Pierre weekly free press. (Pierre, S.D.) 1889-19??, 1914-11-05
promptly. What is it you want M. 70

do%'
I want you to put q cot in tile hall
way outside the door of the ante room
and sleep there tonight. Tomorrow
l Will decide what further precautions
are necessary
Very good, sir" said Parks. I'll
get the cot up at once"
There is one thing more" l went
on. Il lave given the coroner my per-
sonal assurance that none of the serv-
ants Will leave the house until after the
inquest. / suppose l can rely on them?"
oh, yes, sir. I'll see they under
stand how important it is"
Rogers, especially" 1 added, look
ing at him.
II understand, sir" said Parks
quietly.
Very well. And now let us go down.
and lock up those rooms"
They We're still ablaze with light, but
bosh of us faltered a little. l think, on
the threshold of the ante room. For
in tho middle of the floor stood a
cred with a sheet. its outlines hor-
rlbly suggestive. But ] took myself
in hand n entered. Park followed
me and closed The door.
The ante room had. two windows and
the room beyond, which was a cor
ner one. had three. All of them we're
locked, but a pane OF glass seemed to
me an absurdly fragile barrier against
any one who really wisced to enter.
Aren't there some woade shut
tiers for those windows" 1 .sked.
Yes, sir, they We're taken down yes
terday and put in the basement. Shall
| get them%"
Il think you'd BETTER" l said. "t7ill
you need any help?"
mo. sir tbav'ra mt hnoyv IF voD11
wait here, you can snap the bolts into
place when l lift them up from the
outside"
Very WE'LL" I agreed, and Parks
hurried away.
/ entered the inner room and stopped
before the Boule cabinet. There was
a certain air of arrogance about it,
as it stood there in that blaze of light,
its inlay aglow with a thousand sub
tie reiectionS; a Haunting air, the air
of a courtesan conscious of her beauty
and pleased to attract attention-just
the air with which Madame de Monte
spar must nave sauntered down the
mirror gallery at Versailles, ablaze
with jewels, her skirts rustling, her
figure swaying suggestively. Some
thing threatening, too; something SIN
lister and deadly
There was a rattle at the window.
and I saw Parks lifting one of the
shutters into place. | threw up the
sash and pressed the heavy bolts care
fully into their sockets, then closed the
sash and locked it. The two other win
dows were secured in their turn, and
with a last look about the room, I
turned out the lights. The ante room
windows were soon shattered in the
same way and with a sigh Of relief
house could be had from that direc-
ton. With Parks outside the only
door, the rooms ought to be safe from
invasion.
Then, before extinguishing the lightD,
| approached that silent figure on the
stretcher, lifted the sheet and looked
for the last time upon the
longer staring and terrible, but calm
me peaceful as in ~sleep-almost smil-
ing. With wet eyes and contracted
throat, | covered the face again, turned
out the lights and left the room. Parks
met me in the hall. carrying a cot,
which he placed close across the door
way.
There he said; nobody will get
into that room without my knowing
No l agreed; and then a sudden
thought occurred to me. Parks" I
said. is ii true that there is a burglar
alarm on all the windows?'
Yes. sir. 1t rings a bell in Mr.. Van.
tines bed room, and another in mine.
and sends in a call to the police"
is it working?"
Yes, sir; MI. Vantine himself tested
it this evening just before dinner"
Then why didn't it work when I
opened those windows just now?" ]
demanded.
Parks laughed.
because I threw off the switch, sir,~
he explained, when l came out to get
the shutters. The switch is in a little
iron box on the wall just back OK the
stairs. sir. It's one of my duties to
turn it on every night before I go to
bed"
hreathed a sigh of relief.
rs it on again, now?"
1T certainly is, sir. After what you
told me, I'd not be likely to forget it."
You'd better ave a weapon handy,
too" l suggested.
II have a revolver. sir"
That's good. And don't hesitate to
use it. I'm going home-Im dead
tired"
Shall l call a cab. sir?"
No, the walk will do me good. III
see o tomorrow"
Parks helped me into my coast and
opened the door for me. CHANGING
back, after a moment, l saw that he
was standing on the steps gazing after
NE. l could understand his reluctance
to 20 back into that d~eath-haunted
house; and I found myself breathing
deeply with the relief of getting out Of
it.
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