, 1911-01-19

iruu'ouS 0dtus- Inc TRUNKS were
being ierked AROUND in a frantic
search. the windows were thrown
open. only to show a sheer drop of "A
feet And the man in the room with
me leaned against the mantel-door
and listened, His pursners we're plain.
ly bafied; ! heard him draw a icus
breath. and turn to, grope his way
through the blackness, Then-he
touched my hand, cold, clammy. death
like.
A hand in an empty roomi He drew
in his breath, the sharp intaking OF
horror that fills lungs suddenly col
lapsed. Beyond jerking his hand away
instantly, he made no movement. ]
think absolute terror had him by. the
throat. Then he stepped back. with
out turning. ~retreating foot by. foot
from The Dread in the corner, and !
do not think he breathed,
Then, with the relief Of space be.
tween US. I screamed. ear-splittingly,
madly. and they heard me outside.
Tn the chimney" I shrieked. BE
hind the mantel! The mantel!"
With an oath the figure hurled Itself
-H"-
across the room at me. and
screamed again. In his blind fury he
had missed me; I heard him strike
the wall. That n time / .eluded
him; I was across the room, and ! had
got the chair. He stood for q second
listening, then-he made another rush
and I struck out with my weapon. J
think 1t stunned him, for I had a sec
ond's respite when I could hear him
breathing. and some one shouted ont
side: d.-,r.
"we-cant-get-in. How-does-i,
open?"
r { changed his tactics l knew he was
creeping or me, inch by inch, and
could not tell from where. And Their
caught me. He held his hand
over my mouth, and bit him. was
helpless, strangling-and some one
was trying to break in the manteI
from outside. It began to yield some
where, for a thin wedge of yellowist
light vas reflected on the opposite
wall, When he saw that, my assailan,
dropped me with a curse; then-ths
opposite wall swung open noiselessly
closed again without a sound, n
was alone. The intruder was gon
I'm the e 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 UT
then, by all except Alex. who was de
termined to liberate me. When. ]
stepped out into the ~trunkroom a free
woman again ] could hear the chase
far below.
I must say, for all Alexis anxiety tC
set me free. he paid little enough at
tention to my plight. He Jumped
through the opening into the secret
room and picked up the portable safe.
Il am going to put this in Mr.. Hal.
sey's room. Miss Innes," he said, land
| shall send one of the detectives tc
guard It."
I hardly heard him. / wanted to
laugh and cry in the same breath
to crawl into bed and have a cup o.
tea, and scold Liddy, and do any OF
the thousand natural things that 1 had
never expected to do again. And the
air! The touch of the cool night air
on my facet
As Alex and I reached the second
floor, Mr.. Jameson met US. He was
grave and quiet, and he nodded com
prehendingly when he saw the safe.
"WM you come with me for "a mo
ment, Miss ~Innes?" he asked soberly
and on my asserting, he led the wny
to the s wing. There were lights
moving around below, and some oi
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 yer the scene
Alex, behind me. muttered something
I could not hear, and brushed past me
without ceremony, Then I realized
that a man was lying doubled up al
the foot Of the staircase, and that
Alex was STOPPING over him.
AS I 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 CCasanova
churchyard-Paul Armstrong.
Winters told the story In a dozer
words. In his headlong fight down
the circular staircase. with Winters
just behind. Paul Armstrong had
pitched forward violently. struck hii
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, I saw Hal
sey. pale and shaken, in the card
o doorway, and for the first time
chat night I lost my self-control. I put
my arms around my boy, and for 9
moment he had to support me. A sec
ond later. owe Halsey's shoulder,
saw something that turned my emo
tion into other channels. for behind
nim. in the shadowy cardroom. were
Gertrude and Alex. the gardener. ant