The Black Hills union. [volume] (Rapid City, Pennington County, Dakota [S.D.]) 1889-1904, 1897-02-12
THE MAN WHO VANISHED,
BY FERGUS HUME.
CHAPTER XI-CONTINUED.
'!He stayed. said Dentham solemn

HE stayed. said Dentham solemn
How do you knowP' asked Rudall.
ward, or hear any noises to lead you
to suspect that Mr.. Lancaster might
be concealed there%
Dentham shook his head.
mo. | neither saw nor heard any
thing" he replied quickly, .'but it
was a wet night when he came. and
after l found the walking stick l
searched for his footmarks. 1 traced
them more Or less clearly from the
garden door up to the window of the
room in which | heard the voices He
must have left the same way il he
left at all; but all the footmarks
pointed toward the house, and none
away from it. so I'm certain ha did
not go away"
'You're quite a detective" said
Teddy, with a smile. and, certainly.
your explanation is a very in
genious one, so let US assume,
for the sake of argument thai
Mr.. Lancaster did not leave the house
80 far SO good. Now. the next
question is did he leave the roomeo
no" asserted Dentham again.
why rot?" asked Olive.
Because l was lying awake listen
Ing to the voices. and although |
could not make out what they were
saying, yet if either my master or Mr..
Lancaster had left the room. | should
easily have heard them doing So"
Teddy Rudall looked puzzled.
We'll, If Lancaster did not leave
the house nor the room, he must be
concealed III it-or else have vanished
into thin air. which. OF course. is i'm
possible
I'm not SO certain about that.
said Olive, looking up. remember
what we were talking about"
Teddy shrugged his shoulder con-
te%mptuously.
Occult science. theosophy and dis.
Indignation" he sad glibly. ooh!
nonsense-all that stuff is all hum
bug"
Il believe my master is a devil, ,
asserted Eentham. suddenly, with a
scared look.
Both the others stared at him in ST.
lent astonishment but there was a
look Of apprehension on Olives face
that showed that she shared to some
extent in the ideas OF the servant.
How sop demanded Teddy, with
disbelieving smile.
because I've left him in the room,
sir, and locked all the windows before
leaving; sometimes I've come back
and found him gone, with the windows
still locked, and the shutters up. He
couldn't have got out Of the windows,
and he couldn't clear by the door. be-
cause / vas generally in the passage.
and would have een him. Now.
sir. finished Dentham, triumphantly,
where did he go to?"
Il think the true explanation is
this, said Rudall, quietly. He has
some secret chamber or exit in the
walls of this special room to which
you refer: Have you examined the
walls?'
mo. sir"
Then, depend upon it my theory
ID a correct one" said Teddy. in =
complacent tone, there's "a sliding
panel or a masked door, which either
leads to the outside of the house. or tc
some secret room. l think the latter.
because, If he had let Mr.: Lancaster
OUT oy the secret way We: should have
heard from him long ago. My opin'
ION Is that he is keeping Adrian con
cealed in the hidden room l refer to-
but whyP' asked Olive. quietly.
"1ou. yourself. gave me the ex-
PLANTATION, said Rudall, quickly; ii
Is a case OF revenge. l fancy. Nov
In order to find out anything we must