THU Kl'G KNI WRKKI T UVARB. THl'RNDAY. FKHRl'ARY 11, l»d®
stery of
COPYR1GHT. 1908.
BY BRENTANO’S
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»;i*r Well.
r In t!:<> !nl> nib ry
1.. r ■ •
"■ .
m ■ ■■ • 1- >1 !l
1.. :..::: ■ - ;
v. .*r<* tl:.T<* >i::y I
toea of a man'« footmarks. Since
I near tbla win
C outside, he must have made I is
through the celling of the .•. eli.-v.-
Com Into the title, then
ktr**'i"ti the r... f and dropped to t'i*
t-."
■ ■
■ . tad.....
L there's no hole, neither iu the cell-
■jtf the yellow room nor In thereof
k? my att! ; that's absolutely ..■ertnln
k yen aee. we know nothing noth
hx And nothing wi!l ever be known!
■fa a mystery of the devil's own mok-
Rouletabille next examined the fur
nlture nnd < pened the doors of the
cnblnets. Tlmn he came to the win­
dows. throu~h whl h. he declared, no
< ne i it'd pec Ibly have j assed. At the
record w It-d- vv be found Daddy
Jaco.ttes In contemplation.
"Well. Daddy Jncques,” be said,
“what are you looking nt?”
"That policeman who Is always go­
ing round Hnd round the lake. Another
of those fellows who think they can
see better than anybody else!"
"T’eu don’t know Frederic Larsan,
Daddy Jacques, or you wouldn’t speak
of bint In that way." snld Rouletabille
In a melancholy tone. “If there Is any
one who will find the murderer ft will
be he.” And Rouletabllle heaved a
deep sigh.
CHAPTER VII
ln Which Rovletabille Sets Out on
an Expedition Under the Bed.
r"
OITLETABILI.E, having pushed
Rouletabllle went down upon his
open the door of the yellow
L» m again almost In front of a sitiall
room, paused ou the threshold.
hratory at the back of the vestibule.
The chamber was dark. Dad-
In that position he remained for about
uy Jacques was about to open tbe
a minute
[“Well?" I asked him when lie got blinds when Rouletabllle stopped him.
“Did not the tragedy take place In
F«Oh nothing very Important. A drop complete darkness?" he asked.
"No, young man; I don't think so.
I
a ■■ he replied, turning tow ird
Lwv Jacques as he spoke. "While Mademoiselle always had a night light
k were w ishing the laborat ry ai d on her table, and I lit It every even­
hq vestibule was the vestibule win- ing before she went to bed. 1 was a
sort of chambermaid, you must un­
fcw fen?" he asked.
j‘No. monsieur, it was closed. But derstand, when the evening came. The
Ltrr I 111'1 (lone w ishing the floor I real chambermaid did uot come here
Made­
iivnie charcoal for monsieur In the much before tbe morning.
Hxinitory furnace, nnd as I lit it moiselle worked late-far into the
kith eld newspapers It smoked, so I night.”
"Where did the table with the night
bned loth the windows In the labo-
tory and this one to make a current light stand—far from the bed?"
"Some way from the bed."
¡¡«!r Then I shut those in tbe lnbo-
“Can you light the burner now?"
ktorr nnd left this one open when I
“The lamp Is broken aud tbe oil that
brat out. When 1 returned to the
■dllon this window had been closed was In It was spilled when the table
M monsieur and mademoiselle were was upset. All the rest of the things
In the room remain Just as they were,
jhady at work In the laboratory.”
pM. or Mlle. Stangerson had no I, have only to open the blinds for you
to see.”
jirabt shut Itr
“Wait.”
¡’No doubt."
Rouletabllle went bark into the lab-
“You did not ask them?"
oratory, closed the shutters of the
üttle two windows and the door of the ve»
tibule. When we wen* In complete
darkness be lit a wax vesta and asked
■No."
Daddy Jacques to move to tbe middle
After a dose scrutiny of the
of the chamber with it to the place
yttory and of the staircase leading I | where the night light was burning
of
great
ex
­
( to the attic Rouletabllle—to whom that night.
lost — none
of
»-«med no longer to exist
entered
Daddy Jacques, who was In his
As him.
for me. I stocking»
—he usually left Ills sals'ts
laboratory. I followed
I confess. In a state once to the In the vestibule-entered the yellow
ment. Robert Darxac
room with hl.s bit of a vesta, «e
friend's movements.
