The Washington times., 1911-09-06
CHAPTER XIII.
In the State Bedroom.


i ne had, at great personal inconYen-
lence. discovered between the bath
room OF No. Ill and the state bedroom
on the floor below must have been spe-
cially designed by some person or per-
sons for the purpose OF keeping a ne
iarous watch upon the occupants of
the state suite Of apartments.
II was means of communication at
once simple and ingenious.
AT that moment he could not be sure
! OF the precise method employed for II,
out he surmised that the casing Of the
water pipes had been used as a well"
"hile space for the pipes themselves
mad been found in the thickness of the
ample brick walls of the Grand Baby
! lon.
The eyehole, through which he now
had view of the bedroom, was a very
minute one, and probablY>would scarce
ly, be noticed from the exterior. one
! !hlng he observed concerning it-name-
N, that II had been made for a man
somewhat taller than himself. He was
oonged to stand on tiptoe in order to
set ms eye In the correct position. He
remembered that both Jules and Rocco
We're distinctly above the average
height; also that they were both thin
men and could have descended the well
Theodore Racksoie, though not stout,
was well-set man, with large bones.
These things flashed through his mind
as he gazed spellbound at the mysteri-
Gus movements of Rocco.
The door between the bathroom and
the bedroom was wide open, and his
own situation was such that his view
embraced considerable portion of the
bedroom, including the whole of the i'm
mense and gorgeously upholstered bed
rtead, but not including the whole of
, the marble washstand.
He could see only half Of the wash
stand anG at intervals Rocco passed
out of sight as his 1.-the hands moved
over the object which lay on the mar
BILE.
At first Theodore Racksole could not
! decide what this object was, but after
a ume, as his eyes grew accustomed to
the light, he made II out
1t was the body of a man, or. rather,
TO be more exact, Racksole could dis
cern the legs of a man on that half of
tne table which was visible to him.
con[,o.gd6 unyo!IntaFily ray. he shuddered as the
Rocco had some unconscious human
face.
The legs never moved Therefore, the
helpless creature was either asleep or
under the influence of IN anesthetic-
or horrible thoughD dead.
hacksole wanted to call out to stop
ny some means or ether, the dreadful
midnight activity which was proceeding
before his astonished eye, but fortu-
nately he restrained himself
On the washstand he could see GER
tain strangely shaped utensils and in
struments, which Rocco used from time
10 time. The work seemeisto Racksole
10 continue for intermira BILE hours. and
then at last Rocco ceased, gave a sign
OF satisfaction, wnistled several bars
from .Cavalleria Rusticana," and came
into the bath room, where he took Off
his coat and very quietly washed his
hands
As he stood calmly and leisurely wip-
ing those long fingers of his he was less
than four feet from Racksole, and the
cooped-up millionaire trembled, holding
his breath lest Rocco should detect his
presence behind the woodwork
But nothing happened and Rocco re-
turned unsuspectingly to the bed room.
Racksole saw him place some sort Of
form on the table and then lift it bod
ny on the bed, where II lay still
Tho hidden watcher was sure now
that II WIS a corpse upon which Rocco
had been exercising his mysterious and
But whose corpse? And what func-
tions2
Could this be West End hotel, Rack
sole's own hotel, in the very heart of
London, the besc policed city in the
world, and was the period the end of
the nineteenth century?
II seemed incredible. impossible; yet
Sc IL WIS.
Once more he remembered what Felix
Babylon had said to him, and realized
the truth of the saying anew. The pro-
prietnr of a vast and complicated estab-
lishment like the Grand Babylon could
never know 1.-THE of the extraordinary
and queer occurrences which happened
daily under his very nose.
Nevertheless, Racksole thought that
fate was carrying things with rather a.
high hand when she permitted his chef
to spend the night hours over a mans
corpse IN this state bed room, this sacred
APARTMENT which was suppos ed TO be
occupied only oy individuals of royal
blood.
Racksole would not have objected to
A certain amount of mystery, but he
thought there was a little too much
mystery here for his taste.
He thought that even Felix Babylon
would have been surprised at this.
The electric chandelier in the center
OF the ceiling was not lighted only the
two burners on either side of the wash
stand were switched on, and these did
not sufficiently illuminate the features
Of the man on, the bed to enable Rack
sole to see his features clearly.
In vain the millionaire strained his
eyes. He could only make oit that the
coppse was probably that of a young
man. Just as he was wondering what
would be the best course of action to
shaped black bcx In his hand.
Then the chef switched on the two
electric lights, and the state bedroom
was in darkness. In that swift dark
ness Racksole heard Rocco spring on to
the bed. Another half-dozen moments