15
HOME AND FARM MAGAZINE SECTION SERIAL.
The Secret of the Night By Gaston Leroux
THRILLING MYSTERY STORY OP HISSIAV INTRIGl'E BY NOTED FRENCH AUTHOR.
HOME AND FARM MAGAZINE SECTION
SYNOPSIS OF PREVIOUS CHAP
TEKS. Young Joseph RoulMabllle, osten
sibly a reporter for a Parisian news
paper but In fact a detective of re
nown, la railed to Russia by the Csar
to save the life of General Trebasaol
(Feodor Keodorovltch), who haa been
condemned to death by the Nlillllsts,
He Is received by the Oenernl'g ever
' faithful and ever-watchful wife,
Madame Trebassof (Matrena Petro
vinar. He meeut Natacha, the Gen
eral's daughter by a previous marriage.
FIOM Ills present position Houlet
ablllo could see all the corners of
the drawing-room, the veranda,
the garden and the entrance
lodge at the gate. In the
veranda the man In the maroon
frock-coat trimmed with false astrak
han seemed still to be asleep on the
sofa; In one sf the corners of the
drawing - room another Individual,
silent and motionless as a statue,
dressed exactly the same, In a maroon
frock-coat with false astrakhan, stood
with his hands behind his back seem
ingly struck with general paralysis at
the sight of a flaring sunset which
illumined as with a torch the golden
spires of Saints Peter and Paul, And
in the garden and before the lodge
three others dressed In maroon roved
like souls in pain over the lawn or
back and forth at the entrance. Rou
letabille motioned to Madame Matrena,
stepped back into the sitting-room and
closed the door,
"Police?" he asked.
Matrena Petrovna nodded her head
and put her finger to her mouth in a
naive way, as "One would caution a
child to silence. Rouletabille smiled.
"How many are there?"
"Ten, relieved every six hours."
"That makes forty unknown men
around your house each day."
"Not unknown," she replied. "Police."
"Yet, In spite f them, you have had
the affair of the bouquet in the gen
eral's chamber."
"No, there were only three then. It
Ib since the affair of the bouquet that
there have been ten."
"It hardly matters. It Is since these
ten that you have had . . ."
"What?" he demanded anxiously.
"You know well the flooring."
"8h-h-h." , . .
She glanced at the door, watching
the policeman statuesque before the
setting sun.
"No one knows that not even my
husband." ' .. it
"So M. Kouprlane told me. Then It
is you who have arranged for these ten
police-agents?"
"Certainly." .
"Well we will commence now by
sending' all these police awav.''
Matrena Petrovna grasped his hand,
"Sly you don't think of doing such
-yes? We mVt know where the blow
Is coming from. Vou have four dif
fereT groups of people around here
the police the domestics, your friends,
your amlly. Get rid of the police
first They must not be permitted to
cross your threshold. They have not
S able to protect you You have
mithina- to regret. And if, after- tney
Sre gone something new 'turns up we
can leave M. Koupriane to conduct he
fnjuirie. without his being preoccupied
"BuVyoTnoVknow the admirable
nollce of Kouprlane. These brave men
have KWen proof of their devotion."
s?nf
P "bSi they will not wish to go.
"Bo any of them speak French?"
"?es. their sergeant, who is out there
In the salon." n
MadYm?TrrtM.of walked into the
Mauame , T, man appeared.
KetaWlKSSd him a paper, which
otunwlirrB'a,ther your men together
you win or(jered Rouleta-
tm.,U ToJ wi return to the police
bille. You w ui Kouprlane
SThav commanded this and that
and said to the young man:
"At your service.
"w.TrVefe moment, urged
tVwL9d.aBhurnedA She appeared
SWaSTST?
failed in their service. I have ap
tfl-wh... truth
the villa so as to watch as closely
as possible."
She reddened.
"It Is true. But they have gone,
nevertheless. They had to obey you.
What can that paper be you have
shown them?"
Rouletabille drew out again the billet
covered with seals and signs and
caballstics that he did not understand.
Madame Trebassof translated It aloud:
"Order to all officials in surveillance
of the Villa Trebassof to obey the
bearer absolutely.. Signed: Kouprlane."
"Is It possible!" murmured Matrena
Petrovna. "But Kouprlane would never
have given you this paper if he had
imagined that you would use it to
dismiss his agents."
"Evidently. I have not asked him
his advice, madame, you may be sure.
But I will see him tomorrow and he
will understand."
"Meanwhile, who Is going to watch
over him?" cried she.
Rouletabille took her hands again.