' vn'mely distinguished objects over
R .
w.c,« drawn nt
thrown on the floor. » bn! In one cor
I ~
; .-v r m it was closed
nor and tn front of u« to tbe left the
if. as I Immediately saw, partla'ly ' gleam of a looking gla»» hanging on
I ittered and out of commission.
the wall near to tbo l»*d.
al>out hi ■ w ir!<
‘That will do. You may now oi»*n
»
< d t be room the blinds." said Rouletabllle.
| “Don’t come any fart he: " Daddy
fc lighted. Two big w indow s - al- ' Jacques bogged. “Too may make
■R bays—were protected by strong marks with your br»*s. nnd nothing
itra bars and looked out upon a wide must be deranged. It*« an idea of tn»*
*r> 'it of cuntry.
magistrate's, though he has m*hlng
pb» v
■ g|de ,,f t'ii- l:il,ora- more to do here.”
rËwas taken up with a large chlm-
And he pushed open the shutter.
crucibles. evens aud such lrnple- The pale d»y"itbt entered from wlth-
as are needed for chemical ex­ ’ out throwing a sinister light on the
its; tubles loaded with vials, saffron colored wall». The floor-tr
reports, an electrical machine thou«* the laboratory a«d the vesti­
iparatus, as M. Dame Informed bule wore ttted the yeflow room bad a
5Y'employed by Professor Stangerson
idemoustrato the dissociation of mat- flooring of wood was covered with a
»ingle yellow mat which wa. targe
R ursler the action of solar light­
enough to cover nearly the wh fie
pother scientific Implements.
, Aioog the wails were cabinets, plain room, under the l>ed «od under the
brlara fronted, through which were dressing table, the only piece of fund-
ture that remained upright. Tbe c
microscopes, special photo-
pfblc qppara-t;- and a lnrma qaantl ter round table, tbe night table wd
two chair» had beeu overturt»*d Th.*e
“f crystals
b|o<rf
pmletabllle, who was ferreting in did not prevent a targe »tain
being
visible
on
the
mat.
made
»«
p chimney, put bls fingers Into one
F’he mdbles Suddenly he draw Daddy Jacqui Inf.wmed ua by tbe
P*‘f up and held up a pl« e of b-tlf blood Which had flowed front th
P*» t >«I paper In Ids hand. He step- wound on Mlle. Stangerson a
Besides these stain» dropa of bl »M
• ”P
where we were talking by
bent
tbe i lac« of »cor* toed had fallen In all dir.*etlona In
I®*
the over
windows.
pra which M Danae took from the with the vlsftfie traces of the foot
thit f r us, M. Darrjtc," he
pl ?!
and read <’!» | ,tep«. large nnd black, of the murder
t'' "
a that '
er Everything led to the
that these drm* of .blood had faltan
pktoyterv - lost nothing - charm. from the wound of the man who had
n. ,«■«> '*'•“'“I”,
IT» -*«1- .
-.,0,4 those «ame the wall There were other tra-es 1
^■toflteBB words had attack me
1 the same band on the wall, but much
f "e SO""* '
■ t - IW that they , less distinct.
..Up,
this blood on tbe wall. 1
Ilofeaaor
P
. ■ ff.-
M 1 sr couM not he.p
tal.nlng “TJo man
r
wh„ prPM«d hta han.! SO he» T «?*'•>
It
It In the darkness mnst certai. ly
P^T Jacqn
<>•-< upied «« he
thought that he
M( h,r,[.
!*•« *• »not
That’s why he pressed «
fjknx
• loigly opening
PPwkMiw.i .. pUt the piece of I'»
ble evidence I don t thl
r
many hands In tbe world of
I
It ta Mg »nd atrna
tuning of the fire- •re »early all on* 1”.
an(1
have
r
The
a ur thumb Is wanting.
_____ _
. ..» —
I
of a furnace—and was at- only
the mark of the palm, but If we
't
tilmney. follow tbe trace of the hand.” I con­
rrb “•
ward the
tinued. “we see that after leaving Its
r®Wet fr- ■
• ».otng cloned with Imprint on the waff the touch s<>ught
I v
the do«»r. found It and then felt for the
Jbroegt, which passed three lock."
“No doubt." Interrupted R- uletabflle
^wmtbl» t get out that way.” he chuckling, “only there Is no blood
. rjtory | either on tbe lock or on tbe bolt.”
