The citizen. [volume] (Berea, Ky.) 1899-1958, 1908-01-02

To resume my narrative" drawled
Locke, you disappear within the
chamber. My friend Forbes Is having
his little interview with you. Blu,
presently see you again at the win
dow. packet in hand You lean far
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 l have rescued from the
empty fountain the packet.
Which you promptly returned 10
Captain Forbes. no doubt"
Who has greater right to ny"
returned Locke coolly.
But he had not returned n TO
Forbes; l was sure Of that. Locke
was a newspaper man trained In the
school Of modern journalism. He had
determined on a grand coup for his
paper. II the sealed dispatch prom
Used to be OF assistance to him he
would break the seal.
That would not suit me at all. My
task was to hush up the scandal OF
Sir Mortimer Brett and his mistress.
Locke was determined 10 give It the
fullest publicity. Our ends were utter.
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 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. J
hoped everything from that
For the present I need fear nothing
from Forbes. Helena had givcn 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 discsvei the
startling fact that. early az se had
aroused ourselves. our patient with
his nurse and physician had been sven
more energetic But my discovery IL
Of nature more dramatic than that oi
| the kings messenger. lie imasines
that Il is Sir Mortimer who has ned
| am forced TO the reluctant coDcir'
sion that IL Is Mr.. Ernest Haddon
American tourist. masquerading as
the dIplomatist, Sir Mortimer Brett
Is Il necessary that I enter into ex.
plantations for this discovery. OF shall
we take the fact for granted"
Take It for granted by all means
since you have already taken 80 much
for granted"
Il shall not bore you much longer
Captain Forbes and myself join
forces. needed but one argument 70
persuade him 20 do that | knew
where Madame de WARMER and her fei
low conspirators were bound; Captait
Forbes did not"
and Mrs. and Miss Brnit--did yeu
reveal your suspicious 20 themy'
so far" Locke looked at me s.g
nifcantly. Il have revealed them To no
one. We arrive at Alterhoffen. then
the four OF us. Captain Forbes insists
on storming the chateau. With what
result you know better than I. AS for
myself. I prefer TO keep my counsel
and. first Of all, 10 give my friend
Haddon friendly hint bride ono Of
the servants at the castle 10 convey q
note to him requesting the honor Of
an interview at ten this morning. Nv
friend Haddon denies me the honor Of
an interview. Then n the mountaiE
will not come 10 Mohammed, Mohans
med must go 20 the mountain.
Il am directed 10 the castle by the
stairway that leads TO the village
street. have not descended a dozen
steps OF the gloomy stairway when
hear some one coming up them in fu
rious haste. Naturally. pause: and
quite as naturally I take the precau
ton OF placing my hand on the revol
yer in my hip pocket. which carr,
with me. remembering the fate q ms
acquaintance. Captain Forbes
ITO my surprise the person In thi'
extraordinary haste conceals himself
IN the little glasscovered room at the
angle OF the Stalrs- descend the
steps cautiously and curiously. There
are other surprises in store for me
First of all I see a second figure staA4
ing fat against the wall. AS my eysz
become accustomed to the darkness
am startled to discover that the man
concealed in the lodge has a revolver
in his hand. For the moment think
he is lying in wait for myself But
almost Immediately hear steps from
below. There is click as the trigger
is cooked. I am averse to blocdshed
even the killing OF would-be muir
derer. fire. not at him. but to shat
ter the pane Of glass and divert his
| aim.
Now for my last surprise. The a.
sassi1, rather tardily must say. has
been grappled with by the man who
had concealed himself qgainst the
wall and was apparently awaiting de
velopments. But the wouid-be assas-
sin has succeeded In freeing himself
from this very faint-hearted assailant
pursue the assassin: he eludes cap.