By that time I had turned over every book and almost every leaf in this small collection, and did not open the closet again till near the end of that period.

Meanwhile I had many reflections upon this remarkable circumstance.

Could Ludlow have intended that I should see this atlas?
It was the only book that could be styled a manuscript on these shelves, and it was placed beneath several others, in a situation far from being obvious and forward to the eye or the hand.

Was it an oversight in him to leave it in my way, or could he have intended to lead my curiosity and knowledge a little farther onward by this accidental disclosure?
In either case how was I to regulate my future deportment toward him?
Was I to speak and act as if this atlas had escaped my attention or not?
I had already, after my first examination of it, placed the volume exactly where I found it.

On every supposition I thought this was the safest way, and unlocked the closet a second time, to see that all was precisely in the original order.....