"What does that prove?" I rejoined,
<
<d ’rie<| to d'1
hav. r. nght all that iron- with a good sense of which I was
proud. "He might bare opened the
.,,, j to jio.
no; h It
fi** -'- • ■
have
sear
" la
lock with his left band, which wouU
P
(
have been quite natural, his right ham*
being wounded.”
I
"lie didn’t open It at all»” Daddy
Jacques again exclaimed "We are not
fools, and there were four of us when
we burst open the door "
“What a queer hand! Look what a
queer hand It Is'" I said.
, “It Is a very natural hand." said
Ronlet'il l'le. "< f will 'll t' c shape has
teen defertued by Its h:il:ig «.lem-d
on the wall. The tmr.i dried 1:1s hind
on the wall. He mu it In* a man alxiui
five feet eight In height."
"How do you come at that?*’
"By tlie height of the marks on the
wall."
My friend next occupied himself
with tbe mark of the bullet In the
wall. It was u round hole,
"This ball was tired straight, not
from above, and consequently not
from below.”
Rouletabllle went back to the door
and carefully examined the lock nnd
the bolt, satisfying himself that tbe
door had certaiuly been burst open
from tbe outside, and. further, that
the key bad beeu found lu the lock on
tbe inside of tbe chamber. He finally
satisfied himself that with tbe key in
the lock tbe door could uot possibly
be opened from without with another
key. Having made sure of all these
details, he let fall these words, “That's
better!" Then, sitting down ou tbe
ground, he hastily took off his boots
and in his so* ks went into tbe room.
The first thing be did was to exam­
ine minutely the overturned furniture.
We watched blm In silence.
"Young fellow, you are giving your­
self a great deal of trouble,” said Dad­
dy Jacques ironically.
Rouletabllle raised his bead and
said:
"You have spoken the simple truth.
Daddy Jacques, Your mistress did
not have her hair In bands that even­
Ing. 1 was a donkey to have believed
she did."
Then, with tbe suppleness of a »er
pent, be slipped under the bed. Pres-
ently we beard him ask:
"At what time. M. Jacques, did M.
and Mlle. Stangerson arrive at tbe
laboratory?*'
“At <1 o'clock."
The voice of Rouletabllle continued:
"Y<*s. be’» been under here, that’»
certain. In fact, there wa» nowhere
else where he could have hidden him­
self. Here. too. are the mark* of his
hobnails. When you entered, all four
of you. did you Io k under the lied?”
“At once. We drew It right out of Its
place."
“And tietween the mattresse_s?”
"There was only one on tbe bed. and
on that mademoiselle was placed. and
M. Stangerson and the concierge Im-
mediately carried It Into the labora­
tory. Under the mattress there was
nothing but the metal netting, wblcb
could not conceal anything or any­
body. Remember, monsieur, that there
were four of »«. and we couldn't fail
to see everything, the cbamlier Is so
small and »< antlly furnished, and all
was ba ked lieldiid In the pavilion."
f ventursd on a hypothesis:
'Terhaps lie got nwav with the mat­
tress in tho mattress! Anything Is
possible In the face of such n mystery.
In their dlstrees of mind M. Stgnger-
son and the concierge may not have
notlc«*d they were bearing a double
weight, especially If the concierge
vere an •ecompHce. I throw out this
hypothesis for what ft 1« worth, but It
explains many thing» and particularly
the fact that neither the laboratory
nor the ve«tibale tiears any traces of
the footmarks fonnd In tbe room. If
In carrying mademoiselle on the mat-
ir.-«a from tlie laboratory they reated
for a moment there might have been
an opportunity for tbe man In It to
aaeape."
“And then?" asked Rouletabllle. de
llberatelv laughing under tbe 1>ed.
I felt rather vexed and replied:
“I don't know, but anything appears
possible.”
•The examining magistrate hnd the
same Ide«, monsieur.” »id Daddy
Jacques, "and he carefully exnmlm-d
the mattreM He waa oblige»! to laugh
at the Idea, monsieur, as your friend
h doing now. for whoever beard of
a mattrea» having a double bottom?”
My friend alone seemed able to talk
Intelligently. He called out from un­
der the bed:
"The mat here haa l>een moved out
of place. Who did It?
'We did. monsieur." explained I »ad­
dy Jacques "When we could not find
the assassin we »«kei ourselves
whether there was not »ome bole in
tbt*
There Is not." replied Rouletabllle
"Is there a cellar?”
