The Brookings register. [volume] (Brookings, Brookings County, S.D.) 1903-1971, 1910-11-24
CHAPTER XXXIIl-Continued.
With an oath the figure hurled itself

With an oath the figure hurled itself
across the room at me, and I
screamed again. In his blind fury he
had missed me; I heard him strike
the wall. That one time | eluded
him; | was across the room, and | had
got the chair. He stood for a second,
listening, then-he made another rush
and | struck out with my weapon. I
think it stunned him, for | had a sec
ond's respite when | could hear him
breathing, and some one shouted out
side:
"We-can't-get-in. How-does-it
open?'
But the mar in the room had
changed his tactics. | knew he al
creeping on me, inch by inch, and l
could not tell from where. And then
he caught me. He held his hand
over my mouth, and | bit him l was
helpless, strangling-and some one
was trying to break in the mantel
from outside. 1t began to yield some
where, for a thin wedge of yellowisf
light vas reflected on the opposite
wall. When he saw that, my assailant
dropped me with a curse; then-the
opposite wall swung open n~oiselessly,
closed again without a sound, and l
was alone. The intruder was gone.
"In the next ROOM" | called wildly.
The next room" But the sound Of
blows on the mantel drowned my
voice. BY the time I had made them
understand, a couple of minutes had
elapsed. The pursuit was taken up
then. b. all except Alex, who was de-
termined to liberate me. When l
stepped out into the trunkroom a free
woman again | could hear the chase
far below.
! must say, for ell Alexis anxiety to
set me free, he paid little enough at
-''-- f. ''~ Wight. He Jumped
through the opening into the secret
o and picked up the portable safe.
Il am going to put this in Mr.. Hal
sey's room, Miss lines" he said, and
| shall send one of the detectives to
guard it,"
| hardly heard him. | wanted to
laugh and cry in the same breath
10 crawl into bed and have a cup of
tea, and scold Liddy, and do any of
The thousand natural things hat | had
never expected TO do again. And the
air! The touch of the cool night air
On my face!
AS Alex and | reached the second
floor, Mr.. Jameson met us. He was
grave and quiet, and he nodded com
prehendingly when he saw the safe.
"Will you come with me for a mo-
ment, Miss %InneS?" he asked soberly,
and on my asserting, he led the way
to the east wing. There were lights
moving around below, and some Of
the maids were standing gaping down.
They screamed when they saw me,
and drew back to let me pass. There
was a sort of hush over the scene;
Alex, behind me, muttered something
[ could not hear, and brushed past me
without ceremony. Then | realized
that a man was lying doubled up at
the foot of the staircase, and that
Alex was STOPPING over him.
AS | came slowly down, Winters
stepped back, and Alex Strengthened
himself, looking at me across the
body with impenetrable eyes. In his
hand he held a shaggy gray wig, and
before me on the floor lay the mar
whose headstone stood in Casanova
churchyard-Paul Armstrong.
Winters told the story in a dozen
words. In his h~eadlong flight down
the circular staircase, with Winters
just behind, Paul Armstrong had
pitched forward violently, struck his
head against the door to the east YER
anda, and probably broken his neck.
He had died as Winters reached him.
AS the detective finished, ! saw Hal.
sey, pale and shaken, in the card
room doorway, and for the first time
that night | lost my self-control. | put
my arms around my boy, and for a
moment he. had to support me. a sec
ond later, over Halsey's shoulder, l
saw something that turned my emo
ton into other channels, for behind
him, in the shadowy cardroom, were
Gertrude and Alex, the gardener, and
there is no use mincing matters-he
was kissing her.
/ was unable to speak. Twice |
opened my mouth; then | turned Hal
sey around and pointed. They were
quite unconscious of US; her head was