Courier Democrat. (Langdon, N.D.) 1891-1920, 1914-04-30

enough mat ne nad ee1 It useu ur-
fore or heard Of it and knew that it
meant instant DEATH"
l sat down. staring at the dead man.
and tried to collect my senses. l saw
a man roughly dressed. with bushy
black hair and tangled beard: a very
giant of a man.
A sudden thought brought me bolt
upright.
But Armand." | cried. Where is
.Armand?"
Godfrey looked at me with a half
plying smile.
What. Lester, he said. don't you
understand ever yet? 1t was YOUR
fascinating NJ. Armand who did that"
and he pointed to the dead man.
l felt rs though | had been struck
a heavy blow upon the head: black
circles whirled before my eyes.
WAS it Armand" | asked. who lay
there in the corner?"
certainly it was" Godfrey answer
ed. "Who else could it be-"
Godfrey" l cried. remembering
suddenly. Did you see his eyes as
he lay there watching the man at the
cabinety'
Yes; | saw them"
They We're the same eyes,"
THE same eyes"
And the laugh-lid you hear that
laugh?"
Certainly | heard it,
81 heard it once before l said. and
you thought it was a case of nerves."
fell silent a moment, %shivering 4
little at the remembrance.
But why did Armand lie there so
quietly?" | asked at last. WAS he in
jured?"
Godfrey made a little gesture to-
ward the corner
go see for yourself" he said.
Something lay along the wall, on the
spot where | had seen that figure. a..
as l bent over it l saw that it was a
large net. finely meshed. but very
strong.
"That was dropped over Armand's
head as he came up the stairs" said
Godfrey, cor flung over him as he
came into the room. Then the dead
MAI yonder jumped upon him and
trussed him up with those ropes"
Pushing the net aside, l saw upon
the floor a little pile Of severed cords.
"Yes," l agreed; she would be able
to do that. Have you noticed his size,
! Godfrey? He was almost a giant"
"He couldn't have done it if Armand
hadn't been willing that he should
retorted Godfrey CURLY. "You see he
had no difficulty in getting away" and
he held up the net and pointed to the
great rents in it. HE cut his way
out while he was lying here. 1 ought
to have known
He threw the net down upon the
floor with a gesture Of disgust and dis.
pair. Then ne stopped in front Of the
Boule cabinet and looked down at ii
musingly, and, after a moment, bis
face frightened. The burlap wrap.
pings had been almost wholly tori
away.
"But We'll get him, Simmonds," said
Godfrey, and his lips broke into a
smile. "In fact, we've got him now
We have only to wait, and he'll walk
into our arms. Simmonds, I want you
to lock this cabinet up in the strongest
cell around at your station, carry the
key yourself and give your reasons tc
nobody"
"That'll be easy" laughed Simmonds
Il haven't got any reasons"
ooh, yes, you have" and Godfrey
bent upon him a gaze hat was pos.
itively hypnotic. You will do it be
cause I want you to and because I tel.
you that, sooner or later, if you keeE
this cabinet safe where no one can get
at it, the mar we want will walk into
hands. And I'll tell you more thar
that, Simmonds; if we do get him, II
have the biggest story 1 ever had, and
you will be world famous. France
will make you a chevalier of the
Legion Of Honor, Simmonds, mark my
words. This fellow is the biggest catch
we could make. He's the greatest
criminal Of modern tines"
With Armand. so finished. so sell
poised, so distinguished. III my mind
and the body of his latest victim be
fore my eyes. I nodded gloomily.
"But. Godfrey, who is this MANI"
asked. why did he kill that poor
fellow up there? Why did he xii
Drouet and Vantine? How did he get
into the Vantine house? What is it al,
about?"
"Ah!" he said, looking at me with a
smile. 'That is the important ques.
.tion-what is it all about. If l can
I'll drop in tonight to see you. and we
can thrash it out. Will that suit you?'
Eyes" I said; 'and for heavens sake
don't fail to Gomez
That night I had begun to fear that
Godfrey was going to disappoint me,
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