the same time the gentleman wrote
out a protest on the prisoner's behalf, and handed us his card. The
card informed us that he was Mr. Playmore, now one of the Agents for
the prisoner. The card and the protest were deposited, with the other
documents, in the care of the Fiscal. No other discoveries of any
importan
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