The Yale expositor. (Yale, St. Clair County, Mich.) 1894-current, 1907-07-26

LOCKE, you disappear within the
chamber My friend Forbes is havinl
his little interview with you. Blu
presently l see you again at the win
dow, packet in hand You lean fal
out; you toss the packet into the ba
sin OF an empty fountain. The shut
ters are closed. Your work is finished
for the night. And so Is mine-that
is, after | have rescued from the
empty fountain the packet.
Which you promptly returned to
Captain Forbes, no doubt"
Who has a greater right to it?"
returned Locke coolly.
But he had not returned IL to
Forbes; | was sure of that. Locke
was newspaper man trained in the
school of modern journalism. He had
determined on a grand coup for his
paper II the sealed dispatch prom
ised to be of assistance to him he
would break the seal.
That would not suit me at all NV
task was to hush up the scandal Of
Sir Mortimer Brett and his mistress.
Locke was determined to give it the
fullest publicity. Our ends were uSer-
ly at variance. Every sentence of his
recital made me see that more clearly.
saw, too, that the object of his
story was TO overwhelm me with the
certainty that | must make a full con-
fession to him or suffer those conse-
quences. My one hope was to avert
those consequences until my inter-
view with Madame de WARMER.
hoped everything from that.
For the present ! need fear nothing
from Forbes. Helena had given me
her word that she would trust me until
midnight. But the silence Of Helena
and Forbes was useless unless Locke
also was silent. / awaited the rest of
his narrative with anxious concern.
The next morning | bestir myself
early, you may be sure of that Cap
tain Forbes rest had been equally
perturbed. Together we discover the
startling fact that, early as We had
aroused ourselves. our patient with
his nurse and physician had been even
more energetic. But my discovery is
OF nature more dramatic than that of
the kings messenger He imagines
that 1t is Sir Mortimer who has fed
| am forced TO the reluctant conclu-
sion that 1t is Mr. Ernest Haddon,
American tourist, masquerading as
the diplomatist, Sir Mortimer Brett. |
Is IL necessary that l enter into ex-
plantations for this discovery. or shall |
we take the fact Tor granted?"
Take ii for granted by all means, |
since you have already taken so much |
for granted">
Il shall not bore you much longer. |
Captain Forbes and myself join
forces. / needed but one argument to
persuade him to do that I knew
where Madame de WARMER and her fell
ow conspirators were bound; Captain
Forbes did not"
And Mrs. and Miss Brett-did you
'eveal your suspicious to them?"
SO far" Locke looked at me sig.
lificantly, 81 have revealed them to no
me. We arrive at Alterhoffen, then,
he four of us. Captain Forbes insists
IN storming the chateau. With what
esult you know better than I. AS for
myself, l prefer to keep my counsel.
nd, first of all, to give my friend
1addon friendly hint. | bride one of
he servants at the castle to convey a
ote to him requesting the honor Of
n interview at ten this morning. My
riend Haddon denies me the honor of
n interview. Then If the mountain
'ill not come to Mohammed Moham-
ned must go to the mountain.
II am directed to the castle by the
tairway that leads to the village
treet. i have not descended a dozen
tops Of the gloomy stairway when I
ear some one coming up them in fu-
lous haste. Naturally, I pause; and
ute as naturally | take the precau-
on of placing my hand on the revol- |
er in my hip pocket, which l carry
18th me. remembering the fate of my
Captain Forbes.
ITO my surprise the person in this {
haste conceals himself I
the little glass-covered room at the q
lgle of the stairs. / descend the {
cps cautiously and curiously. There
e other surprises in store for me-
irst of all | see a second figure stand
g fiat against the wall. AS my eyes
scome accustomed to the darkness
am startled to discover that the man
in the lodge has a revolver .
his hand. For the moment l think
} is lying in wait for myself. But =
most Immediately hear steps from !.
low. There is a click as the trigger
cooked. ! am averse to bloodshed
even the killing of a would-be MUIR
'rer. / fire, not at him, but to shat
r the pane of glass and divert his :
m. !,
Now for my last surprise. The as =
ssin, rather tardily | must say, has a.
en grappled with by the man who =
ID concealed himself against the =
all and was apparently awaiting de. :
lopments. But the would-be assas-
4 has succeeded in freeing himself =,
pm this very faint-hearted assailant. :,
pursue the assassin; he eludes cap a,
re; | return ruefully to the hotel to :,
d-my friend Haddon receiving the :.