The Bridgeport evening farmer., 1909-12-14
CHAPTER x.
His Agony From the Perfume of the Lady In Black.

Eoltn was waking In the court 1 chatting careIessly with Roule- tablIle and twisting the stem of a beautiful rose between her pretty fin- gers. sI followed Rouletabille, whom I saw on his way to make his inspection of the square tower. I found him quite calm and entirely master of him. self-and also entirely the master of his eyes. 1t was worth while to see the manner in which he looked at ev- erything around him. Nothing es- capped him. And the square tower, the abode of the Lady in Black, was the object of his constant surveillance.
 When NJ. and Mime. Darzac were not in their apartment the only key which opened the door was in the keeping of the Berniers, and it was a special kind of key made purposely for the room within the last twenty four hours in . place which no one but Rouletabille knew He had let no one into the secret
 Rouletabille wished that the watch might be kept also upon the rooms of Old Bob. but the latter swore that he would not be treated like a pris- oner, and he said that on no account would he give up the privilege of go- ing and coming to his own rooms when he saw it without asking the keys from the lodge keepers.
 Mime. Edith had said, with her lips pressed together in narrow little line, But. M. RouletabiIle, my uncle doesn't think that any one is coming to carry him awayT'
 Rouletabflle, after asking after the health of Mere Bernier, who was gath ering up potatoes and putting them in bag. requested Pere Bernier to open the door of the. Darxacs' room.
 This was the first time that had entered the apartment The atmos- phere was almost freezing. The large room, furnished with simplicity, con tained a bed and a toilet table placed at one of the two openings in the wall around which there had formerly been loopholes. The two windows were flt- ted with bars of iron between which one could scarcely pass one's arm. Op- posite in the angle of the tower was a panel. It would have been impossible for any one ts hide in this chamber un- less behind this panel And the Berniers had received orders to look every time 
 panel and in the closet where Darzac bung his clothes.
 When we passed into the sleSping room of Mime. Darzac we were abso- lutely certain that we had left noth- Ing behind us of which we did not know fttt rtN
 Mime. Darzac's room was smaller than than that of her husband. But it was bright and well lighted from the way that the windows were piac- ed. As soon as we set foot over the threshold I saw Rouletabflle turn pale. and he turned to me and said:
 @SaincIair, do you perceive the per fume of the Lady in Blackr
 I did not. I perceived nothing at all
 Rouletabille, after having looked un- der the bed, gave the signal for de parture and motioned us from the room. He fingered for a moment. but no longer. Bernier locked the door with the tiny key, which he put in his inside pocket and tightly buttoned his coat over it. We made the tour of the corridors and also that of Old Bob's apartment. which consisted of n bedroom and sitting room, as easy to examine and as incapable of hiding any one as those of the Darzacs.
 In short and in fact, nothing es- capped Rouletabille, and when we had made the rounds of the square tower we had left no one behind us save M. and Mime. Bernier. One would have said, too. that there could have been no human being in the apartment of the Darzacs before Bernier, a few min- utes later. opened the door to Daf< zac himself, as 1 am now about to re- late.
 It was almost o'clock when, leav- ing Bernier in his corridor in front of the door of the Darzacs' room, Rouie- tabille and myself found ourselves again in the court
 At that moment we climbed to the platform of the ancient tower at B.. We seated ourselves upon the parapet. At that moment we noticed upon the turbed and wrathful countenance of Did Bob. His shadow was the only dark thing about. By what prodieious anachronism 1t was that this modern scholar with his coat and hat in the height of fashion should be moving about. grotesque and ghoulish, in front of this cavern 8U0.0o0 years old formed by the ardent lava to serve as the frst roof for the first family in the first days of the woridl We could see him brandishing his skull as he had done at the table. and we could hear him laugh, laugh, laugh. 1t tore our ears and our hearts.
 Our attention was drawn to Darzac. who was coming through the postern of the gardener. He did not see us. He was not laughlngi Rouletabille felt the deepest pity for him, for he saw that he was at the end of his endur- ance. In the afternoon he had said to my friend, who now repeated the words to me: Flight days is too muchl | do not believe that can bear this | torment for eight daysv'
 We followed him with our eyes to the door of the square tower. We could see from his looks that he could l endure no more. Well, M Darzac a