“No. there's no cellar But that has
not «topped our searcblag «»1 has not
pravente-l the examining magistrate
ami bls registrar from studying tbe
floor plank by plank. »« if there bad
been a cellar under It.”
The reporter then reappeared. His
sparkling and bis nostrils
eyes were
He remained on his hands
quivered
_______
Thus he made bls way to
and knees
■.I» f. i; corner» of the room, bo to
the four
speak, sniffing and going around ev-
erytblng everything that we could
•ee. which waa not much, and every­
thing that we could not see, which
mint have been lnfinit«.
It
The toilet table was a simple table
rtiding on four legs.
There was
ig about It by which It could
>ly be changed Into a temporary
; place There
““
was not a closet
pboard. Mlle. Stangerson kept
r.U'U know,'
her wardrobe nt the chateau,
Ron IctablPe literally passed ills nose "l et s go lo lilt*
drew i
with lilii
•hu­
and hands along the wal
coustru ted
pin. ed
ft
'■ kwark.
When he had lean a
U.d u< ;oi” •il-slon
lied with tbe walls mid passmi his blllc li-
< are of the I
Loo ■r. We
• tiugera over every portion of the
ilowuMtairx.
yellow paper covering them he reached to wait
the chamber
This Is what passed 1»H
to the ceiling, which he was able to
of the victim while we were waiting
touch by mounting oil a chair pluced
on the toilet table, and by moving below.
The family doctor, tlndlug that Mlle.
this Ingeniously constructed stage
Staugersou vias much belter, but fear­
from place to place be examined tw-
ing a relapse will. h would no longer
ery foot of It. When he had finished
¡icruilt of her being questioned, had
bis scrutiny of the ceiling, where he
thought it Ids duty to Inform tbe ex­
carefully examined the hole made by
amining magistrate of tlds. who de­
the second bullet, h. approached tbe
cided to proceed immediately with a
window and ouce more examined tbe
brief examination. At this exnmina
iron bars and blinds, all of which
tlon the registrar. M. Stangerson nnd
were solid uuil Intact. At last he gave
the doctor were nresc
.resent, Later 1 ol>-
a grunt of satisfaction and declured.
tallied the text of the
....* report of the ex­
"Now 1 am at ease!"
amination, nnd 1 give it here In all its
"Weil, do you lielieve that the poor
legal dryness:
dear young lady was abut up when
"Question. Are you able, tnadetnoi-
she was being murdered -when she
sello, without too mucli fatiguing
cried out for help
wailed Daddy yourself, to give some necessary de­
Jacques.
tails of the frightful attack of which
"les," said the young rejairter, dry­ you have beeu the victim? Answer. 1
ing his forehead; "the yellow room feel much better, monsieur, and I will
was as tightly shut us uu irou safe.”
tell you all I know. When 1 eutered
"The Bete du Bon Dleu," muttered my chamber 1 did not notice anything
Daddy Jacques—"the Bete du Bon Dleu unusual there.
herself. If she bad committed tbe
“Q. What did you do on that day?
'clime, could uot have escaped. Lis- I want you to be as uiluute and pre­
leu! Do you bear It? Hush!"
cise as |s>ssible. I wish to know all
Daddy Jacques mude us a slgu to you did t bat day If it Is uot asklug
keep quiet und, stretching his arm to­ too much of you. A. 1 rose late, at 10
ward tbe wall nearest the forest, lLs- o'clock, for my father aud I had re­
tened to something which we could turned home late on the night previ­
uot hour.
ously, having beeu to dinner at the re­
"It's answering," lie said at length. ception given by tbe president of the
"1 must kill it. It Is too wicked, but republic lu honor of the Academy of
it's the Bete du Bon Dleu, and every Science of Philadelphia. When I left
night it goes to pray on tbe tomb of my chamber ut half past 10 my father
St. Genevieve, und nobody dares to was already at work 111 the laboratory*.
touch her for fear that Mother An- We worked together till midday. We
getioux should cast un evil spell ou then took half an hour's walk In the
them."
park, as we were accustomed to do,
“How big Is the Bete du Bon Dleu?" before breakfasting at the chateau.
