IS
HOME AND FARM MAGAZINE SECTION SERIAL.
The Secret of the Night By Gaston Leroux
Timri.i.iNG ivsti:ry story of iii'ssmx imkiuik by otki FKKMH .UTHIIII.
IIOME AND FARM MAGAZINE SECTION
(iayelr find Dynamite.
AltlNIA, tlie young stranger
has arrived.
"Where Is he?"
"Oh, he Ib waiting at the lodge."
"1 told you to show him to Natueha's
sitting-room. Didn't you understand
me, Krmolal?"
"Pardon, Bafinla, but tlie young
stranger, when I asked to search him,
as you directed, flatly refused to let
me."
"Did you explain to him that 'every
body Is searched before being allowed
to enter, that It is the order, and that
even my mother herself has submitted
to it?"
"I told him all that, Baiinla; and I
told him about madame, your mother."
"What did he say to that?"
"That he was not madame your
mother. He acted angry."
"Well, let him come in without being
starched."
"The Chief of Police won't like it."
"Do as I say."
Ermolal bowed and returned to the
garden. The "harlnla" left the veranda,
where she had come for this conversa
tion with the old servant of General
Trebassof, her husband, and returned
to the dining-room in the datcl.a des
lies, where the gay Councilor Ivan Pe
trovltch was regaling his amused as
sociates with his latest exploit at Cu
bat's esort. They were a noisy com
pany, and certainly the quietest among
them was not the General, who nursed
on a sofa the leg which still held him
captive after the recent attack, that to
his old coachman and his two piebald
horses had proved fatal. The story of
the always-amiable Ivan Pelroviteh (a
lively, little, elderly man with his head
bald as an egg) was about the evening
before. After having, as lie said, "re
cure la bouche" for these gentlemen
spoko French like their own language
and used It among themselves to keep
their servants from understanding
after having wet his whistle with a
large glass of sparkling rosy French
wine, he cried:
"You would have laughed, Feodor
Fcodnrnvltch. We had sung songs on
the Barque and then the Bohemians
left with their music and we went out
onto the river bank to stretch our legs
and cool our faces' In the freshness of
the dawn, when a company of Cossacks
of the Guard came along. I knew the
officer in command and invited him to
come along with us and drink the Em
peror's health at Cubat's place. That
officer, Feodor Feodorovitch, is a man
who knows vintages and boasts that he
has never swallowed a glass of any
thing so common an Crimean wine.
When I named champagne he cried,
Vive l Kmperenrl' A true patriot. So
we started, merry as school children.
The entire company followed, then all
the diners playing little whistles, and
all the servants besides, single file. At
Cubat's I hated to leave the companion
officers of my friend at the door, so I
Invited them in, too. They accepted,
naturally. But the subalterns were
thirsty as well. I understand discipline.
You know, Feodor Feodorovitch, that
I am a stickler for discipline. Just be
cause one Ib gay of a Spring morning,
discipline should not he forgotten. 1
Invited the officers to drink in a pri
' vate room, and sent the subalterns Into
the main hall of tlie restaurant. Then
tlie soldiers wero thirsty, too, and I
had drinks served to them out in the
courtyard. Then, my word, there was
a perplexing business, for now the
horses whinnied. The brave horses,
Feodor Feodorovitch, who also wished
to drink the health of the Kmpcror. I
was bothered about the discipline. Hall,
court, all were full. And I could not
put the horses in private rooms. Well.
I made them carry out champagne In
pails and then came the perplexing
business I had tried so hard to avoid,
a grand mixture of boots nnd horse
shoes that was certainly the liveliest
thine I have ever seen In my life. But
the horses were the most Joyous, and
danced as if a. torch was held under
their nostrils, and all of them, my
word! were ready to throw their riders
because the men were not of the same
mind with them as to the route to fol
low! From our window we hushed fit
to kill at such a mixture of sprawling
boots and dancing hoofs. But the troop.
ei-B finally got all their horses to bar
racks, with patience, for the Kmperor's
cavalty are the best riders In the
world, Feodor Feodorovitch. And we
certainly had a great laugh! Your
health, Matrena Petrovna."
These last graceful words wero ad
dressed to Madame Trebassof, who
shrugged her shoulders at the unde
slred gallantry of the gay Councilor.
She did not join In the conversation,
excepting to calm the General, who
wished to send the whole regiment to
tho guard-house, men and horses. And
while the roisterers laughed over the
adventure she Bald to her husband In
tlie advisory voice of the helpful wife:
"Feodor, you must not attach Im
portance to what that old fool Ivan
tolls you. He Is tho most Imaginative
man In the capital when he has had
champagne."
