The Owosso times. (Owosso, Mich.) 1897-1926, 1909-01-29

with gravel" he said "Ihe man must
have passed along it going to the pa
vilion, since no traces Of his steps have
! been found on the soft ground. The
man didn't have wings; he walked,
but he walked on the gravel, which
left no impression Of his tread. The
gravel has, in fact. been trodden by
many other feet. since the Path is the
most direct way between the pavilion
and the chateau. AS to the thicket,
made of the sort of shrubs that don't
fioSrish in the rough scason-lauyels
and fuchsias-it offered the murderer
sufficient hiding place until it was
| time for him to make his way to the
| pavilion. 1t was while hiding In that
| clump of trees that he saw NJ. and
| Mile Stangerson and then Daddy
| Jacques leave the pavilion. Gravei
| has been spread nearly, very nearly.
| up to the windows Of the pavilion. The
| footprints of man parallel with the
wall, marks which we will examine
presently and which / have already
seen, prove that he only needed to
make one stride to find himself In
| front Of the vestibule window. left
| open by Daddy Jacques. The man
drow himself up by his hands and en-
| tered the vestibule."
After all, 1t is very possible" l said.
IF l did not reason as l do i'll re-
gard to this gravel" Rouletabille went
| on, az should have to assume bal
loon. So don't say thing is possible
nfhArUiGa
| know now how the man entered by
the window, and we also know the
moment at which he entered-during
the 8 o'clock walk Of the professor
and his daughter. The fact Of the
presence Of the chambermaid, who had
come to clean up the yellow room, in
the laboratory when NJ. Stangerson
| and his daughter returned from their
walk Mt half past l permits us to af-
firm that at half past 1 the murderer
was not in The chamber under the bed
unless he was in collision with the
chambermaid. What do you say, NJ.
DarzacT'
NJ. Darzac shook his head and said
he was sure of the chambermaid's
| fidelity and that she was thorough
| ly honest and devoted servant.
Besides" he added, Eat o'clock
M. Stangerson went into the room to
fetch his daughters hat"
There is that also" said Rouleta-
billie.
"That the man entered by the win
dow at the time you say, admit"
said, "but why did he shut the win
dow? 1t was an act which would nee
essarily draw the attention of those
who had left it OPEN"
1T may be the window was not shut
at once" replied the young reporter.
But If he did shut the window it was
because Of the bend in the gravel path
a dozen yards from the pavilion and
on account of the three oaks that are
growing at that spot"
what do you mean by that? asked
NJ. Darzac, who had followed us and
listened with almost breathless atten-
ton to all that Rouletabille had said.
OH explain all to you later on, mon
sieur, when l think the moment to be
ripe for doing so. But / don't think
I have anything of more Importance
to say on this affair If my hypothesis
Is justified"
"And what is your hypothesis?"
"You will never know If 1t does not
turn out to be the truth. 1t is of much
too grave a nature to speak of it SO
long as it continues to be only q n.y.
pothesis"
"Have you at least some idea as to
who the murderer is?'
"No, monsieur, l don't know who
the murderer is. But don't be afraid,
NJ. Robert Darzac. shall know"
could not but observe that NJ. Oar
FAC was deeply moved, and 1 suspect
ed that Rouletabille's confident asser-
ton was not pleasing to him. Why,
I asked myself, If he was really afraid
that the murderer should be discover
ed, was he helping the reporter to find
him? My young friend seemed to
have received the same impression,
for he said bluntly:
IN. Darzac, don't you want me to
find out who the murderer WASP"
ooh, / should like to kill him with
my own handw cried Mile Stanger-
sons fiance, with a vehemence that
amazed me-
81 believe you," said Rouletabille
gravely. But you have not answered
my question"
We were passing by the thicket Of
which the young reporter had spoken
to us a minute before I entered 1t
and pointed out evident traces of a
man who had been hidden there.
Rouletabille once more was right.
Eyes, yes" he said. 1--WE have to do
with a thing of flesh and blood. who
uses the same means that we do. TIL
all come out on those lines'
Having said this, he asked me for
the paper pattern of the footprint
which he had given me to take care
Of and applied 1t to very clear foot
mark behind the thicket aha" he
said, rising.
/ thought he was now going to trace
back the track of the murderer's foot
marks to the vestibule window, but he
led us instead far to the left, saying
that it was useless ferreting In the
mud and that he was sure now of the