He saw her suffering, a prey to anguish,
almost prostrating. He pitied her. He
wished to give her immediate confi
dence. "We will," he said.
She saw his young, clear eyes, sa
deep, so intelligent, the well-formed
young head, the willing face, all his
young ardency for her, and it reas
sured her. Rouletabille waited for
what she might say. She said noth
Ing. She took him in. her arms and
embraced him.
II.
Nataihsu
In the dining-room it was Thaddeus
Tchnlchnikoff's turn to tell hunting
stories. He wag the greatest timber
merchant in Lithuania. He owned im
mense forests and he loved Feodor Feo
dorovltch as a brother, for they had
played together all through their child
hood, and once he had saved him from
a bear that was just about to crush his
skull as one might knock off a hat.
tleneral Trebassof's father was Gov
ernor of Courlande at that time by the
grace of God and the Little Father.
Thaddeus, who was just thirteen years
old, killed the bear with a single stroke
of his boar-spear, and Just in time.
Close ties were knit between the two
families by this occurrence, and though
Thaddeus wan neither noble-born nor
a soldier, Feodor considered him hli
brother and felt toward him as such.
Now Thaddeus had become the greatest
timber merchant of the western prov
inces, with his own forests and also
with his massive body, his fat, oily
face, his bull-neck -and his ample
paunch. He quitted everything at once
all his affairs, his family as soon
as he learned of the first attack, to
come and remain by the side of his
dear comrade, Feodor.- He had, done
this after each attack, without forget
ting one. He was a faithful friend.
But he fretted because they might not
go bear-hunting as in their youth.
Where, he would ask, are there any
bears remaining In Courlande, or trees
for that matter, what you could call
trees, growing since the days of the
grand-dukes of Lltuanla, giant trees
that threw their shade right .up to
the very edge of the towns? Where
were such things nowadays? Thaddeus
was very amusing, for it was he, cer
tainly, who had cut them away tran
quilly enough and watched them van
ish In locomotive smoke. It was what
was called Progress. Ah, hunting lost
its national character assuredly with
tiny new-growth trees which had not
had time to grow. And, besides, one
nowadays had not time for hunting.
All the big game was so far away.
Lucky enough If one seized the time to
bring down a brace of woodcock early
In the morning. At this point in Thad
deus' conversation there was a bsbble
In this story, according to Russian habit
Genera) Trebassof Is called alternately by
that name or the family name Feodor
Feodorovltch, and Madame Trebassof by
that rnme or her fnmlly name, Matrena
J'e'rnvrn. Translator's Vote,
of talk among the convivial gentlemen,
for they had all the time in the world
at their disposal and could not see why
he should be so concerned about
snatching a little while at morning or
evening, or at midday for that matter.
Champagne was flowing like a river
when Rouletabille was brought in by
Matrena Petrovna. The general, whose
eyes had been on the door for some
time, cried at once, as though re
sponding to a cue:
"Ah, my dear Rouletabille!. I have
been looking for you. Our friends Wrote
me you were coming to St. Petersburg."
Rouletabille hurried over to him and
they shook hands like friends who meet
after a long separation. The reporter
wag presented to the company as a
close young friend from Paris whom
they had enjoyed so much during their
last visit to the City of Light. Every
body inquired for the latest word of
Paris as of a dear acquaintance. "
"How ig -everybody at Maxim's?"
urged the excellent Athanase George
vltch. Thaddeus, too, had been once in Parla
and he returned with an enthusiastic
liking for the French demoiselles.
"Vos gogottes, monsieur," he said,
appealing very amiable and leaning on
each word, with a gutteral emphasis
such as is common in the western prov
ince, "ah, vos gogottes!"
Matrena Petrovna tried to silence
him, but Thaddeus insisted on his right
to appreciate the fair sex away from
home. He had i turgid, sentimental
wife, always weeping and cramming
her religious notions down his throat.
Of course someone asked Rouletabille
what he thought of Russia, but he had
no more than opened his mouth to reply
than Athanase Georgevltch. closed it
by Interrupting:
"Permettez! Permettezl You others,
of the young generation, what do you
know of It? You need to have lived a
long time and In all its districts to
appreciate Russia at Its true value.
Russia, my young sir, is as yet a closed
book to you."
"Naturally," Rouletabille answered,
smiling.
"Well, well, here's your health! What
I would point out to you first of all is
that it Is a good buyer of champagne,
eh?" and he gave a huge grin. "But
the hardest drinker I ever knew was
born on the banks of the Seine. Did
you know him, Feodor Feodorovltch?
