The record-union., 1896-02-29

In it's operations to come within the
range of belief, especially since it must
have been exercised at a considerable
distance, and by someone who had
nothing in his bearing to exert any pc
culiar effect upon me of which 1 had
been conscious. for / could remember
no one at the hotel who had produced
any such effect. We were evidently
baked again, and ia both of us, at
first, it seemed final
We'll, is there anything left?" ]
asked dejectedly. after the Frenehman
had taken his leave.
Il am at a loss for an answer" Mr..
Galton replied. II had put SO much
faith in the success of some one of the
three theories which have failed us
that l have given no serious thought
to anything else.''
IF / thought there was any chance
I should go back to the old hotel in the
mountains and search for a clew
there 1 said. But have heard that
my old landlord is dead and the house
is in the hands of another. 1t is very
doubtful whether I should find sim
gle person there whom / knew before. .
And yet the old registers are likely
TO have been preserved" he rejoined,
"and list of the names of those who
were lodging there at the same time
might possibly help US along"
Shall / write to the present owner
and have list transcribed" I asked.
There is too much chance for mac
curacy. If we are to prosecute this
matter with any hope of success, we
must leave no opportunity for a slip
at any point. Why not go down there
at once? There is nothing to keep me
here, and the trip will do both of us
good, even if nothing comes of it."
Il don't want to drag you over the
country on my account" l answered,
'but if you really feel that you had
rather go than not, / shall certainly be
very thankful for your interest
He did feel so, and after the few days
necessary for preparation, we set out
on our journey.
AS / had expected, we found no one
at the hotel whom I had known there
before; but the register had been pre-
served, and we easily secured permis-
sion to take it to our room for a thor
ough search, and to copy such portions
as we might desire. / ran over the
list. hastily checking the names of all
whom / clearly remembered, Galton
looking over my shoulder.
Well" I suggested, as I-reached the
end, Il see nothing suggestive, do
you?"
"Only the name of M. Castor Le-
roux' from New Orleans. 1t runs in
mind that 1 have heard of this man,
through a friend in that city, as a
teacher of French literature in a pri-
vate school If SO, his acquaintance
with the romance in question would be
highly probable. But you have not
checked his name; can you recall moth
ing of him?"
Il cannot bring up the slightest rec
objection of him." / answered, after
pacing the room in earnest effort for a
few moments, while Mr.. Galton sat
down and scanned again the pages of
the register.
"See herei" said he, starting up sud-
denly, didn't you say that you were
absent from the hotel, at the cabin of
that old mountaineer, just a week."
Yes" I answered, 'the register will
show it. / left on the day when the Gov
party of ladies took dinner here, and I
registered again as soon as I returned.
You will find it just g. week, by COM
pairing entries"
Il find it exactly two weeks" said he
with some excitement; ''and further
more, your memory as to the day on
which you left is confirmed by an entry
made by the landlord himself on the
page where you first registered.
/ could scarcely trust my ears as I
listened, SO clearly did it stand forth in
my memory that my absence had lasted
exactly one week; but when I looked at
the entries for myself, 1 found it just as
he said
We'll, what do you make out of it?"
asked in bewildered way.
II don't know; one might be tempted
to think the place under the spell of
some Internal influence, capable of al
tering the fundamental laws of nature
and reason. But one thing is certain
we must hunt up that mountaineer and
see whether he can throw any light on
that lost week"
We ordered an early breakfast, and by
sunrise the next morning were fairly on
our way. Riding over the mountain
trails was slow work, but it was not yet
10 o'clock when we came in sight of an
immense crag which ] remembered at
once as only a half-mile from the cabin
we were seeking. Soon the cabin itself
was in sight, but our hopes were dashed
by the discovery that it had been long
deserted. A mound near by, with a
rudely lettered sandstone slab at its
head, ended all hope of assistance from
the old mountaineer.
''Well, as we are here" Mr.. Galton
said, land thwarted in our main pur-
pose, suggest that we ride on to the top
of yonder peak and enjoy the view We
can reach it in an hour and that will
give us plenty of time to rest our horses
and get back to the hotel before the
moon goes down.
So we sprung into our saddles and
started on. / can remember distinctly
reaching the peak, and / can remember
returning again to the hotel Were
dependent upon memory alone, / should
not hesitate to add that / remember
clearly that our stay upon the peak was
only long enough to give our horses a
reasonable amount of rest before our
home journey. But such was not the
case. What actually did happen I shall
transcribe literally from the report
-.- .mu MAM 81