"Nearly as big as a small retriever— After breakfast we took another walk
a monster, 1 tell you. Ah, 1 have asked 'for half an hour and then returned to
myself more tbau ouce whether It was the laboratory. There we found my
not she that took our poor made­ I chambermaid, who had come to set my
moiselle by the throat with her ciaws. room in order. I went Into the yel­
But the Bete du Bon Dleu does not low room to give her some slight or-
wear hobnailed boots, nor fire revolv­ <<crs, and she directly afterward left
ers, nor bus she a hand like that!" ex­ the pavilion, ami 1 resumed my work
claimed Daddy Jacques, again point­ with my fattier. At 5 o'clock we again
ing out to us the red mark on the wall. wort for u walk in the park and after
“Besides, vve should have seen her as ward had tea.
well as we would have seen a man.”
*“Q. Before leaving tbe pavilion at 5
"Evidently," 1 said. "Before we bad o’clock did you go Into your chamber?
seen this yellow room I had also asked A. No, monsieur. My father went Into
myself whether the cat of Mother Ati- it. at my request, to bring me my hat.
genoux”—
“Q. And he found nothing suspicious
“You also!” cried Rouletabllle.
there. A. Evidently no. monsieur.
“Didn't you?” 1 asked.
“Q. It Is. then, almost certnln that
"Not for n moment. After reading tlie murderer was not yet concealed
tbe article in the Matin 1 knew that under tlie lied. When you went out
a cat had nothing to do with tbe mat­ was the door of the room locked? A,
ter. But I swear now that a frightful No; there was no reason for locking it.
tragedy has been enacted here. You
“Q. You were «Invent from the pavil­
say nothing about the Basque cap or ion some length of time. M. Stangerson
the handkerchief found here. Daddy and you? A. Aisiut an hour.
Jacques.”
“Q. It was during that hour, no
“Of course tbe magistrate has taken doubt, that the murderer got Into the
them." the old man answered hesi­ pavilion. But bow? Nobody knows.
tatingly.
Fisitmarks have tieen found in the
“I haven't seen either the handker­ park leading away from the window
chief or the cap. yet I can tell you of the vestibule, but none has been
how they are made,” the reporter said found going toward It. Did you notice
to him gravely.
whether the vestibule window was
“Oh, you are very clever,” said Dad­ open when you went out? A. 1 don't
dy Jacques, coughing and embar­ remember.
"M. Stangerson—It was eiossri
rassed.
"The handkerchief Is a large one,
"Q. And when you returned?
blue with red strip»*, and the cap Is
"Mlle. Stangerson I did not notice.
"M Stangerson It waa still closed,
an old Basque cap. like the one you
I remember remarking aloud. ‘Daddy
are wearing now."
“You are a wlzan!!" said Daddy Jacques must surely have opened It
Jacques, trjlng to laugh and not quite while we were away.*
•*y. Strange! Do you recollect. M.
succeeding, "How do you know that
the handkerchief is blue with reel Stangerson. If during your absence
nnd before going out be had opened It?
a tri pea?”
not l>een blue You returned to the talsuatory nt 0
“Because if It had
I
with red stripes I it would not have o’clock nnd resumed work?
"Mlle. Stangerson —Yes. monsieur.
been found at all."
“Q. And you did not leave tbe labo­
Without giving any further atten­
tion to Daddy Jacques my friend took ratory front that hour up to tbe mo­
a piece of paper from his pocket and. ment when you entered your chatulier?
"M StaugwrHon Neither my Plough
taklug eut a pair of xissors. bent
over the footprint«. Placing the [ta­ tsr nor 1. monsieur. We were engag­
per over one of them, be began to ed on w.ck that was pressing, and we
cut. In a short time be had made a lost not a moment. naglectlng every­
perfect pattern, which he banded to thing else on that account.
“Q. DM you dine in the laboratory?
me, I-egg Ing me not to lose It.
He then returned to the window A. For that reason.
"Q. Are yout accustomed to dine tn
and. pointing to tbe figure of Fred
eric Ijirean. who bad not quitted the the laboratory? A. We rarely dine
vide of the lake, asked Iteddy Jacques there.
"Q. Could the murderer have known
whether the detective bad. like hlm-
•elf, been working In tbe yellow room. that you would dine there that even­
"Na” replied Robert Darzac, who ing?
