Wallowa County chieftain. [volume] (Enterprise, Or.) 1909-1911, 1909-04-01
The Mystery of
The Yellow Room
H-I>OSN
By GASTON LEROUx
COPYRIGHT. 1908.
BY BRENTANo's

iery bv any other way chan the .off
turning gallery you win see him before
l shall, because you have a view along
the whole length of the right gallery,
while l can only command a view of
the on turning gallery. All you need
Go to let me know is to undo the cord
holding the curtain Of the right gal
lery window nearest to the dark clos
ct. The curtain will fall of itself and
Immediately leave a square of shadow
where previously there had been a
square Of light. To do this you need
but stretch your hand out of the closet.
shall understand your signal per-
fectly"
"And thenT
"Then you viii see me coming round
the corner of the off turning gallery"
'What am ] to DO thenY'
'You will Immediately come toward
me. behind the man, but / shall al
ready be upon him and shall have seen
his face"
| / attempted feeble smile.
why do you smile? Well, you may
smile while you have the chance, but
l swear you'll have no time for that
few hours from now"
"And If the maA escapes"
so much the BETTER" said Roule
tabille coolly. II don't want to cap
ture him. He may take himself OF
any way he can. will let him go
after l have seen his face That's ali
l want. ! shall know afterward what
to do. so that as far as Mile. Stanger-
son is concerned he shall be dead to
her even though he continues to live.
If took him alive Mile. Stangerson
and Robert DarZac would perhaps
never forgive me. And / wish to re-
tain their good will and respect.
Seeing, as ! have just now seen,
Mile. Stangerson pour narcotic into
her fathers glass, so that ne might
not be awake to interrupt the conver-
sation she is going to have with her
assailant, you can imagine she would
not be grateful to me If / brought the
man OF the yellow room and the mex
plicable gallery bound and gagged to
her father. ! realize now that II I
am to save the unhappy lady must
silence the man and not capture him.
To kill human being Is no small
thing. Besides, that's not my business
unless the man himself makes 1t my
business. On the other hand, to render
him forever silent without the lady's
assent and confidence is to act on ones
own initiative and assume knowledge
Of everything with nothing for basis
Fortunately. my friend, have guessed
mo, have reasoned It all out. All
that ask Of the man who is coming
tonight is to bring me his face so that
1t may enter
"Into the circle?"
Exactly! And his face won't sur
prise me!'
"But thought you saw bis face on
the night when yon sprang into the
chamber"
"Only imperfectly. The candle was
on the floor, and his beard
"Will he wear his beard this even
ing?"
II think can say for certain that he
will. But the gallery is light and now
l know-or at least my brain knows
and my eyes will see."
'If we are here only to see him and
let him escape, why are we armed?"
Because. If the man Of the yellow
room and the inexplicable gallery
knows that / know, he Is capable Of
doing anything! We should then have
| to defend ourselves"
"And you are sure he will come to-
night?" :.
"As sure AS that you are standing
there. This morning, at half past 10
o'clock, Mile. Stangerson. In the clever
est way in the world, arranged to have
no nurses tonight. She gave them
leave of absence for twenty-four hours,
under some plausible pretexts, and did
not desire anybody to be with her but
her father, while they are away. Her
father, who is to sleep In the boudoir,
has gladly consented to the arrange
ment. Darzac's departure and what
he told me, as well as the extraor-
binary precautions Mile Stangerson is
taking to be alone tonight, leaves me no
room for doubt, She has prepared the
way for the coming Of the man whom
Darzac dreads."
"And what we saw her do was done
to send her father to sleep"
'sYes."
| "Then there are but two Of us for
tonights work?"
''Four; the concierge and his wife
will watch at all hazards. ] don't set
much value on them before, but the
concierge may be useful after. II
there's to be any killing"
"Then you think there may bel"
"If he wishes it"
'sWhy haven't you brought In Daddy
jacques? Have you made no use Of
him today?''
mo- replied Rouletabille sharply,
/ kept silence for awhile: then, anx'
ious to know his thoughts. asked him
point blank:
"Why not tell Arthur RanceF he
7 a <fxkn fA o