"Ivan, you certainly have not had
horses served with champagne In
pails," the old boaster, Atlianase
Ueorgevlteh, protested jealously. He
was an advocate, well-known for his
table-feats, who claimed the hardest
drinking reputation of any man in the
capital, and he regretted not to have
Invented that tale.
"On my word! And the best brands!
I had won 4000 roubles. 1 left the little
fete with 15 kopecks."
Matrena Petrovna was listening to
Ermolal, the faithful country servant
who won? always, even here In the city,
his habit of fresh nankeen, his black
leather belt, his large bluo pantaloons
and his boots glistening like ice, his
country costume In his master's eity
home. Madame Matrena rose, after
lislitly stroking the hair of her step
daughter Natacha, whose eyes followed
her to the door, indifferent apparently
to the tender manifestations of her
father's orderly, tlie soldler-poet, Boris
Mourazoff, who had written beautiful
verses on the death of the Moscow stu
dents, after having shot them, In the
way of duty, on their barricades.
Ermolal conducted his mistress to
the drawing-room and pointed across
to a door that he had left open, which
led to the sitting-room before Natacha's
chamber.
"He Is there," said Ermolal In a low
voice.
Ermolal need have said nothing, for
that matter, since Madame Matrena
was aware of a stranger's presence in
the sitting-room by the extraordinary
attitude of an individual in a maroon
frock coat bordered with false astra
khan, such as is on the coats of all the
Russian police agents and makes the
secret agents recognizable at first
glance. This policeman was on his
knees In the drawing-room watching
what passed In the next room through
the narrow space of light In the hinge
way of the door. In this manner, or
some other, all persons who wished to
approach General Trebassof were kept
under observation without their know
ing It, after having been first searched
at the lodge, a measure adopted since
the latest attack.
Madame Matrena touched the police
man's shoulder with that heroic hand
which had saved her husband's life and
which strll bore traces of the terrible
explosion In the last attack, when she
had seized the Infernal machine In
tended for the General with her bare
hand. The policeman rose and silently
left the room, reached the veranda and
lounged there on a sofa, pretending to
be asleep, but in reality watching the
garden paths.
Matrena Petrovna took his place at
the hinge-vent. This was her rule; she,
always took the final glance at every
thing nnd everybody. She roved at all
hours of the day and night round about
the General, like a watch-dog, ready to
bite, to throw itself before the danger,
to receive the blows, to perish for its
master. This had commenced at Mos
cow after the terrible repression, the
massacre of revolutionaries under the
walls of Presnia, when the surviving
Nihilists left behind them a placard
condemning the victorious General Tre
bassof to death. Matrena Petrovna
lived only for the General, fine had
vowed that she would not survive him.
So sho had double reason to guard him.
But she had lost all confidence even
within the walls of her own home.
Things had happened even there that
defied her caution, her Instinct, her
love. Bhe had not spoken of these
things save to the Chief of Police, Kou
priane, who had reported them to the
Emperor. And here now was the man
whom the Emperor had sent, as the
supreme resource, this young stranger
Joseph Rouletabllle, reporter.
"But he is a mere boy!" she ex
claimed, without at all understanding
the matter, this youthful figure, with
soft, rounded cheeks, eyes clear and,
at first view, extraordinarily naive, tho
eyes of an Infant. True, at the moment
Rouletabllle's expression hardly sug
gested any superhuman profundity of
thought, for, left In view of a table,
spread with hors-d'oeuvres, the young
man appeared solely occupied in dig
ging out with a spoon all the caviare
that remained in the jars. Matrena
noted the rosy freshness of his cheeks,
the nbsence of down on his Hp and not
a hint of beard, the thick hair, with the
curl over the forehead. Ah, that fore
head the forehead was curious, with
great overhanging cranial lumps which
moved above the deep arcade of the
eye-sockets while the mouth was busy
well, one would have said that Rou
lelabillc had not eaten for a week. He
was demolishing a great slice of Vol-
gan sturgeon, contemplating at the
same time with immense interest a
salad of creamed cuoumbers, when Ma
trena Petrovna appeared.
He wished to excuse himself at once
and spoke with his mouth full.
"I beg your pardon, madame, but the
Czar forgot to Invite me to breakfast."
Madame Matrena smiled and gave
htm a hearty handshake as she urged
him to bo seated.
"You have seen his Majesty?"
"I come from him, madame. It is to
Madame Trebassof that I have the hon
or of speaking?"
