Wallowa County chieftain. [volume] (Enterprise, Or.) 1909-1911, 1909-03-18
CHAPTER XVI.
Strange Phenomenon Of the Dis
sociaiion of. Matter.

head above 1t. Through an
opening in the curtains, the arrange
ment of which has not been changed.
am ready to look, anxious to note the
position in which l am going To find
the murderer. whether his back will
still be turned toward me. whether he
is still seated at the desk writing.
But perhaps-perhaps- is no longer
there Yet how could he have fed?
Was / not in possession of his ladder
j force myself to be cool / raise my
head yet higher. l look-he is still
there. ! see his monstrous back, de-
formed by the shadow thrown by the
candle. He is no longer writing now,
and the candle is on the parquet, over
which he is bending-a position which
serves my purpose.
II hold my breath. l mount the lad
der. | am on the uppermost rung of it
and with my left hand seize hold of
the window sill. In this moment of
approaching success l feel my heart
beating wildly. put my revolver be-
tween my teeth. A quick spring and
shall be on the window ledge. But
the ladder! had been obliged TO press
on it heavily, and my foot had scarcely
left it when / felt Ii swaying beneath
me. 1t grated ON the wall and fell
But already my knees were touching
the window sill. and by a movement
quick as lightning got on TO it.
But the murderer had been even
quicker than / had been He had
heard the grating of the ladder on the
wall. and / saw the monstrous back of
the man raise itself. / saw his head
Did really see it? The candle ON the
parquet Lit up his legs only. Above
the height of the table the cham
Der was in darkness. i saw q man
with long hair, full beard. wild look
ing eyes. a pale face framed in large
whiskers as well as | could distin-
guish and as / think red in color !
did not know the face. That was, in
brief. the chief sensation / received
from that face in the dim half light In
which | saw II. did not know it, or
at least l did not recognize it.
Now for quick action. 1t was In
deed time for that. for as ! was about
10 place my legs through the window
the man had seen me, had bounded to
his feet, had sprung. as ] foresaw he
would. to the door of the antechamber,
had time TO open it and fed But L
was already behind him. revolver in
hand shouting, 'Helpr
like an arrow / crossed the room,
but noticed a letter on the table as
rushed. ] almost came up with the
man in the anteroom. for be had lost
time in opening the door to the gal
lery. flew OF wings and in the gal
lery was but few feet behind him.
He bad taken. as supposed be would.
the gallery on his right-that is TO say.
the road he had prepared for his flight.
Help. Jacques; help. Larsan!' / cried.
He could not escape us. | raised
shout OF JOY. Of savage victory. The
man reached the intersection of the
two galleries hardly two seconds be-
fore me for the meeting which ] had
prepared. the fatal shock which must
inevitably take place at that spot. We
all rushed TO the crossing place-M.
Stangerson and / coming from one end
Of the right gallery. Daddy Jacques
coming from the other end Of the gal
lery and Frederic Larsan coming from
the of turning gallery.
THE man was not there.
I'VE looked at each other stupidity
and with eyes terrified. The man had
vanished like a ghost. Where is be.
where is heY we all asked.
"'It is impossible he can have es-
r0npdF crfod NV &appop ctarad hv
my anger.
~ touched himr exclaimed Frederic
Larsan.
II felt his breath on my facer cried
Daddy Jacques.
Where is he. where Is hep we oil
cried.
I'VE raced like madmen along the
two galleries. We visited doors and
windows. They were eclosed-hermetic-
ally closed. They had not been opened.
Besides, the opening OF door or win
Cow by this man whom we were hunt
Ing without our having perceived II
would have been more inexplicable
than his disappearance
Where is he. where is he? He
could not have got away by door or
a window nor by any other way He
could not have passed through our
bodies.
J confess that for the moment ] felt
done for for the gallery was perfect
iy lighted. and there was neither trap
nor secret door in the walls nor any
sort OF hiding place. We moved the
chairs and lifted the pictures. Moth
ing, nothingl We would have looked
INTO howerpot If there had been one
to look into.'
When this mystery. thanks to Roule-
taoille, was naturally explained by the
help alone of his masterfui mind we
We're able to realize that the murderer
mad got away neither by door. a win
dow nor the stairs. a fact which the
judges would not admit