Poor Charles Dufour, who died two
years ago at a fete of the officers! of
the Guard. He wagered at the end of
the banquet that he could drink a
glassful of champagne to the health of
each man there. There were Bixty
when you came to count them. He
commenced the round of the table and
the affair went splendidly up to the
fifty-eighth man. But at the fifty
ninth think of the misfortune! the
champagne ran out! That poor, that
charming, that, excellent Charleg took
up a glass of vln dore which was In
the glass of this fifty-ninth, wished
him long life, drained the glass at one
draught, had Just time to murmur,
'Tokay, 1807,' and fell back dead! Ah,
he knew the brands, my word! and he
proved It to his last breath! Peace to
his ashes! They asked what he died of.
I knew he died because of the Inappro
priate blend of flavors. There should
be discipline In all things and not pro
miscuous mixing. One more glass of
champagne and lie would have been
drinking with us this evening. Your
health, Matrena Petrovna. Champagne,
Feodor Feodorovltch! Vive la France,
monsieur! Natacha, my child, you must
sing something. Boris will accompany
you on the guzla. Your father will
enjoy it."
All eyes were turned toward Natacha
as she rose.
Rouletabille was struck by her serene
beauty. That was the first enthralling
impression, an Impression so strong it
astonisrfed him, the perfect serenity,
the supreme calm, the tranquil har
monv of her noble features. Natacha
wee twenty. Heavy brown hair circled
about her forehead and was looped
about her ears, which were half con
cealed. Her profile was clear-cut; her
mouth wag strong and revealed be
tween red, firm lips the even pearlinesg
of her teeth. She was of medium
height. In walking she had the free,
li(fht step of the high-born maidens
who, In primal times, pressed the flow,
ers as they passed without crushing
them. But all her true grace seemed to
be accentuates In her eyes, which were
deep and of a dark blue. The impres
sion she made upon a beholder was
very complex. And it would have been
difficult to say whether the calm which
pervaded every manifestation of her
beauty wag the result of conscious con
trol or the most perfect ease.
She took down the guzla and handed
it to Boris, who struck some plaintive
preliminary chords.
"What shall I sing?" she inquired,
raising her father's hand from the back
of the aofa, where he rested, and kiss
ing it with filial tenderness.
"Improvise," said the general. "Im
provise in French, for the sake of our
gueBt"
"Oh, yes," cried Boris; "Improvise
as you did the other evening."
He immediately struck a minor chord.
Natacha looked fondly at her father
as she sang:
When the moment comes that parts us at
the close of day, when the Angel of Sleep
covers you with azure wings;
Oh, may your eyes rest from so many teara,
and your oppressed heart have calm:
In each moment that we have together.
Father dear, let our souls feel harmony
sweet and mystical;
And when your thoughts may have flown
to other worlds, oh, may- my Image, at
least, nestle within your sleeping eyes,
Natacha's voice was sweet, arid the
charm of It subtly pervasive. The words
as she uttered them seemed to have all
the quality of a prayer and there were
teara In all eyes, excepting those of
Michael Korsakoff, the second orderly,
whom Rouletabille appraised as a man
with a rough heart ljot much open to
Bentlment.
"Feodor Feodorovltch." eald thii offi
cer, when the young girl's voice had
faded away into the blending with the
last note of the guzla. "Feodor Feodor
ovltch is a man "and a glorious soldier
who is able to sleep In peace, because
he hag labored for his country and for
his Czar."
"Yes, yes. Labored well! A glorious
soldier!" repeated Athanase George
vltch and Ivan Petrovitch, "Well may
he sleep peacefully."
"Natacha sang like an angel," said
Boris, the first orderly, in a tremulous
voice.
"Like an angel, Boris Nlkolalevltch.
But why did she speak of his heart
oppressed? I don't see that General
Trebassof has a heart oppressed, for
my . part" Michael Korsakoff spoke
roughly as he drained his glass.
"No, that's bo, Isn't It?" agreed the
others.
"A young girl may wish her father
a pleasant Bleep, surely!" said Matrena
Petrovna, with a certain good sense.
"Natacha has affected us all, has she
not, Feodor?"
"Yes, she made me weep," declared
the general. "But let us have cham
pagne to cheer us up. Our young friend
here will think we are chicken
hearted." "Never think that," said Rouleta
bille. "Mademoiselle has touched me
deeply as well. She Is an artist, really
a great artist. And a poet."
"He is from Paris; he knows," said
the others. "
And all drank.
Then they talked about music, with
great display of knowledge concerning
things operatic. First one, then an
other went to the piano and ran
through some motif that the rest
hummed a little first, then shouted in
a rousing chorus.
To Be Continued.)
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