, 1911-01-12

lived over again the vents of the
night. Again l saw the group around
the silent figure on the grass. and
again, as had happened at the grave,
I heard ALEXIS voice. tense and tri-
umphant:
Then we've got them" he said.
Only, in my dreams. he said 1t over
and over until he seemed to shrek II
in my ears.
I wakened early, in spite of my ia
tigue, and lay there thinking. Who
was Alex7 I no longer believed that
he was q gardener. Who was the
nan whose body we had resurrected?
And where was Paul Armstrong? Prob
ably living safely in some extradition-
less country on the fortune he had
stolen Did Louise and her mother
know OF the shameful and wicked de-
ception7 What had Thomas known.
and Mrs. Watson? Who was Nina
Darlington?
This last question. 1t seemed to me,
was answered. In some way the
woman had learned of the substitu-
ton, and had tried to use her knowl-
edge for blackmaiI. Nina C~arrington's
own story died with her, but, however
1t happened. 1t was clear that she had
carried her knowledge to Halsey the
afternoon Gertrude and l were look
ing for clews to the man I had shot
on the east veranda. Halsey had been
half crazed by what he heard; It was
evident that Louise was marrying DR..
Walker to keep the shameful secret,
for her mothers sake. Halsey, al
ways reckless, had gone at once to
DR.. Walker and denounced him. There
q been a scene, and he left on his
way to the station to meet and notify
Mr.. Jameson of what he had learned.
The doctor was active mentally and
physically. Accompanied perhaps by
Riggs, who had shown himself not
svsrscrupulous until he %quarreled
with his employer. he had gone across
to the railroad embankment, and, by
jumping In front of the car, had
caused Halsey to swerve. The rest
of the story we knew.
That was my reconstructed theory
of that afternoon and evening; It was
almost correct-not quite.
There was q telegram that morning
from Gertrude.
Halsey conscious and improving. PROP
hbiy nome IN gay or SO.
GERTRUDE.
With Halsey found and improving
in health. and with at last something
to work IN, l began that day, Thurs
day, with fresh courage. As Mr..
Jameson had said. the lines were
closing up. That ] was to be caught
and almost finished in the closing was
happily unknown to us all.
,-- lad .L-- A.
my bed. looking around the four walls
of the room, n trying to imagine be-
hind what one of them a secret cham
Der might lie. Certainly, in daylight,
Sunnyside deserved its name; never
was q house more CHEEKY and open,
less sinister In general appearance.
There was not a corner apparently
that was not open and above-board,
and yet, somewhere behind its hand
somely papered walls l believed firmly
that there lay a hidden room, with
all the possibilities 1t would involve.
made a mental note to have the
house measured during the day to dis
any discrepancy between the
outer and inner walls, and I tried t.
recall again the exact wording OF the
paper Jameson had found.
The slip had said Chimney" It
was the only clue. and a house as
large As %Sunnyside was full of them.
There was an pen fireplace in my
dressing room. but none in the bed
room, and as / lay there. looking
around. / thought OF something that
made me sit up suddenly. The trunk
room. Just over my head, had an open
fireplace n a brick chimney, and
yet there was nothing of the kind in
my room. I got out OF bed and ex-
amined the opposite wall closely.
There was apparently no fiue, and !
knew there was none in the hall Just
beneath. The house was heated by
steam, as l have said before. In the
living room was a huge open fireplace,
u It was on the other side.
Why did the trunkroom have both
q radiator and an open fireplaceT
Architects were not usually cratic.
1t was not 10 minutes before I was up
stairs, armed with a ta~pe-measure in
lieu OF a f~oot-rule. age to Justify Mr..
Jamieson's opinion OF my intelligence,
n firmly resolved not to tell him of
my suspicion until / had more than
theory to go on. The hole in the
trunkroom wall still yawned there, be-
tween the chimney and the outer wall.
examined 1t again. with no new re-
suit The space between the brick
wall and the plaster and lath one,
however, had a new significance. The
hole showed only one side of the Chin
ney, and / determined to investigate
what lay in the space on the other
side Of the mantel.
had a blister on my palm when
at last the Ratchet went through and
fell with whatsounded like the report of
q u to my overstrained nerves. / sat
on a trunk. waiting to hear Liddy fly