The Colfax chronicle. [volume] (Colfax, Grant Parish, La.) 1877-1981, 1907-11-02

| cour1e tue hin. he sn,v,ss
quite - mucA - love feast pssAAp
better.
70 resume my narrative" drawle.
Locke. you disappear within th.
chamber. My friend Forbes IL havin,
his little interview with you. Blu
presently l sec yon again at the win
dow, packet In hand. You lean q,
out: you toss the packet into the b.
sin OF IN empty fountain. The shut
tiers are closed. Your work IL finished
for the night. And 30 10 mine-tha,
is. after I have rescued from thu
empty fountain the packet. -
Which you promptly returned h
Captain Forbes. no doubt"
Who has greater right - itf''
returned Locke coolly.
But he had not returned n To
Forbes; was sure of that. Locke
was newspaper man trained fl the
school of modern Journalism. He had
determined on grand coup for his
paper. If the sealed dispatch prom
ised to be of assistance to him he
would break the seal.
That would not suit me at all NY
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 utter.
~ at variance. Every sentence OF his
recital made me see that more clearly.
l saw, too, that the object of his
story was to overwhelm me with the
certainty that must make q 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. I
hoped everything from that.
For the present I 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 a 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 it is Mr.. Ernest Haddon,
American tourist, masquerading as
the diplomatist, Sir Mortimer Brett.
Is 1t necessary that I enter into ex-
plantations for this discovery. or shall
We take the fact for granted?"
Take 1t for granted by all means,
since you have already taken 20 much
or granted"
II shall not bore you much longer.
captain Forbes and myself Join
orces. needed but one argument to
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?"
$50 far" Locke looked at me sig
II have revealed them to no |
me. We arrive at Alterhoffen, then,
he four Of us. Captain Forbes insists |
n stormfng the chateau. With what |
esult you know better than l. As for |
myself. I prefer to keep my counsel,
nd. first of all, to give my friend
Iaddon friendly hint. l bride one of |
he servants at the castle to convey .
ote to him requesting the honor Of
n interview at ten this morning. My
riend Haddon denies me the honor Of
n interview. Then II the mountain
ri1l not come to Mohammed, Moham-
led must go to the mountain
II am directed to the castle by the
tairway that leads to the village
treet. have not descended dozen
tops OF the gloomy stairway when I
es~ some one coming up them in fu-
ous haste. Naturally, pause; and
ute as naturally take the precau
on Of placing my hand on the revoE
er In my hip pocket, which / carry
18th me, remembering the fate OF my
Captain Forbes. /
ITO my surprise the person In this
haste conceals himself
the little glass-covered room at the
lgle Of the stairs. / descend the
cps cautiously and curiously. There
e other surprises In store for me
Irst of all see second figure stand
g fat against the wall. AS my eyes
,come accustomed to the darkness
am startled to discover that the man
In the lodge has a revolver
his hand. For the moment / think
, is lying in wait for myself. But
most Immediately hear steps from
low. There Is q click as the trigger ,
cooked. l am averse to bloodshed
even the killing Of would-be muir.