Rock Island Argus. (Rock Island, Ill.) 1893-1920, 1912-04-20

DOH Juan rum pnant.
and II was so much the better. My
great fear was that he was already
Punjab lasso. No one knows better
than he how to throw the Punjab
lasso, for he is the king OF strangers
even as he is the prince of conjurors.
When he had finished making the lit
tie sultana laugh, at the time OF the
rosy hours Of Mazenderan," she her
self used to ask him TO amuse her
by giving her a thrill. 1t was then
that he introduced the sport OF the
Punjeb lasso
He had lived in India and acquired
an incredible skill in the art OF
strangulation. He would make them
lock him into a courtyard to which
they brought a warrior-usually,
man condemned to death-armed with
long pike and broadsword. Erik
had only his lasso; and 1t was al
ways Just when the warrior thought
that he was going to fell Erik with
tremendous blow that we heard the
lasso whistle through the air. With
a turn of the wrist, Erik frightened
the moose round his adversary's neck
and, in this fashion, dragged him be-
fore the little sultana and her women,
who sat looking from a window and
applauding. The little sultana her
self learned to WELD the Punjab lasso
and killed several of her women and
even OF the friends who visited her.
But | prefer to drop this terrible sub
ject of the rosy hours of Mazenderan.
l have mentioned it only to explain
why on arriving with the Vicomte
de Chagny in the cellars OF the opera,
| was bound to protect my companion
against the ever-threatening danger
of death by strangling. My pistols
could serve no purpose, for Erik was
not likely to show himself; but Erik
could always strangle us. l had no
time to explain all this to the Wis
count; besides, there was nothing to
be gained by complicating the posi-
ton. / simply told NJ. de Chagny to
keep his hand at the level of his eyes,
with the arm bent, as though waiting
for the command to fire. With his
N.CllLl III llll5 dIlIluuSt II 10 lpO5-
sible even for the most expert strang-
Ter to throw the lasso with advantage.
1t catches you not only round the
neck, but also round the arm or hand.
This enables you easily to unlCose
the lasso, which then becomes harm
less.
After avoiding the commissary OF
har nf door hrzT
the firemen, after meeting the rat
catcher and passing the man in the
felt hat unperceiycd, the viscount and
| arrived without obstacle in the third
cellar. between the set piece and the
scene from the Roi de Lahore.
worked the stone, and we jumped into
the house which Erik had built him
self in the double case OF the founda-
tion-walls of the opera. And this was
| the easiest thing in the world for him
! to do, because Erik was one OF the
| chief contractors under Philippe Gar
nier, the architect OF the opera, and
continued to work by himself when
the works were officially suspended,
/ during the war, the siege Of Paris and
the Commune.
I knew my Erik too well to feel at
I all comfortable on jumping into his
house | knew what ne had made OF
| a certain palace at Mazenderan. From
being the most honest building con-
ceivable. he soon turned il into a
house Of the very devil, where you
could not utter a word but 1t was over
heard or repeated by an echo. With
his trap-doors the monster was re-
sponsible for endless tragedies of all
kinds. He hit upon astonishing In
ventions. OF these. the most curious
horrible and dangerous was the so
called torture-chamber. Except in
special cases, when the little sultana
amused herself by infiicting suffering
upon some unoffending citizen, nc
one was let into il but wretches con
demned to death. AND, even then
when these had had enough" they
were always at liberty TO put an end
to themselves with a Punfab lasso or
bog-stTiag, left for their use At the