Wallowa County chieftain. [volume] (Enterprise, Or.) 1909-1911, 1909-02-11
The Mystery of
The Yellow Room

COPYRIGHT, 1908.
BY BRENTANO'S

'Yes. this afternoon. He is going to
: summon before the magistrate in the
laboratory all those who have played
my part in this tragedy 1t will be
very interesting. 1t is pity you
won't be able to be present"
Il shall be present" said Rouleta-
billie confidently.
Really you are an extraordinary
fellow for your agel'' replied the de-
tective in tone not wholly free from
irony. you'd make wonderful de-
tective-if you had little more meth.
cd-if you didn't follow your instincts
and that bump on your forehead. AS
have already several times observed.
NJ. Rouletabille, you reason too much.
You do not allow yourself to be guild
ed by what you have seen. What do
you say to the handkerchief full of
blood and the red mark of the hand
on the wall? You have seen the stain
on the wall, but 1 have only seen the
handkerchief"
"Bah!' cried Rouletabille. "The
murderer was wounded in the hand
by Mile. Stangcrson's revolver"
defective servation-defective OBJ
servation! The examination Of the
handkerchief, the numberless little
round scarlet stains, the impression of
drops which l found in the tracks of
the footprints at the moment when
they were made on the floor, prove to
me that the murderer was not wound
ed at all. NJ. Rouletabille, the MUIR
derer bled at the nosev'
The great Fred spoke quite seriously.
However. / could not refrain from ut
tering an exclamation.
The reporter looked gravely at Fred.
who looked gravely at him. And Fred
Immediately concluded:
"The man allowed the blood to flow
into his hand and handkerchief and
dried his hand on the wall The fact Is
highly important" he added, because
there is no need of his being wounded
in the hand for him to be the muir
derer."
Rouletabille seemed to be thinking
deeply. After a moment he said
"There is something-a something.
NJ. Frederic Larsan, much graver than
the misuse of logic, the disposition of
mind in some detectives which makes
them in perfect good faith twist logic
to the necessities Of their preconceived
ideas. Beware of judicial error M.
Fred; 1t will trip you up"
Az 10 L. aIt
bantering tone, his hands In his pock-
cts, Rouletabille fixed his cunning eyes
on the great Fred.
Frederic Larsan silently contemplat-
ed the young reporter who pretended
to be as wise as himself. Struggling
his shoulders, he bowed to us and
moved quickly away, hitting the stones
on his path with his stout cane.
Rouletabille watched his retreat and
then turned toward us, his face joyous
and triumphant.
81 shall beat himw he cried. 81 shall
beat the great Fred, clever as he is!
shall beat them all!'
And he danced double shuttle
Suddenly he stopped. My eyes follow
ed his gaze. They were fixed on M.
Robert Darzac, who was looking anx-
iously at the impression left by his
feet side by side with the elegant
footmarks. There was not a particle
of difference between them!
We thought he was about to faint.
His eyes, bulging with terror, avoided
rs, while his right hand, with spas
modic movement, twitched at the
beard that covered his honest, gentle
and now despairing face. At length
regaining his self possession, he bowed
to us and, remarking in a changed
voice that he was obliged to return to
the chateau. left us.
"The deucew exclaimed Rouletabille
lie also appeared to be deeply con-
cerned. From his pocketbook he took
piece of white paper, as I had seen
him do before, and with his scissors
cut out the shape of the neat boot
marks that were on the ground. Then
he fitted the new paper pattern with
the one he had previously made. The
two were exactly alike. Rising, Roule
tabille exclaimed suddenly, 1.-THE
deucew Presently he added, "Yet
believe M. Robert DarZac to be an hon
est man." He then led me on the road
| to the Donjon inn, which we could
see on the highway by the side of a
small clump Of trees.