Hopkinsville Kentuckian. [volume] (Hopkinsville, Ky.) 1889-1918, 1909-01-07

I'VE ran to the ladder. but at the
moment Of reaching it Daddy Jacques
drew my attention to the half open
door Of the little semlcircular room
situated under the terrace at the ex-
tremity Of the right wing Of the cha
teau, having the terrace for its roof.
Daddy Jacques pushed the door open
little farther and looked In.
"'He's not therev he whispered.
"'who is not thereg
"'The forest keeper
"With his lips once more to my ear
be added
"'Do you know that he has slept in
the upper room of the donjon ever
since it vas restoredr And with the
same gesture he pointed to the half
open door, the ladder, the terrace and
the window in the OF turning gal
lery, which a little while before had
reclosed.
'What were my thoughts then? l
had no time to think. felt more than
/ thought
TEvidently felt If the forest keeper
is up there in the chamber q say If
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 he 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 he the frightful Sc
cret which put her under the necessity
of doing away with obstacles that sep
arated her from the murderer?
81 seized hold of the adder, and we
returned to the back CT the chateau to
see If the window Of the chamber was
still half open. The blind was drawn,
but did not join and allowed a bright
stream of light to escape and fall upon
the path at our feet. l planted the
ladder under the window. l am al
most sure that / made no noise, and
while Daddy Jacques remained at the
foot Of the ladder 1 mounted it 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 a 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 few
yards away. Was the cry a signal?
Had some accomplice of the man seen
me on the ladder? Would the cry
bring the man to the window? Per
haps. All, there he was at the window!
| l felt his head above me. / heard the
sound of his breath! l could not look
up toward him. The least movement
Of my head and l might be lost. Would
he see me? Would he peer into the
I darkness? No; he went away. He had
seen nothing. / felt rather than heard
him moving on tiptoe in the room, and
l mounted a few steps higher. My
! head reached to the level Of the win
| dow sill; my forehead rose above it;
my eyes looked between the opening
| in the blinds, and l saw
| "a man seated at Mile. Stangerson's
| little desk writing. His back was turn
! ed toward me. A candle was lit before
! him. and he bent over the flame, the
light from it projecting shapeless shad-
ows. | saw nothing but a monstrous,
STOPPING back.
"Mlle. Stangerson herself was not
there! Her bed had not been lain on!
Where, then, was she sleeping that
| night? Doubtless in the side room
with her women. Perhaps this was
but a guess must content myself
with the joy of finding the man alone.
/ must be calm to prepare my trap.
! |bul WHO, lu6l, 40 lhAS man WAAAh5
there before my eyes, seated at the
desk, as if he were in his own home?
i If there had not been that ladder un-
der the window, if there had not been
those footprints on the carpet in the
! gallery, if there had not been that open
window, ! might have been led to
think that this man had right to be
there and that he was there as a mat
ter of course and for reasons about
which as yet l knew nothing. But
there was no doubt that this mysteri-
GUS unknown was the man of the vel
low room, the man to whose murder
Gus assault Mile. Stangerson without
denouncing him had had to submit If
/ could but see his facet Surprise and
capture him!
IF / spring into the room at this
moment he will escape by the right