The Brookings register. [volume] (Brookings, Brookings County, S.D.) 1903-1971, 1909-02-11
The Mystery OF
The Yellow Room
By CASTOR LEROUX II "" BY sRENrANos
COPYRIGHT. 1908.
BY BRENTANO'S

any IHTt III tlnN Tragedy ~ VIII iN
very interesting. 1t Is a pit. y'n
won't bc able To be- present"
Il shall - present" said Roulctl-
bile confidently.
Really yea are an extraordinary
fellow for your age" replied the de
tpctivc in Il tone NO wholly free from
irony. You'd make II wonderful de
tcctive-lf Won had Il little more meth
cd II you didn't follow your instincts
and that bump "n your forehead. A.
have already several times observed.
NJ. I;culetabille. You reason too much
You DO not allow yourself ~ be guild.
cd 10y what Won 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 | have only seen the
handkerchief"
"BaIl," cried Roule;abillc. The
murdcrrr WAS wounded ia the hand
Iy Mile. Stan"erSon'S rev liver"
"Dcfcctive o~hScrvation- defective OBJ
Scrvatiou. The examination Of the
l'l ll'lhttfllFI. the IiE 4t4Dtllf~N lltNif
round scarlet stains. the Impression Of
drops which | found ia the tracks of
the footprints ut the moment when
tucy were made OH th" floor. prove to
nae that Tie murderer was NOT wound
cd at all. VI. Roulctabille. The mur
dcror hlcl at the nose
The great Fred spoke quit" seriously.
However. | could not refrain from ut
tcring an exclamation.
The reporter looked g~ravely nj Fred.
who looked g~ravcly at bin. And Fred
Immediately concluded:
''The man allowed the blood to flow
into his hand and landkcrrhi III and
dried his hand on the wall. The fat is
highly Important" he added. "lrcHuSr
there is no need of his being wounded
III the hand for him to be the Iiur
dcrcr."
Roulctabiile seemed to be thinking
deeply. Aft,ra moment he said:
There S~omething-a something.
NJ. Frederic IarSan. much @rayor than
the misuse of logic. the disposition IL
mind in some detectives which makes
them in perfect good faith twist logic
to the necessities of their preconceived
ideas. Beware Of judicial error. NJ.
Fred; it will trip you up"
And. laughing Il lstlc in a slightly
bantering tone. his hands in his peck
cts, Rouletabille fixed his cunning eyes
on the great Fred.
Frederic L.arsan silently contemplate
ed the young reporter who pretended
to be as wise as himself. Struggling
his shoulders. he bowed 10 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.
Il shall beat him. he cried. Il shall
beat the great Fred, clever as he is, l
shall beat them all"
And he danced Il double shuttle.
Suddenly he stopped. My eyes follow
ed his gaze. They were fixed Oh Nj.
Robert Darzac. who was looking anx-
iously at the impression left by his
feet side 10y side with the elegant
foOtmarks. There was not n particle
Of difference between them.
We thought he was about to faint.
His eyes. bulging with terror. avoided
US. while his right hand. With q spas
modic movement. twitchcd at the
beard that covered his honest. gentle
AMI now despairing face. At length
regaininS his self possession. h" hUWrI
10 us and. r":narking In a changed
voice that hc Was obliged TO return to
the chateau. left ~.
The deuce,' exclaimed Rouletabiile.
He also appeared to be deeply con
cerned. From his p0cketboOk he took
a piece of white paper, as | had seen
him do before. aud with his scissors
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, The
deucew Presently he added, Yet |
believe NJ. 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.