The Columbia herald. [volume] (Columbia, Tenn.) 18??-1935, 1910-08-26
CHAPTER XVI.
Strange Phenomenon of the Dis
ISOLATION Of Matter.

sill" continues Rouletabille
"and once more l raise my
IL head above it. Through al
opening in the curtains, the arrange
ment of which has not been changed
! am ready to look, anxious to note the
position in which / am going to find
the murderer, whether his back will
still be turned toward me, whether lac
Is still seated al the desk writing.
But perhaps -perhaps-he is no longer
there. Yet how could he have fed !?
Was l not IL possession of mis- ladder
force myself to be cool. | raise my
head yet higher. / look-he is still
there / see his monstrous back, de-
formed by the shadow thrown by the
candle. He is no longer writing now,
and the candle is on the parquet, over
which he is bending-a position which
serves my purpose.
II hold my breath. | mount the lad
der. l am GA the uppermost rung of it
and with my left hand seize hold OF
the window sill In this moment of
approaching success | feel my heart
beating wildly. | put my revolver be,
| tween my teeth. A quick spring and
/ shall be on the window ledge. But
the ladder! had been obliged to press
on 1t heavily, and my foot had scarcely
left it when | felt it swaying beneath
me. 1t grated on the wall and fell.
But already my knees were touching
the window sill, and by movement
quick as lightning got on to it.
But the murderer had been even
quicker than had been. He had
heard the grating of the ladder on the
wall, and / saw the monstrous back Of
the man raise itself l saw his head,
Did really see it? The candle on the
parquet lit up his legs only. Above
the height of the table the cham
Der was in darkness. l saw a man
with long hair. full beard, wild look
ing eyes, a pale face framed in large
whiskers as well as | could distin-
guish and as l think red in color.
did not know the face. That was, in
brief, the chief sensation | received
from that face in the dim half light in
which | saw it. | did not know it, or
at least did not recognize it.
Now for quick action. 1t was in |
deed time for that, for as | was about /
to place my legs through the window |
the man had seen me, had bounded to |
his feet, had sprung, as l foresaw he
would, to the door of the antechamber,
had time to open it and fed But !
was already behind him, revolver in
hand. shouting 'Helpr
'Like an arrow | crossed the room,
but noticed letter on the table as |
rushed almost came up with the
man in the anteroom, for he had lost
time IN opening the door to the gal
lery. | few on wings and in the gal
ery was but few feet behind him
He had taken, as / supposed he would,
the gallery on his right-that is to say,
he road he had prepared for his flight
Help. Jacques; help, Larsan! | cried.
de could not escape US. ! raised a .
hout of joy. of savage victory. The .
nan reached the intersection of the )
wo galleries hardly two seconds be- .
ore me for the meeting which | had !.
the fatal shock which must
inevitably take place at that spot, We :
II rushed to the crossing place-M.-
tangerson and l coming from one end
f the right gallery, Daddy Jacques
oming from the other end of the gal !,
Try and Frederic Larsan coming from
ne off turning gallery :,
"The man was not there!
1--WE looked at each other stupidity
nd with eyes terrified The man had &
anished like ghost Where is he. le
here is hep we all asked. 81
ait Is impossible he can have es- u
lpedr cried. my terror mastered by .
y anger. o
q 4 touched himp exclaimed Frederic =
arsan. :,
" I felt his breath on my facer cried y
addy Jacques. :,
" where Il he, wnere rs hep we all ~
led .
-we raced like madmen along the -
70 galleries We visited doors and "a,
Indows They were cloeed--hermetic- ~
" closed They had not been opened. a,
asides. the opening of q door or win a.
w by this man whom we were hunt a.
2 without our having perceived 1t nj
1uld have been more inexplicable -,
an his disappearance. ro
Where Is he. where Is he? He ~,
nld not have got away by door or IN,
window nor by any other way He ,o
lld not have passed through our 20,
dies! 10
I confess that for the moment ] felt lor
me for for the gallery was perfect fro
hghteu' ana tnefe was nel'uer u"p to
: secret door in the walls nor any "
t OF hiding place. We moved the The