"M. Stangerson Good heaven«' I
tlnce Rouletabllle had banded him the
piece of scorched |»tper bad not ut­ tbiuk not. It was only when we re­
tered a word "He pretend« that he turned to the pavilion at fl o'clock that
doe« not need to examine tbe yellow w<* decided, my daughter and I. to dine
room. He says that the murderer there. At that moment I waa apoken
made his escape from It 1n quite a nat­ to by my gamekeeper, who detained
ural way and that he will Ibis evening in** a moment to ink me to Bcconpany
him on an urgent tour of Inspection In
explain bow he did It.*
a part of the wood« which I bad de­
As he listened to wbat M. Darxac
ckled to thin. I (Kt thia <><T until th«
had to say Ronletabllle turned pale.
"Has Frederic I-araan found out tbe next day and begged him an he was
truth, which I can only guess at?" he going by tbe chateau to tell tbe slew-
murmured. “He is very clever—very ard that we should dine in the lab­
clever and I admire him. Yet I have oratory, ile left me to execute the
errand, and 1 rejoined my daughter,
discovered many things.'
who waa already at work.
"Moral or material?" I asked,
“<J. At what hour, mademoiselle, did
"Several moral, one material. Tbl«.
you go to your cbamtier while your
for example."
And rapidly be drew from his waist father continued to work there? A At
coat p«*-ket a piece of p«[>er in wblcb midnight.
he had placed a light colored hair from
•q. Did Daddy Jacques enter the
a woman'» bead
yellow room in tbe course of tbe even
ing? A. To shut the bllada and light
the night light.
CHAPTER VIII
"<J. He iaw nothing auavlcioua? A
He would have told ua If he bad a*eu
¡»addy Jacques Is an honest man and
The Eiamiaing Magistrate Ques­
greatly attached to me
tiona Mlle. Stangerson.
•*Q. You affirm. M Stangerson. that
I»addy Jacques remained with you all
[WO minutes later, ■■ Rouleta tbe time you were In tbe laboratory?
bl He wan bending over the foot
"M. Stangerson I am sure of It. I
prints discovered In the park. hare no doubt of that.
I under the window of the veatl
"Q. When you entered your cham­
bale, a man. evidently a servant at the ber. mademoiselle, you Immediately
chateau, came toward ua rapidly and shut the door and locked and bolted
called out to M Iraraac, then coming It? Was not that taking unusual pre-
out of tbe purlMua;
cautlopg. knowing that your father
•'M. Robert, tbe ma<istrate, you
m
1
I
and your servant were there? Were
you in fear of something? A. My fa­
ther would l>e returning to the cha­
teau. and Daddy Jacques would l>e go-
Ing to his I hh I.
fear something.
"Q. You were so much In fear of
something that you ls>rrowcd Daddy
Jacques' revolver without telling him
you had done so? A. That Is true. I
did uot wish to alarm aiiylsdy, the
more because my fears might have
proved to have I h - cii foolish.
"Q. What was It you feared? A. I
hardly know how to tell you.
For
several nights 1 seemed to hear, both
in the park and out of the park,
around the pavilion, unusual sounds,
sometimes footsteps, nt other times
the cracking of brunches. The night
before the attack on me. when I did
not get to bed l>efore 3 o’clock In the
mornlug. on our return from the Ely-
see I stood for a moment before my
window, and I felt sure I saw sliiid-
ows.
“Q. How many?
A. Two.
They
moved round the lake. Then the moon
be nine clouded, and I lost sight of
them. At this time of the season every
year 1 have generally returned to my
apartment In the chateau for the win­
ter. but this year I said to thyself that
I weu'd not quit tbe pnviUon before
my father had finished the resume of
Ids works on the 'Dissociation of Mat­
ter' for the academy. I did not wish
that that lui|s>rtant work, which was
to have been tinishisi in the course of
a few days, sltould Is1 delayed by a
change In our dally habit. You can
well understand that 1 did not wish to
speuk of my childish fears to my fa­
ther. nor did I say anything to Daddy
Jacques, who. 1 knew, would not have
been able to hold his tongue. Know­
ing that he hail a revolver In his room,
I took advantage of his absence and
borrowed it. placing It In the drawer
of my night table.
“Q. You know of no enemies you
have? A. None.
"Q. You understand, mademoiselle,
that these precautions are calculated
to cause surprise?
“M. Stangerson Evidently, my child,
such precautions are very surprising.
“A. No, because 1 have told you that
I had been uneasy for two nights.
“M. Stangerson You ought to have
told me of that. This misfortune would
have been avoided.
"<J. The iloor of the yellow room
locked, did you go to Iasi? A. Yes. and,
being very tired, 1 nt otice went to
sleep.
