The Brookings register. [volume] (Brookings, Brookings County, S.D.) 1903-1971, 1909-05-13
The Mystery OF
The Yellow Room
By CASTOR LEROUX * BY sRENrANos

Those Of my readers who may no
have heard Of |Eailmoycr will wondcI
AT the excitement the name caused
And yet the doings of this remarkabl,
criminal form the subject matter o
the most dramatic narratives of the
newspapers ana criminal records Of th'
past twenty years. 1t had been report
ed that he was dead and thus bat
eluded the police as he had eludeC
them throughout the whole Of his ca
reer.
Ballmeyer was the best specimen oi
the high class gentleman swindler.'
He was an adept at sleight Of hant
tricks. and no bolder or more ruthless
crook ever lived. He was received il
the best society and was a member OF
some Of the most exclusive clubs. or
many Of his d~epredatory expeditions
be had not hesitated to use the knife
and the mutton bone. No difficulty
stopped him. and no Operation was
too dangerous. He had been caught
but escaped on the very morning ot
his trial by throwing pepper into the
eyes Of the guards who were conduct.
Ing him to court.
lie left France later TO work" Amer
lea. The police there succeeded in once
capturing him, but the cXtraordinary
mar escaped the next day. 1t would
need a volume to recount the adycn-
lures Of this master criminal. And yet
this was the man Roulctahille had nj
lowed to get away. Knowing all about
him and who he was. he afforded the
criminal an opportunity for another
laugh at the society he had defied,
could not help admiring the bold stroke
Of the young journalist, because | felt
certain his motive had beer to protect
both Mile. Stangerson and rid Darzac
OF an enemy at the same time.
The crowd had barely recovered
from the effect of the astonishing rev
citation when the hearing was resumed.
The question in everybody's mind
was. Admitting that Larsan was the
murderer, how did ne get out of the
yellow room?
Rouletabille was Immediately called
to the bar and his examination con-
tinued.
You have told u.s." said the presi-
dent, that it was impossible to es-
cape from the end Of the court. Since
he had left the court. How did he do
thatT"
II escaped by a most unusual way.
He climed the wall, sprang on to the
terrace and while we were engaged
with the keepers body reached the
gallery by the window. He then had
little else to do than to open the win
dow, get in and call out to us, as II he
had just come from his own room.
To a man Of Ballmeyer's strength all
that was mere child's play. And here,
monsieur, is the proof Of what l say"
R~ouletabille drew from his pocket a
small packet. from which he produced
a strong iron peg.
This, monsieur" he said, sis a
spike which perfectly fits a hole still
to be seen in the cornice supporting
the terrace. l.arsan. who thought and
IN W. y INNS III 'tSN vi Ill
emergency. had fixed this spike into
the cornice All he had to do to make
his escape good was to plant one foot
on n stone which is placed at the cor
ner of the chateau, another on this
support, one hand on the cornice Of
the keepers door and the other on the
terrace. and LarSan was clear Of the
ground. The rest was easy. His act
ing after dinner as If he had been
drugged was make believe. He was
not dragged. But he did drug me.
OF course he had TO make it appear as
If he also had been drugged so that no
suspicion should fall on him for my
condition. Had | not been thus over
powered Larsan would never have en-
tered Mile. Stangerson'S chamber that
night and the attack on her would not
have taken place"
A groan came from DarZac, who APP
peared to be unable TO control his Suf
fering.
You can understand" added Roule.
tabille. that L.arsan would feel him