"Yes. And you are Monsieur ?"
"Joseph Rouletabllle, madame. .1 do
not add, 'At your service' because I do
not know about that yet. That Is what
I said Just now to his Majesty."
"Then?" asked Madame Matrena,
rather amused by the tone the conver
sation had taken and the slightly flur
ried air of Rouletabllle.
"Why, then, I am a reporter, you
see. That Is what I said at once to my
editor In Paris, '1 am not going to take
part In revolutionary affairs that do
not concern my country,' to which my
editor replied, 'You do not have to take
part. You must go to Russia to make
an inquiry into the present status of
the different parties. You will com
mence by interviewing the Emperor.'
I said, 'Well, then, here goes,' and took
the train.
"And you have Interviewed the Em
peror?" "Oh, yes, that has not been difficult.
I expected to arrive direct at St. Pe
tersburg, but at Krasnoie-Coclo the
train stopped and the grand marshal of
the court came to me and asked me to
follow him. It was very flattering.
Twenty minutes later I was before his
Majesty. He awaited me! I under
stood at once that this was obviously
for something out of the ordinary."
"And what did he say to you?"
"He is a man of genuine majesty. He
reassured me at once when 1 explained
my scruples to him. He said there was
no occasion for me to take part in the
politics of the matter, but to save his
most faithful servant, who was on the
point of becoming the victim of the
strangest family drama ever con
ceived." Madame Matrena, white as a sheet,
rose to her feet.
"Ah," she said simply.
But Rouletabllle, whom nothing es
caped, saw her hand tremble on the
back of the chair. '
He went on, not appearing to ha"ve
noticed her emotion:
"His Majesty added these exact
words: 'It Is I who ask it of you; I
and Madame Trebassof. Go, monsieur,
she awaits you." "
He ceased and waited for Madame
Trebassof to speak.
She made up her mind after brief re
flection. "Have you seen Koupriane?"
"The Chief of Police? Yes. The
grand-marshal accompanied me back
to the station at Krasnoie-Coelo. and
the Chief of Police accompanied me to
St. Petersburg station. One could not
have been better. received."
"Monsieur Rouletabille," said Matre
na. who visibly strove to regain her
self-control, "I am not of Kouprlane's
opinion and I am not" here she low
ered her trembling voice "of the opin
ion his Majesty holds. It is better for
me to tell you at once, so that you may
not regret Intervening in an affair
where there are where, there are
risks terrible risks to run. No, this
is not a family drama. The family Is
small, very small; the General, his
daughter Natacha (by his former mar
riage), and myself. There could not
be a family drama among us three. It
is simply about my husband, monsieur,
who did his duty as a soldier in de
fending tho throne of his sovereipn,
my husband, whom they mean to as
sassinate! Thero Is nothing else, no
other situation, my dear little guest."
To hide her distress she started to
carve a slice of jellied veal and carrot.
"Y'ou have not eaten, you are hungry.
It is dreadful, my dear young man. See,
you must dine with us, and then you
will say adieu. Y'es, you will leave me
all alone. I will undertake to save 411111
all alone. Certainly, 1 will undertake
it."
A tear fell on the slice she was carv
ing. Rouletabllle, who felt the brave
woman's emotion affecting him also,
braced himself to keep from show
ing it.
"I am able to help you a little all the
same," he said. "Monsieur Koupriane
has told me that there Is a deep mys
tery. It is my vocation to get to tho
bottom of mysteries."
"I know what Koupriane thinks."
she said, shaking her head. "But If I
could bring myself to think that for a
single day I would rather be dead."
The good Matrena Petrovna lifted
her beautiful eyes to Rouletabllle,
brimming with the tears she held back.
She added quickly:
"But eat now, my dear guest; eat.
My dear child, you must forget what
Koupriane has said to you, when you
are back in-France."
"I promise you that, madame."
"It Is the Emperor who has caused
you this long Journey. For me, I did
not wish it. Has he, indeed, so much
confidence In you?" she asked naively,
gazing at him fixedly through her
tears.
"Madame, I was just about to tell
you. I have been active In some im
portant matters that have been re
ported to him. and then sometimes your
Emperor is allowed to see the papers.
Ho has heard talk, too tfor everybody
talked of them, madame), about the
Mystery of the Y'cllow Room and the
Perfume of the Lady In Black."
Here Rouletabille watched Madame
Trebassoff and was much mortified at
the undoubted Ignorance that showed
In her frank face of either the yellow
room or the blsek perfume.
