The news=record. [volume] (Enterprise, Wallowa County, Oregon) 1907-1910, 1909-03-13
CHAPTER XVII.
The lnexplicable Gallery.


near her door in the gallery where this
incredible phenomenon had taken
place. There are moments when one
feels as if ones brain were about to
burst. A bullet in the head, fracture
Of the skull, the seat Of reason shat
tered-with only these can l compare
the sensation which exhausted and left
me void of sense.
Happily Mile. Stangerson appeared
on the threshold Of her anteroom.
saw her, and that helped to relieve my
chaotic state of mind. l breathed her;
l inhaled the perfume Of the lady in
black who had been kind to me in
my childhood whom l should never
see again. l would have given ten
years of my life-half my life-to see
once more the lady in black. Alas,
l no more meet her but from time to
time. and yet, and yet, how the men,
ory Of that perfume, felt by me alone,
carries me back to the days Of my
childhood! 1t was this sharp reminder
from my beloved perfume Of the lady
in black which made me 60 to her,
dressed wholly in white and so pale. SO
pale and so beautiful, on the threshold
of the ineXplicable gallery. Her beau
tiful golden hair, gathered into knot
on the back Of her neck, left visible the
red scar on her temple which had so
nearly been the cause Of her death.
When l first got on the right track
Of the mystery Of this case l had
imagined that on the night of the trag-
edy in the yellow room Mile. Stanger-
son had worn her hair in bands. But,
then, how could have imagined other
wise when had not been in the yell
low room?
"But now, since the occurrence Of
the inexplicable gallery. did not rea-
son at all. | stood there, stupid. before
the apparition-so pale and so beauti-
ful-of Mile. Stangerson, She was clad
in a dressing gown Of dreamy white.
One might have taken her to be a
ghost-a lovely phantom. Her father
took her in his arms and kissed her
passionately, as IL he had recovered
her after being long lost to him. 7
dared not question her. He drew her
into the room, and we followed them
for we had to know! The door Of the
boudoir was open. The terrified faces
Of the two nurses craned toward us.
Mile, Stangerson inquired the meaning
not in her own room was quite easily
explained-quite easily. She had q
fancy not to sleep that night In her
chamber, but in the boudoir with her
nurses, locking the door on them. Since
the night of the crime she had expert
enced feelings of terror. and fears came
over her that are easily to he compre-
hended.
But who could imagine that on that
particular night when he was to come
she would by mere chance determine
. to shut herself in with her women
Who would think that she would act
contrary to her fathers wish to sleep
in the drawing room? Who could be-
lieve that the letter which had SO re-
Gently been on the table in her room
would no longer be there? He who
could understand all this would have
to assume that Mile. Stangerson knew
that the murderer was coming-she
could not prevent his coming again
unknown to her father. unknown to all
but to NJ. Robert Darzac. For he must
know it now. Perhaps he had known
1t before! Did he remember that
phrase In the Elysee garden, Must
commit crime. then, to win you?
: Against whom the crime if not against
the obstacle, against the murderer;
'Ah. l wSuld kill him with my own
handv And | replied, You have moi
answered my question: That was the
very truth. In truth. in truth, NJ. Oar
zac knew the murderer SO well that
while wishing to kill him himself, he
was afraid should find him. There
could be but two reasons why he had
assisted me in my investigation. First
e because | have forced him to do It
] and second. because she would be the
: better protected.
l. 81 am in the chamber-her room.
: look at her, also at the place where thu
: letter had just now been. She has pos
u sessed herself of 1t; it was evidently
intended for her-evidently. How sh,
trembles. Trembles at the strang,
{ story her father is telling her. of the
Y presence of the murderer in her cham
Der and Of the pursuit. But 1t is plain
u ly to be seen that she is not wholly
satisfied by the assurance given hel
t until she had been told that tn,
l. murderer by some incomprehensibl'
p means had been able to elude u.s.
y "Then followed a silence. What (,
e silencel We are all there-looking a
+ her-her father. Larsan. Daddy Jacque
d and l. What were we all thinking o
Q in the silence? After the events o
that night. Of the mystery Of the mex
= plicabe gallery. Of the prodigious fac
e of the presence Of the murderer In he
e room. 1t seemed to me that all ou
r thoughts might have been translated
/. into the words which were addresse,
e TO her. You who know Of this mys
terry. explain II 70 ne S-3 We shall Der