“Q- Tbe night light was still burn-
lug? A. Yes. but it gave a very feeble
light.
"Q- Then, mademoiselle, tell us what
hap|>ened. A. I do not know whetlier I
hud l>een long asleep, but suddenly I
awoke nnd uttered a loud cry.
"M. Stangerson—Yea, a horrible cry,
'Murder.' It still rings In my ears.
"Q. You uttered a loud cry? A. A
man was in my chamber. He sprang
at me and tried to strangle me. I
was nearly stifled when suddenly I
was able to reach tbe drawer of my
night table and grasp the revolver
which I had placed iu it. At that mo-
ment the mail bad forced me to the
foot of my bed and braudislied over
my head a sort of mace, But 1 bad
fired, Ho immediately struck a terrl-
hie blow at my head. All that, mou-
sieur, [Hissed more rapidly tban I can
tell it, and I know nothing more.
"Q. Nothing? Have you no Idea us
to how tlie nsHUHHln could escape from
your chamber? A. None whatever. I
know ted h Ing more, One does not
know what Is isissing arouud one
w hen one Is unconscious.
“Q. Mas the man you an vr tall or
short, little or big? A. I saw only a
shadow wbk'h appeared to > me formld
able.
”Q. You cannot give us any indica­
tlon? A. I know nothing li» >re, mon-
sieur, than tlait u mail threw himself
upon me and that I tired at him. I
know iMitliiug more."
Here the interrogation of Mlle. Btan-
geraoti conclod«*d.
RouietaMlle waited patl.raitly for M.
Robert Dsrzac, who soon apfteared.
From a room near the chamber of
Mile. Rtangeraon he had heard tbe tn-
terrogatory and now came to recount.
It to my friend with great exactitude,
aided by an excellent memory. His
docility still surprised me. Thanks
to hasty pencil notes, he was able to
re,>roduce almost textually the quea
tlon« and tbe annwera given.
It looked as if M Darzac were be
Ing employed as the secretary of my
young friend and acted as If be could
refuse him nothing nay. more, as if
under a compulsion to do so.
Tbe fact of the closed window struck
the reporter as it had atrurk the mag­
istrate. The circumstance of‘the din­
ner In the laboratory also vemsi to
Interest him In the highest degree,
and be had ft repeated to him three
times He also wanted to be sura that I
the forest keeper knew that the pro­
fessor and his daughter were going tn I
dine In the laboratory and how be had
come to know It.
When M. Darzac had finished I said.
"The examination has not advanced
the problem much."
"It has put It buck.” said M Darzac. I
“It has thrown light upon it," said
Rouletabllle thoughtfully.
CHAPTER IX
Reporter and Detective.
[ —rYorT.ETARIIT.E, Dar»c snd I
I
I went l*a<k toward the pavilion
l\j At «ome dlstan» e from the
building the ref»>rter made us
stop and. pointing to a small clump of
trees to the right of ua. said:
’That’» where tlie murderer came
from t<> get Into tbe pavfllon "
As there were other patches of tree«
of the Mme sort between the grea»
«•aks. I .isked w by the murderer ."tiff
< h<*en tlmt on > ritbor than any of tbe
others. RouleUibllle answered me by
pointing t<> tee p-itb wbl It r-in quite
• lose t" tbe tlib .. t to the doer of th«
pavilion.
"That i-.th bi. ns yi u sc-'. top;>ed
with » r ve! ’’ he snhl "
’ man must
li- ve p.i d nl ni It • I" r t > the pa-
' illou, id c co tr.v -i • • !
» c[>s have
been B u’d en the s. ft ground. The
man didn't have wings: lie walked,
but be wnlki'd < n the gravel, which
left no Impression <f hli tread. Tho
gravel his. In fa t. been trodden by
many other feet, since the path Is tbe
most direct way tietween the pavilion
and the chateau. As to tbe thl ket,
made of the sort of shrubs that don’t
flisirtsh in the rough season laurel«
ami fuchsias It offend the murderer
a sufficient biding place until It waa
time for him to make his way to the
liavHion. It was while hiding In that
dump of trees that he saw M. and
Mlle. Stangerson and then Paddy
Jacques leave Hie pavilion, < ; rn vel
has been spread nearly, very m-arly.
up to the windows of the pavlllm The
footprints of a num parallel with tho
wall, murks which vve will examine
presently nnd which 1 have already
seen. prove that ho only need. <1 to
make one stride to find himself In
front of the vestibule window, left
open by Daddy Jacques. The man
drew himself up bv his hands and en­
tered the vi-stlbule."
