Iron County register. [volume] (Ironton, Iron County, Mo.) 1867-1965, 1916-02-03
CHAPTER w.
A stratauem.

hCh lhO hIalbAS VI hOtCl hdh ouOWh
him all over the establishment-inno-
Gently enough, en- route, furnishing
him with a complete list Of his other
guests and their rooms, memoranda
readily registered by a retentive mem
ory-Lanyard chose the bedchamber
next that occupied by Roddy. in the
second story.
The consideration influencing this
selection was, Of course, that so stu
ated he would be in a position not only
to keep an eye on the man from Scot
land Yard, but also to determine
whether or not Roddy were disposed
to keep an eye on him.
In those days Lanyard's faith in
himself vas a beautiful thing. He
could not have enjoyed the immunity
ascribed to the Lone Wolf so long as
he had without gaining a power of
sturdy self-copfidence in addition to
a certain degree of temperate con-
tempt for the spies of the law and all
their ways.
Reviewing the scene in the restau-
rant, Lanyard felt measurably var
ranted in assuming not only that Rod.
dy was interested in De Morbihan, but
that the Frenchman was we'll aware
of that interest. And he resented sim
cerely his inability to feel as confident
that the count, with his gossip about
the Lone Wolf, had been merely seek.
ing to divert Roddy's interest to pu-
tatively larger game. 1t was just pos
sible that De Morbihan's Identification
of Lanyard with that mysterious per-
sonage, at least by i%nnuendo, had been
~unintentional. But somehow Lanyard
didn't believe it had.
However, one would surely learn
something Illuminating before very
long. The business of a sleuth is to
sleuth, and sooner or later Roddy
must surely make some move to indi-
cate the quarter wherein his real in
terest lay.
Just at present, reasoning from
noises audible through the bolted door
that communicated with the adjoining
bedchamber, the business of a sleuth
seemed to comprise going to bed.
Lanyard, shaving and dressing, could
distinctly hear a tuneless voice con
tentedly humming sally in Our AL
ley" a rendition punctuated by one
heavy thump, and then another, and
then by a heartfelt sigh of relief-as
Roddy kicked off his boots-and fol-
lowed by the tapping Of a pipe against
grate-bars, the complaint Of a window
being lowered for ventilation, the click
Of an electriclight switch, and the
creaking of bed springs.
Finally, and before Lanyard had fin.
ished dressing, the man from Scotland
Yard began placidly to snore.
OF course, he might well be bluffing,
for Lanyard had taken pains to let
Roddy know that they were room
neighbors by announcing his selection
in loud tones close to the communicate
ing door.
But this was a question which the
adventurer meant to have answered
before he went out.
1t was hard upon twelve O'Clock
when the mirror on the dressing table
assured him that he was at length in
the habit and apparel of a gentleman
of elegant nocturnal leisure. But II
he approved the figure he cut, it was
mainly because clothes interested hin
and he reckoned his own %impeccable
OF their tenant he was feeling just
then a bit less sure than he had hall
an hour since; his regard was lower
ing and m~istrustful.
He was, in short, suffering reaction
from the high spirits ~engendered BY
his cr~oss-channel exploits, his success
full getaway, and the unusual circum
stances attendant upon his return Il
this memory-haunted mausoleum of al
unhappy childhood. He even shiveret
a trife, as II under p%remonition of mis-
fortune.
With one last look round to MAKE
certain there was nothing in hi
rooms calculated disorder to incrimi
nate him we're it to be searched in hi
absence, Lanyard enveloped himsel
in a long, ~full-skirted coat, clapped Oh
an opera hat, and went out, noisil.
locking the door. He might as wei
have left It wide; but 1t would do n,
harm to pretend he didn't know tn
bedchamber keys at Troyon's were in
terchangeable-identically the sam
keys, in fact, that had been in servic
in the time OF Marcel the wretched.
: gro BE coNTINUED)