"My young friend," said she, in a
voice more and more, hesitant, "you
must excuse me, but It is a long time
since 1 have had good eyes for read
ing." Tears, at last ran down her cheeks.
Rouletabllle could not restrain hini
Relf any further. He saw In one flash
all this heroic woman had suffered In
her combat day by day with the death
which hovered. He took her little
hands, whose fingers were evorloaded
with rings, tremulously into his own:
"Madame, do not weep. They wih
to kill your husband. Well, then, we
will be two at least to defend him, I
swear to you."
"Even against the Nihilists!" -
"Aye. madame, against the world. I
have eaten all your caviare. I am
your nuest. I am your friend."
As he said this he was so excited,
so sincere and so droll that Madame
Trebassof could not help smiling
through her tears, sue made him sit
down beside her.
"The Chief of Police has talked of
you a great deal. He came here
abruptly after the last attack and a
mysterious happening that I will tell
you about. He cried, 'Ah, we need
Rouletabllle to unravel this!' The next
day he came here again. He had gone
to the Court. There, everybody, it ap
pears, was talking of you. The
Emperor wished to know you. That
Is why steps were taken through the
ambassador at Paris."
"Yes, yes. And naturally all the
world has learned of it. That makes
It so lively. The Nihilists warned me
Immediately that I would not reach
Russia alive. That, finally, was what
decided me on coming. 1 am naturally
very contrary."
"And how did you get through the
journey?"
"Not badly. I discovered at once in
the train a young Slav assigned to kill
me, and I reached an understanding
with him. He was a charming youth,
so it was easily arranged."
Rouletabille was eating away now
at strange viands that it would have
been difficult for him to name. Ma
trena Petrovna laid her fat little hand
on his arm:
"Y'ou speak seriously?"
"Very seriously."
"A small glass of vodka?"
"No alcohol."
Madame Matrena emptied her little
glass at a draught.
"And how did you discover him?
How did you know him?"
"First, he wore glasses. All Nihilists
wear glasses when traveling. And then
I had a good clew. A minute before
the departure from Paris I had a
friend go into the corridor of the
sleeping-ear, a reporter who would do
anything I said without even wanting
to know why. I said, 'You call out
suddenly and very " loud, "Hello, here
Is Rouletabille."' So he called, 'Hello,
here is Rouletabille,' and all those who
were In the already in the compart
ments came out, excepting the man
with the glasses. Then I was sure
about him."
Madame Trebassof looked at Roule
tabllle, who turned as red as the comb
of a rooster and was rather embar
rassed at his fatuity.
"That deserves a rebuff, I know, ma
dame, but from the moment the Emper
or of all the Russians had desired to
see me I could not admit that any
mere man with glasses had not the
curiosity to see what I looked like. It
was not natural. As soon as the train
was off I sat down by this man and
told him who 1 thought he was. I was
right. He removed his glasses and.
looking me straight In the eyes, said
he was glad to have a little talk with
me before anything unfortunate hap
pened. A half-hour later the entente
cordlale was signed. I gave him to
understand that I was coming here
simply on business as a reporter and
that there was always time to check
me if 1 should he indiscreet. At the
German frontier he left me to go on,
and returned tranquilly to his nitro
glycerine." "You are a marked man, also, my
poor boy."
"Oh. they have not got us yet."
Matrena Petrovna coughed. That us
overwhelmed her. With what calmness
this boy that she had not known an
hour proposed to share the dangers of
a situation that excited general pity,
but from which the bravest kept aloof
either from prudence or dismay.
"Ah. my friend, a little of this fine
smoked Hamburg beef?"
But the young man was already
pouring out fresh yellow beer.
"There," said he. "Now, madame, I
am listening. Tell me first about the
earliest attack."
"Now," said Matrena, "we must go
to dinner."
Rouletabille looked at her wide
eyed. "But, madame, what have I just
been doing?"
Madame Matrena smiled. All these
strangers were alike. Because they
had eaten some hors-d'oeuvres, some
zakouskls, they imagined their host
would be satisfied. Tlicy did not know
how to eat.
"We will go to the dining-room. The
general is expecting you. They are at
table."
"I understand I am supposed to know
him."
"Y'es, ou have met In Paris. It is
entirely natural that In passing
through St. Petersburg you should
make him a visit. Y'ou know him very
well indeed, so well that he opens his
home to ycu. Ah. yes. my stepdaughter
also," she flushed a little "Natacha
believes that her father knows yon."
She opened the door of the drawing
room, which they had to cross in order
to reach the dining-room.
(To lie Continue d.)