The Celina Democrat. (Celina, O. [Ohio]) 1895-1921, 1916-03-10

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dropped the garment in sheer surprise
to find 1t damp and heavy in his grasp,
sodden with yiscid moisture. And
when. In a swift flash of intuition, he
examined his fingers, he discovered
thereon a faint discoloration-a red.
dish stain.
Then the shape OF an object on the
floor near his feet arrested Lanyards
questioning vision. He stared, incred
ulous, moved forward, bent over, and
picked it up, clipping it gingerly be-
tween his fingers.
1t was one OF his razors--a heavy
hollow-ground blade-and it was foul
with blood.
With low cry, suddenly smitten
with understanding, Lanyard wheeled
and stared fearfully at the door com.
municatinG with Roddy's room.
It s.ood ajar, an inch or so. its splin-
tered lock accounted for by a small
but extremely efficient steel jimmy
which lay near the threshold.
Beyond the door-darkness-s silence.
Mastering all his courage, the ad-
venturer strobe determinedly into the
adjoining room.
The first fash of his hand-lamp dis.
covered to him sickening justification
for his apprehensions.
After a moment he returned. shut
the door, and set his back against it.
as If to bar out that reeking shambles.
He was very pale, his face drawn
with horror, and he was shaken with
nausea
Now he knew why his dressing
gown had been requisitioned-to pro.
tect butchers clothing.
The plot was damnably patent
Roddy, somehow a menace to the
Pack. required elimination; not only
had his murder been decreed, but that
the blame for It should be laid at Ian.
yards door. Hence the attempt to
drug him that he might not escape be-
fore the police could be sent to find
him there.
Lanyard could no longer doubt that
De Morbihan had been left behind at
the Circle of Friends of Harmony
solely to detain him. afford Smith time
to finish his hideous job, and set the
trap for the second victim.
And the plot had succeeded despite
its partial failure, despite the swift
reverse chance and Lanyard's cunning
had meted out to the Packs agent
In was his dressing gown that was
saturated with Roddy's blood, just as
those were his gloves, pilfered from
his luggage, which had measurably
protected the killers hands, and which
Lanyard had found in the next room,
stripped hastily off and thrown to the
floor, twin crumpled wads of blood
stained chamois skin.
He had now little choice; he must
either fee Paris and rely on his wits
to save him, or else seek De Morbihan
and trust to his protection, to his in
fuence in high quarters.
He must and would find another
way; but his decision was frightfully
by lack Of ready money, the
few odd francs in his pocket were no
store for the war chest demanded by
this emergency.
True, he had the Omber jewels; but
they were not negotiable-not, at
least, in Paris,
And the Huysman plans?
He pondered briefly the possibilities |
Of the Huysman plans.
In his fretting, pacing softly to and |
fro, at each turn he passed his dress.
ing table, and, CHANGING once to OBJ |
serve himself in the mirror, he
stopped short, thunderstruck by some
hing he thought to detect in that |
presentment of his coun-
.enance, heavy with fatigue as it was,
and haggard with contemplation Of .
his appalling contretemps
And instantly he was back beside
he American, studying narrowly the
contours Of that livid mask Here,
hen, was that resemblance that had
)affied him; and now that he saw it
le could not deny that it was un1at-
eringly close-feature for feature the
ace of the murderer reproduced his
ace; coarsened, perhaps, but recog-
lizably a replica of that Michael Ian
,ard who confronted him every morn
ng in his shaving glass, almost the
,nly difference residing in the scrubby
black mustache that shadowed the
americans upper lip.
After all, nothing wonderful in this;
4anyard's type was not uncommon;
ie would never have thought himself
distinguished figure,
Before rising he turned out the
,ockets of this casual double But
his profted him little-quite evident
y the assassin had dressed for action
With forethought to evade recognition
n event of accident
With this harvest of nothing for his
aims Lanyard turned again to the
yashstand and his shaving kit, mixed
stiff lather, stropped another razor
o the finest edge he could manage,
etched a pair of keen scissors from
is dressing case. and went back to
he murderer.
He worked rapidly, at a high pitch
{ excitement--as much through sheer
as through any appeal in
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