The Washington herald., 1907-09-29
CHAPTER III-Continued.


strong under the pressure of his excite
ment at the notion Of an attack beins
made upon his treasures. opened the
door wide and invited St Quintin TO go
out first.
Together they crossed the wide hail,
and the host opened a door which led
into a short corridor. with doors TO the
right and TO the left. he opened the one
on the left, and turning up the electric
light by means of a button just inside
on the wall he dashed into the room
hurriedly and cried: All as If with
the intention Of soaring away any pos
sible intruder
But there was no one in the room, and
no sign that any one had recently been
engaged there in any occupation more
dangerous than that of writing letters.
For opposite to the door and immedi-
ately under the window was a heavy
writing table Of plain mahogany. with
leather top and wide kneehole be
tween two pedestal supports containing
small drawers. Upon this table was an
inkstand and Il blOtting pad and half
finished letter. with other appendages
OF the writing table. and more letters
and papers.
On one side Of the room was a FIRE
place, ncw filed with ferns, with a mas
sIve CUpbOard-bOOkCase or each side of H..
AT the opposite end there were rows
of shelves all containing books in hand
some bindings. which bore the stamp of
having been bought for show rather
than for use. each volume being In its
place, and regard being had 10 size and
color rather than any more literary
method of selection or of arrangement
The carpet was thick costly. and lit
lie worn. The furniture was not per
haps SO handsome as In the other apart
ments Of the house, but this was rather
on account of the intrusion among the
more imposing pieces Of carved old and
rrd morocco, Of certain articles OF use
which showed marks Of hard wear Thus.
the pedestal writing table under the win
dow was old and shabby, contrasting
eddy and strongly with the magnificent
bookcases, the handsomely bound books,
and the luxurious carpet
ST. Quintin, who had taken care 10 get
quickly into the room as soon as the
door was opened without allowing time
for che escape of a possible occupant,
was struck dumb with amazement at
Wnat he saw
place in the room, not mark OF a
tragedy,
Monsieur Leblanc seemed to be almost
as much astonished as he was. Staring
slowly round him. .she turned 10 the young
man and asked increduloUsly:
Where is he-the man. You cannot
have heard a man in here AIr. ST. Quin-
Tin, There Is no One"
ST. Quintn looked about him scrutin-
izlngiy.
u could have sworn" he said at last.
foebly that I heard a man calling. and
that he was in this room. The window
was open just half way and while
was close 10 II I saw il shut, and then
] heard no more"
His host looked at him steadily. and
then smiled. shaking his head
You have a vivid Imagination, that is
all II there had been q man calling in
here, surely he would not have shut the
window, but would have opened it
wider
Perhaps it was some one else who
shut it, suggested the young man.
All. bah. There was nobody here 20
said Monsieur Leblanc, almost contemp-
tV0usly. You deceived yourself. my
friend
made him appear more certain than he
r.aIly was. For indeed. he had begun TO
agree with his host that what he haG
heard must have been the result of some
trick PLAYED upon him by his own senses
Of sight and hearing.
I'm quite sure" he said stubbornlv.
that I did hear and see what de
scTibed''
Monsieur Leh2nc shrugged his shout
ders. not aggr SAively, but with patient
tolerance Of British imbeciity
Then how can you account for our
not finding the MANI"
ST Quintin could not answer. InduI-
gently his host led the way to the door
and said
Perhaps it was something. from next
door you heard. There is a large family
of young people there, and they are full
OF tricks. IL Is some escapade on the
part OF the young men who are there:
one Of them has played some trick on
another. and you heard them from over
the vail between their grounds and
ours"
+'0r an instant St Quintin caught at
the suggestion But the next moment
he said shortly:
no, it was too near for that-much
Zoo near
B. this time they were in the little
corridor outside the room. There was
no light in il, Monsieur Leblanc not hav-
ing touched The button which would
have turned on the electric light. He
was impatient now. feeling that he had
put up with the young mans vagaries
long enough
St Quintn fingered. He saw dimly
thar there was "a door nearly opposite
u that of the study, the room he had
seen.
There is a room here. is there not?"
he ventured to ask, rather ashamed of
his own persisJency.
All. mon Dieu: yet; you have not yet
seen al the rooms in the house" said
Monsieur Leblanc shortly.
St Quintin felt for the handle OF the
door. in spite of this snub. Il was
locked and bis host laughed.
THAT is the buffers pantry" he said.
If you like. I will get him TO open the
door and satisfy your curiosity"
st. Quintn, sbashed, apologized hIIr-
riedly and adding that what he had
heard struck him as so strange that he
was anxious for Monsieur Leblanc's sa ke
as for his own satisfaction to know ex-
actly what il was
Then his host, mollided, led him to the
opposite end of the corridor to that by
which they had entered it. and. unlock
ing a door. led him into the garden
You are unnerved, heated, worried by
this, / see. he said kindly Let US try
10 ind out if we can. if there was really
something going on next door which
made you think as you did
Ia the cool night a. St Quintin re-
covered the full use Of his wits, of which
the shock OF finding the room empty
when he had expected to make some
awful discovery had temporarily depriv-
ed him.
Once more he felt sure Of what he had