The Bridgeport evening farmer., 1909-12-09

hnve told by whar chance he vAas led to the Elysee. where he inhaled as h,, passed Ihe perfume of the Lady in Black. He realized then that it was Mile Stungerson who had been his visitor at the school What more need l add? Why speak of the sensations which his Knowledge as to the wearer of the perfume aroused in the heart of Rouletabille during the evenis as the Chandler and. above all. after his trip to America? However. his in stinct drew him so strongly 70 the pro- fessor's daughter that he could scarce ly resist his longing to throw himself into her arms and press her to his heart and cry out to her: You are my mother. You are my rnotherr'
 And be fled from her presence just as he had fled from the vestry on the day of her wedding in order that there should not escape from him any sign of the secret tenderness that burned fin his breast, for horrible thoughts dwelt in his mind. Suppose be were to make himself known to her and she , were to cast him off-the little thief of the boarding school. the son of Rous- sel. BaIlmeyer. the heir of the crimes of Larsan' However. this torture could not last ! always. he told himself. If it were she he would know how to say things to her that must open her heart However. it Is by no means certain that decisive results would have been gained from this expedition-at least fin the eyes of a third person. like my | self-had 1t not been for the influence of the odor-f the letter from Ma i thilde. which I had handed to Roule- 1 tabille in the train. had not suddenly. with it's faint. sweet perfume. brought ! to us directly the evidence which we were seeking. have pever read this letter. IL Is a document so sacred in the eyes of my friend that other eyes 2 will never behold it. but 1 know that the gentle approaches which 1t con- tained for the boys rudeness and lack of confidence in the writer concluded with a final sentence which said that the interest which she felt In him arose less from rhe services he had rendered her than because of the memories which she had of little boy the son of friend whom she had loved very dearly. and who had killed himself like a little man with a bro ken heart" at the age of nine years and whom Rouletabille greatly resem- bled-
 In the train en route for Cannes the boy was so quiet that could not even hear him breathing.
 Do you know what I have been thinking. ofg' he said. "Of the dis patch that came 10 us from Bourg and was signed 'Darzac' and the other dispatch which came from Valence and WAS signed 'Stangerson-'
 And the more l think of them the stranger they seem to me. At Bourg Nj. and Mime. Darzac were not with Stangerson. who left them at Dion
 Besides, the dispatch says. We are going to rejoin Stangerson.' But the Stangerson dispatch proves that Stan gerson. who had continued on his jour ney toward Marseilles. is again with the Darzacs. The Darzacs might have rejoined Stangerson on the way to MarseiIies. but if that were so the professor must have stopped on the road Why was this?"
 We consulted the time table.
 Finally we reasoned that Darzac z IUuSl uaNe SCuh ulo "hC AhObh DOoA 6 one minute before leaving for Lyons by the 9:29 train. But this train reach ed Lyons at 1928 o'clock. while Stan gerson's train reached Lyons at 1O:24. i After changing their plans and leav- ! ing the train at Bourg. M. and Mime. Darzac must have rejoined Stangerson ] at Lyons. which they reached one min- ute before him. Now. what had upset
 yN- frrlr nr
 the most terrible hypotheses. every
 one of which. alas. had as its basis
 the reappearance of Larsan- The fact
 which gave the greatest color to this
 idea was the desire expressed by each
 of our friends not to frighten any one. Darzac in his message Mime. DarZac |, in hers. had not endeavored to conceal the gravity of the situation. As to . Stangerson. we asked ourselves wheth-
 CT he had been made aware of the new
 developments
 When we reached Toulon our i'm
 patience became extreme. and al
 Cannes we were scarcely surprised al
 all to see Darzac upon the platform
 anxiously looking for us. He could . scarcely have received the dispatch which RoulerabiIle had sent him from , Dijon. announcing the hour al WHICH we would reach Mentone. Having ar rived there with Mime. Darzac and Nj
 Stangerson the day before at l( . o'clock in the morning. be must have left Mentone almost at once and have ! come to meet us at Cannes. His face
 looked worn Somehow it frightened us only to look at him.
 "Trouble?" questioned Rouletabill'
 briefly.
 'No. not yet" was the reply. , God be praised" exclaimed Roule tabilie. heaving deep sigh. "W' . | have come in timer
 , Darzac pressed both our hands 1T
 silence, following us into our compart , ment, in which we locked ourselves taking care to draw the curtains
 Our friends voice trembled-
 ha oofd Ia nOf dead