The Spokane press. [volume] (Spokane, Wash.) 1902-1939, 1907-11-29
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men. I tell you, with all the force
cheefully change places with the
humblest laborer on my estate. |
have never dropped the mask be-
fore, and probably never shall
again. am only doing it now so
that you may be warned in time.
Go back to Vera and tell herr what
| l say. Tell her that there are ur-
gent reasons why marriage be-
tween you is utterly out Of the
question And If you persist in
having your own way, then let me
ask you one final favor Let the
engagement be kept a secret And
now l have no more to say Per
haps | have said too much as it is,
only If you were aware what the
last "a hours has brought forth"
Ravenspur broke off abruptly as
| If fearful of saying too much. His
whole attitude had changed; his
features quivered with an almost
uncomfortable emotion. Then he
turned on his heel, and STROBE
down the corridor in the direction
of the studio.
| Ravenspur was alone with his
troubled thoughts. He paced up
| and down the room, then he took
up the photograph which had ex-
cited so much attention amongst
| his guests earlier in the evening.
"Amazing!" he muttered. cab
| solutely inexplicable! could
\ ha, h., hn nh
graph still under lock and key. Be
yond all question, it was not on
the table yesterday. Is this
mere coincidence or is it a menace
and warning of the old trouble
which has never ceased to be with
me night and day the last 20
| years? And how the whole thing
works together! First of all poor
Delahay is found murdered in his
studio, and now something like the
same thing happens to one of my
guests who was unquestionably
mistaken for me in the darkness.
And as if that was not enough,
these two young fools must take it
into their heads to fancy that they
are in love with one another.
Heaven only knows how I shall
make my way out of this terrible
coil. even if | have the good luck
to escape the consequences of my
folly! The most fortunate man
in London. The most popular
and most sought for! What a bit
ter travesty upon the truth it is!
If they only knew If there were
only some power to lift the roof
off Of every house in London, what
tragedies would be revealed! And
how many friends would be left
to mel"
Time was going on. A dozen
clocks in different parts Of the
house struck II. AS Ravenspur
stood by the table, his moody eyes
still bent upon the photographs,
there was a sudden click and snap,
and the whole place was plunged
in darkness. The thing was so
quick and unexpected that some
thing like cry Of alarm broke
from Ravenspur's lips. 1t came to
him in a flash that the tragedy of
Fitzjohn square was going to be
repeated with himself in the role
| of the victim. This is just what
had happened and previous even
ing, only there had been nothing
to try his nerves then as they
We're being strained to breaking
point now. Shaking and agitated
in every limb he made his way
across to where the switches were,
but there was nothing wrong with
them. Indeed, underneath the
doorway he could see by the slit
of light that the electrics in the
corridor were still working.
The full horror of it was almost
more than he could bear. A wild
desire for light and companionship
came upon him. His unsteady
hand fumbled at the latch, which
seemed in some way to have gone
wrong, for the door refused I'd
open. Ravenspur was breathing|
thickly and heavily. But he was
sufficiently in possession of his fac
ulties to realize that he was no
longer alone in the ROOM He
could distinctly hear someone
breathing close to him. Then he
caught the sound of a low chuckle.
Not so fast voice Kissed in
his ear; Il haven't come all this
way for the benefit of your society
to lose you like this. You needn't
worry about the door, because you
can't escape in that way"
In a sudden frenzy of rage and
anger and fear, Ravenspur stretch
ed out his arm and encountered
that of the mysterious stranger
whose dramatic entrance had so
startled him. But, strong as he
was, and in the pink of condition,
Ravenspur could make nothing of
his assailant. The man appeared
to be not more than half his size,
but his arms and body were tough
and elastic as the finest whipcord.
Gradually Ravenspur was borne
backward. He dropped on his knees
with a grip about his throat that
caused him to gasp for relief and
brought a million stars dancing be-
fore his eyes. He wanted help
more earnestly than he had ever
required it in his life before, but
his pride was tubbOrn STILL and
he tried to choke down the cry