The Washington times., 1911-07-12
CHAPTER TX (Continued).

n STEPPED across the room ana OPEN
ed the door toward which he nodded.
i was beginning to feel that he was
more fitted to deal with the occa-
sion than I. So when I had the door
of the closet open, l glanced back at
iiim.
1T will do very well, sir. 1t will
take a strong man to break down that
door," he declared, quietly
Thank goodness. they did not spare
ma aterial; the door is a good three
inches thick, and the lock strong in
proportion. It may give US time to
Right. sir. l do not think he will
follow US for few hours. though he
may come to his senses presently"
l glanced toward the bed, where the
Brescian was lying with his arms out
Through the short. heavy blond mus
tache one could catch the CLEAN of his
even teeth. / had once seen u wolf die
under the blows OF the club in the
hands Of a Canadian woodsman, and
the teeth reminded me Of that Incl
dent
McGregor, who had made a rapid
survey of the interior Of the closet,
dropped the fellows revolver into the
1T is a good place. SIR" said he
calmly.
Then let US lose no time" 1 sug-
gested.
1T might be wise to search him"
Without waiting for reply he bent
over the fellow and began to search
through his pockets. One after the
other he tossed various articles upon
the bed; little heap of papers. a pipe
and tobacco-pouch. and half dozen
trinkets.
IF you will take his feet, sir, we will
lift him onto the floor"
He laid his hand upon the mans col
lar. But for a moment l made no move
to assist him. l was looking down at
the little pile or articles lying on the
counterpane. There was a gold match
box-the one Morgan had lost in Paris.
And beside II lay something else. A
little bottle of heavy glass no longer
than ones little finger. The vial was half
filled with a fine crystal powder. And
l remembered for what purpose the
other half had probably been used three
days before.
/ leaned forward and took up the
matchbox, and as l did so McGregor
recognized II.
rs it Mr.. Morgan's?" he exclaimed.
a look Of Interrogation in his eyes.
1T was dropped in the hotel in Paris
at the door of a certain room. 1t was
this which led to the dispatch TO hold
US up at the frontier" ! answered, turn
ing the trinket slowly In my palm.
knows when the other may return
McGregor reminded me.
/ dropped the match-safe into my
pocket and together we lifted the un-
conscious man from the bed and laid
him on the floor. He groaned slightly.
but gave no other sign Of returning con-
sciousness.
McGregor gathered up the articles ly
ing on the counterpane and carefully
turned back the latter. He removed the
1NzI AFNNVF nod
the blanket and spread to their places
so skilfully no one could have told the
bed had been disturbed. 1t required
but a few moments to tear the sheet
into long strips. Some of these he
knotted together into a rope of suf-
curely. A gag completed the operation
of removing ali likelihood of the fel-
low giving an alarm should he regain
consciousness.
While McGregor was at work thrust
my hand into my pocket and uncon-
sciously began opening and shutting the
cover of fhe matcn-safe. Doubtless
nervousness impelled me TO do some
thing, and l snapped the cover back
and forth as one might tap the floor
with his toe in moment OF resuess-
ness.
The attack of nerves played the part
Of a good fairy in our affairs. Had
not been nervous 1 should probably not
have touched the trinket in my pocket,
but returned it TO Morgan without an
examination. But. swapping the cover.
/ became aware that something had
fallen from the match-safe into my
pocket; and that this something was
not a match. as might have been ex-
pected. but little, closely rolled slip
of paper.
Curious to discover what 1t might be,
I brought ii into the light. 1t was a
tiny roll Of thin paper. folded carefully
so as to slip easily into the opening
in the matchbox.
When Morgan had dropped 1t 1 knew
that the safe contained only matches,
therefore the man in whose possession
II had been found must have inserted
the slip of paper. ] unrolled the paper
carefully and stepped nearer to the
window to examine 1t.