"After all. It is very possible." I said.
"If 1 did not reason as I do In re­
gard to this gravel," Rouletabllle went
on. "1 should have to assume a bal­
loon. So don’t say a thing Is possible
when It could not lie otherwise. We
know now how tbe man entered by
the window, and we also know the
moment nt which he entered during
the f> o'clock waU of the professor
nnd Ilfs daughter
The fait of the
presence of the chanibermnld. wlm hnd
Ctnne to clean up the yellow room. In
the laboratory when M. Stangerson
nnd Ids laughter returned from their
walk nt naif past 1 permits us to af­
firm that at half past 1 tho murderer
was not In ihc chamber under the bed
unless lie was in collusion with the
chambermaid. Whnt do you say, M.
I »a rzue ?’’
M. Darxac shook his head and said
lie was sure of the chambermaid's
fidelity and that she was n thorough­
ly honest and devoted servant.
"llesldea," he added, “at 5 o'clock
M. Stangerson went Into the room to
fetch bls daughter's hat.”
' There Is that also,” said Rouleta-
| bill«.
"That tbe man entered by the win-
dovv at the time you say, I admit." I
said, "but why did he shut the win­
dow? It was nil act wbli li would nec­
essarily draw the attention of tlio-e
who had left It open.”
“It may be the window was not abut
at once," replied the young reporter.
"Rut If lie did shut the window It waa
tiecause of the bend in the gravel path
a doMn yards from the pavilion and
oti account of the throe onks that ar«
growing at that apot."
"Wbat do you rnenn by that?" asked
M. Isirzac, who had followed ua nnd
llstemsl with almost breathless atten­
tion to all that Rouletabllle had aaid.
"I’ll explain all to you Inter on, mon­
sieur, when I think the moment to bo
ripe for doing no. But I don’t think
I have nnrthlng of more lmj»>rtatic«
to say on tills affair If my liy|sitliesla
Is Justified."
“And what Is your hypotlieabtY*
“You will never know If It dues not
turn out to lie tlie truth. It Is of muct»
too grave a nature to apeak of It no
long as It continue« to be only it by-
pot hen hi. “
"Have you nt least some Idea ns to
who the t'lurrleror Is?”
"No. inonsb ur, 1 don't know who
the r orderer is But don't Is- afraid.
M. Pol. rt Dnnsnc. I ahull know.”
I could not but ob«crve that M. Dnr-
zn>- was deeply moved, and I auspect-
rd that Rouletabllle'» confident asser­
tion was not ph-nstng to him. Why,
I naked my«<‘lf. If he was really nfrald
that ih* nmrderer ahmild l>c discover­
ed. waa li« hcl;>lng the riqxirter to find
film? My young friend acemed to
ha ve received the same Impression,
for he said bluntly:
“M. Darxac, don't you want me to
find out who the murderer wan?"
“Oil. I should like to kill blm with
my own hand!" cried Mlle. Rtanger-
•on'» fiance, with a vehemence that
amazed me.
"I believe yon.” •ald Rouletabille
gravely, "But you have not answered
my question."
We were panning by the.thicket of
which the young reporter bed spoken
to ua n minute before. I entered It
nnd pointed out evident traces of a
man wlm hnd been hidden there.
Rouletabllle once more wan right.
"Tea. ye«," he mid "We have to do
with a thing of fieeh and blood, who
use» the same meant that we do. Tt n
all come out on those lines.”
Having Mid thl», he asked me for
’.he paper pattern of tbe footprint
which be bad given me to take care
of and applied It to a very clear foot­
mark behind the thicket. "Aha!” he
said, rising.
I thought he waa now going to trace
back the track of the murderer*» foot­
marks to tbe vestibule window, but be
led un Instead far to the left, saying
that It wan uncle«« ferreting In the
mud and that he was sure now of the
road taken l>y the murderer.
"He went nl-mg tbe wall to the hedge
nnd dry dlfi It, over which be Jumped.
Hee Ju»t In front of the little |«ntfi
leading tn tbe bike, that was his near­
ent way to get out.”
"How do you know he went to th«
lake?”
"Becaane Frederic latranti ha a not
quitted the borders of It since thia
morning There must be some Impor­
ta re.mr.rkn there."