Wood County reporter. [volume] (Grand Rapids [i.e. Wisconsin Rapids], Wis.) 1857-1923, 1916-02-24
CHAPTER ~.
a Stratarem,

When the maitre d'hotel had SHOWN
| 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 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 position not only
to keep al eye OF the man from Scot
lana Yara, out also to determine
whether or not Roddy were disposed
10 keep an eye on him.
In those days Lanyard's faith in
himself was a beautiful thing. He
could not have enjoyed the immunity
! 2scribed to the Lone. Wolf so long as
he had without gaining a power Of
sturdy self-confdence 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 war
| ranted in assuming not only that Rod
dy was interested in De Morbihan, but
that the Frenchman was well aware
of that interest. And he resented sin
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. It was just pos
sible that De Morbihan's Identification
Of Lanyard with that mysterious per-
sOnage. at least by innuendo, 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 Rcddy
must surely make some move to indi-
cate the quarter wherein his real in
| teTest lay.
Just at present, reasoning from
| noises audible through the bolted door
| that communicated with the adjoining
bedchamber, the business of sleuth
seemed to comprise going to bed.
Lanyard, shaving and dressing, could
distinctly hear a tune1ess voice con-
tentedly hulnming sally in Our AL
ley" a rendition punctuated by one
heavy thump, and then another, and
then by heartfelt sigh Of relief-as
Roddy kicked off his boots-and fol-
lowed by the TAPPING Of pipe against
grate-bars, the complaint Of window
being lowered for ventilation, the click
Of an electric-light switch, and the
| creakirg 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 bIuff1ng,
for Lanyard had taken pains to let
Roddy know that they were room
neighhors by announcing his selection
in loud tones close to the communicat-
ing door
But this was a question which the
adventurer meant to have answered
before he went out.
It 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 IL
he approved the figure he cut, it was
| mainly because clothes interested him
and he reckoned his own improbable
Of their tenant he was feeling Just
then a bit less sure than he had half
an hour since; his regard was lower
| ing and mistrustful.
He was, in short, suffering reaction
from the high spirits engendered by
his cross-channel exploits, his success
| full getaway, and the unusual circum-
| stances attendant upon his return to
| this memory-haunted mausoleum of an
| unhappy childhood. He even shivered
| a trifie, as if under premonition Of mis-
| fortune.
With one last look round to make
| certain there was nothing in his
rooms calculated disorder to incrimi-
nate him were it to be searched in his
| absence, Lanyard enveloped himself
| in long, full-skirted coat, clapped on
| an opera hat, and went out, noisily
| locking the door. He might as well
| have left it wide; but it would do no
| harm to pretend he didn't know the
| bedchamber keys at Troyon's were in
| terchangeable- the same
| keys, in fact, that had been in service
| in the time of Marcel the wretched
A single half-power electric bulb
| now modified the gloom of the hall
! way; its fellow made a light blot on
| the darkness of the courtyard. Even
the windows of the conciergerie were
! black.
None the less Lanyard tapped them
snartly.
"Cordon!" he demanded in a stri-
dent voiee-"Cordon, sill vous plait!"
"Eh?" A startled grunt from within
the lodge was barely audible. Then
clicked loudly at the end OF