Wallowa County chieftain. [volume] (Enterprise, Or.) 1909-1911, 1909-03-11

had seen black shadow pass by. 1
asked him whether he had a firearm
OF any kind. No. he no longer kept
one since the examining magistrate
had taken his revolver from him. We
went eat together by a little back
door into the park and stole along the
chateau to the point which is just be-
low Mile Stangerson's window.
Il placed Daddy jacques against
the wall, ordering him not to stir
from the spot, while l, taking adyan-
tage of moment when the moon was
hidden by cloud, moved to the front
OF the window out of the patch of
light which came from il, for the win
dow was half open. If / could only
know what was passing in that silent
chamber! returned to Daddy Jacques
and whispered the word ladder in his
ear. At first l had thought of the
tree which week ago served me for
an observatory, but l Immediately saw
that from the way the window was
half opened should not be able to see
from that point of view anything that
was passing in the room, and want
ed not only to see, but to hear, and to
act.
Greatly agitated, almost trembling.
Daddy Sacques disappeared for a mo-
ment and returned without the ladder.
but making signs to me with his arms
as signals to me to come quickly to
him. When got near him he gasped,
Conner
He led me round the chateau, past
the donjon. Arrived there, he said:
~ went to the donjon In search of
my ladder. and In the lower part Of the
donjon which serves me and the gar
dener for lumber room found the
door open and the ladder gone. On
coming out that's what | caught sight
Of by the light Of the moon
"And he pointed to the farther end
of the chateau. where ladder stood
resting against the stone brackets sup
porting the terrace. under the window
which / had found open. The projec-
ton of the terrace had prevented my
seeing it. Thanks to that ladder. it
was quite easy to get Into the of turn
ing gallery of the first floor, and had
no doubt Of 1t having been the road
taken by the unknown.
we ran to the ladder, but nc sns
moment Of reaching 1t Daddy jacques
drew my attention to the half open
door of the little semicircular room
situated under the terrace at the ex-
tremity of the right wing of the cha
teau, having the terrace for fits roof.
Daddy jacques pushed the door open q
little farther and looked In.
Hes not there. he whispered.
"'Who is not there?
1.-The forest keeper
with his lips once more to my ear
he added:
! do you know that he has slept in
the upper room Of the donjon ever
since It was restoredr And with the
same gesture he pointed to the half
open door. the ladder, the terrace and
the window in the off turning gall
lery. which a little while before l had
| reclosed.
What were my thoughts then? !
had no time to think. ! felt more than
thought,
Evidently / felt If the forest keeper
Is up there In the chamber q say II
because at this moment, apart from
the presence Of the ladder and his va
cant room, there are no evidences
which permit me even to suspect HIM
If he is there he has been obliged to
pass by the ladder, and the rooms
which lie behind his in his new lodg-
ing are occupied by the family Of the
steward and by the cook and by the
kitchens. which bar the way by the
vestibule to the interior of the cha
teau, And if he had been there during
the evening on any pretext it would
have been easy for him TO go into the
gallery and see that the window could
be simply pushed open from the out
side. This question Of the unfastened
window easily narrowed the field Of
search for the murderer. He must be-
long to the house unless be had an ac-
complice. which ! do not believe he
had; unless unless Mile. StangersOn
herself had seen that that window was
not fastened from the inside, But.
then. what could be the frightful Sc
cret which put her under the necessity
of doing away with obstacles that sep
arated her from the murderer?
II seized hold of the ladder, and we
returned to the back Of the chateau to
see II the window Of the chamber was
still half open. The blind was drawn,
but did not join and allowed bright
stream Of light to escape and fall upon
the path at our feet. ] planted the
ladder under the window. / am al
most sure that ] made no noise, and
while Daddy Jacques remained at the
foot Of the ladder mounted 1t very
quietly. my stout stick in my hand.
held my breath and lifted my feet
with the greatest care. Suddenly a
heavy cloud discharged itself at that
moment In fresh downpour Of rain.
"At the same instant the sinister cry
Of the Bette du Bon Dieu arrested me
In my ascent. 1t seemed to me to have
come from close by me, only a few
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