Forest City press. (Forest City, Potter County, D.T. [S.D.]) 1883-19??, 1915-01-06
The Mystery of
the Bou1e Cabinet
BURTON E.. STEVENSON
Copyright, 1913. by Burton f. Stevenson.
Copyright, 1913. by Burton r. Stevenson.

10
shadow. closing the door carefully be-
| hind him.
Then we all stopped. and my heart
at least, was In my mouth, for, from
somewhere overhead. came the sounc
of Il mans voice talking excitcdly.
Even in the Semi-darkneSS, / coulC
see the look of establishment and alarm
on Godfreys face, as he stood for a
moment motoinless, listening to THAI
voice. l also TODD with ears a-stlain
but / could make nothing of what il
was saying, then suddenly L realized
that it was speaking in French. And
yet III was not Noice-of that
J. was certain.
Fronting us was a narrow stain
mounting steeply to the story overhead.
and after that moments amazed hesita-
ton, Godfrey sat down on the bot
tom step and remove his shoes. mo-
, tioning us to do the same. Simmonds
ohcyed automatically, but my hands
We're trembling so with excitement that
l Was IN mortal terror lest | drop one
ct my SHOES; but l managed to get them
both off without mishap, and to set
them softly on the floor at the stair
foot.
When at last I looked mp With Il sigh
of relief, Godfrey ana Simmonds We're
stealing slowly up the stair, revolver i'm
hand | followed them. but l confess
my knees We're knocking together. for
there was something weird and chilling
in that voice going on and on. 1t
sounded like the voice of a mailman:
there was something about it at once
ferocious and Triumphant 81
Godfrey paused an instant at the
s%tairhead, listening intently; then he
moved cautiously forward toward AN
%opendoor from which The voiced
seemed to come. m%otoining us at the
sauna inn 10 ctn yt-Hnvn WA NrnTn And
as l knelt. bathed in presperation. 1
caught one word, repeated over and
over:
"Revanche. Revanche! Revanche!
Then the voice fell to a sort of low
growing, as of a dog which worries
its prey. and l caught a sound as of
ripping cloth.
Godfrey. on hands and knees. was
back and motoined us forward.
shall never forget the sight which
met my eyes as 1 peeped cautiously
around the corner of the door.
The room into which l was looking.
was lighted only by the ray which
filtered between the Stats of a closed
shutter. liz the middle of the floor
stad the Boule cabinet. and before it,
with his back to the door. stood a man
ripping sav2gely away he strips OF
burlap in which it had been wrapped.
W. VIZ LIN Az ~ q SNA =
of savage sing song. and pausing from
moment to moment TIC glance at a hud-
died bundle lying on the floor against
the opposite wall. For a time. 1
could not make gu what this bundle
was. then. s%training my eyes, l saw
Wrapped round n round in ONE Web
like fabric.
And as l stared at him, 1 caught the
glitter of his eyes as he watched the
MAJ working at the cabinet-a glitter
not to be mistaken-the same glitter
fore
Godfrey drew me back with "a firm
hand and took my place. AS for me,
] retreated to the stair and sat there,
feverishly hopping my face and trying
to understand. Who was this man?
What wa he doing there against the
wall? What was the meaning of this
ferocious scene
Then my heart leaped into my throat,
for Godfrey, With n sharp cry of
"Halte-la.' sprang to his feet and
dashed into the room. Simmonds at his
heels.
i uppose two seconds elapsed before
l reached the threshold. and / stopped
there. staring, clutching at the wall to
steady myself.
That scene is so photographed upon
my brain that l nave only to close my
eyes 10 see II again in every detail.
There was the cabinet with it's wrap
pings torn away; but the figure on the
floor had disappeared, n before an
open doorway into another room stood
a man. a giant OF a man. his hands
above his head. his face working witt,
fear and rage. while Godfrey. his lips
curling into q hooking smile, pressed
a pistol against his breast.
Then. as l stood there staring. it
seemed to me that there was a sort of
flicker in the air above the mans head
and he screamed shrilly.
La MORT" he shrieked. La mort
For n dreadful instant longer he
stood there n~0otionless. his hands still
held aloft, his eyes staring horribly;
then. with a %strangle cry. he pitched
forward heavily at Godfrey's feet.