The Washington times., 1910-03-18
CHAPTER *.
The Man Among the Shrubs.

n TORME plunged hastily down the
front steps, turned to the right
- and disappeared in the darkness.
To three men, however. he did
not disappear-they followed him and
Kept him well in sight This time he
pursued no devious course. but headed
straight for the Iroquols Club. which
he reached and entered with alacrity.
The three men waited for him out
side They stood where they could see
without being seen Once more they
camped upon his trail
Up IN the DUmOnt house the guest 3
were leaving. The faInting spell at the
table had cast an air Of gloom upon
the crowd, and Storme's departure haI
acted as a sort Of signal for the pre-
mature termination OF the modest fes-
uvlties-
One by one the guests departed and
left Miss Dumont alone.
Half an hour later the lights On the
ground floor were e1tp .Suished. Half
an hour after that the Lights upstairs
The whole house was dark. Il was a
cloudy night and sultry one. There
VAS no moon.
Helen Dumont did not retire-she was
IN no mood TO sleep. Instead. she took
a seat ~ an open window and thought
and thought.
Outside in the garden. concealed by
the ShrubbeTy that surrounded the
house, there stood a man-an unseen
man.
He was a part of the chaotic black
ness Of the night He only knew how
he came TO be there, or whence he
came
He was motionless and Invisible. His
skin may have been white, but If IL
were IL did not show for he wore
black mask and dark colOrCd gloves.
q. r.r s..H
lar was. turned up Miss DumOnJ did
not see him.
This man had keen ear. and he was
using 1t to the best advantage He was
waiting for absolute quiet within
the house And when hat quiet rcigued
he waited many minutes longer before
he stirred.
Finally he made en- impercepuole
movement and somewhere within his
apparel small bell struck the hour
He sighed with relief.
III try IL now" he exclaimed softly
10 himself But stil he did not move
Let me see" h unused. Il want 10
get this straight. I must make no mis-
takes. From what I have learned. the
thing Is sure. There are SIX people in
the house
He checked them off on his fingers as
he spoke
The gtrl. the old lady, the man. and
three servants The three servants are
on the upper floor, but they sleep. and
y
man Is On the ground fiOOr-thaU elm
mates MIN. The old lady ir the front
roOm-SheS too far off 10 be DANGEROUS
That leaves no one but the girl 10
Iace-and II she hears me, why then
! can get away In time at any rate
. MS thing seems sCre-Safer than many
others It's worth rTyiuC, and I'll try
il Here goes.
There was an Oyer Space of eirbteay
feet between the shrub5erv and me
mousse The man, who uD TO this time
might have been q shadow or a tree,
nov disappeared from view beneath the
An instant later he emerged from the
protection Of iL- leaves. BY means of
some clever burglars trick, ne wrig-
Slvd. half prusiraJe. across the omen
Sp~ce-he was passing shadow. a bit
darker than the Others, nothing else.
once across he became "A portion OF
the house He became again unseen
MS man Cld nothing al raudOm-he
did not reckon beyond his host He
had made himself carefully acquainted
with the details Of the job before him /
lie was an expert in his line.
Night after night he had lurked i'm
the vicinity Of this house. alert and
wide awake to everything that vent On /
He knew now all ABOUT the outside and
all about The inside of the house be (
understood the habits Of the occupants. I
He had determined the exact Local
uon of his booty; II surprised, ne knew
Just which way 10 run He was ure- I
pared TOT al emergencies
Outside policeman swung aIon- with .
easy gait lie stopped and peered "a
moment into the shrubbery and then
passed on.
The man alongside tie house breathcd
sigh Of -elicf Suddenly he shook
with uncomfortable but silent laughter. /.
y presume he remarked softly to /
himself that Burke and his sang are Il
still watching for me at The IroQuois. II
must 80 around there anS take a look
at them when 1 get through
Then he started in 70 work In five
mic.;toS he had forced Z cellar win /
dow. Having done this, he crCpt intoi
the house and dropped t. the ceIlart
floor. closing and fastening the window
behind him
once inside. there WIS 10 trace oil
him or his work left without. All that
he had 10 fear now were the occupants /.
of the house
This is a cinch, he muttered under /
meath his breath.
But not so much OF a one as he /
thought. He had TO break an entrance I
through three doors before he stood /
upon the ground flor once there, how
ever, he felt his way cautiously TO thel
pantry where he knew the butler slept. /
The door was wide open. and a gas
$8t in the room was turned down low. /
You'd snores proceeded from the bed. I
The butler lay upon his back, his mouth I
wide open. The man with the black .
mask was pleased 90 note that much (
III IL SAID Indl the CnIDTOfOrm1nE bur
rlar is a myth-or. IL not a myth. a fail :
uUe. ChlOrOfOTm gags and stihes-it Is .
bound TO wake It's victim.
But the man i'm the black mask knew
his business. He took ali chances. BE- !
cause Of this fact
He was ready for the gasp, the cough, !
The gurgle-he anticipated the fact that
his victim would wake Listening care /
fully to the respiration, he grasped his /
man by the throat each time there was
an expulsion Of air. and SPRAYED the
vapor down his threat as he released I
HIS grasp
There was a struEgIe-there was bound /
10 be-but the butler was no match for /
the iron muscles and trained science Of /
the man IN black. and the struggles be
came faint and fainter, and the man
on the bed succumbed,
For ten minutes the burglar kept his
rbIoroform cone in place over the others
face. and then deftly gagged him and /
tied him hand and foot 10 the bed /
whereOn he Law
Then he softly stole upstairs.
Every bedroom door was locked TheI
recent burglaries had made everybody 1
timorous
aIt's Just as well" he laughed TO
himself
ne carefully secured each door from
the outside with ropes tied 10 the han
dies IN such manner that IL would be
impossible, hv tho exercise Of ordinary
force. 10 ouen them AZ all
A. each door he listened carefully. but
heard no sound. Then he crept STEALTH