Eagle River review. [volume] (Eagle River, Wis.) 1890-1927, 1916-03-10
CHAPTER IV-continued.

CHAPTER IV-Continued.
single half-power electric bulb
- modifed the gloom of the hall
~. ifs fellow made a light blot on
4 5arkness Of the courtyard. Even
4. windows of the conciergerie were
Tors the less Lanyard tapped them
narty
GORDON" he demanded in a stri-
,.,, voica-"Cordon, sill vous plait!
.r5a" A startled grunt from within
q. loage was barely audible. Then
40 latch clicked loudly at the end of
AZ pas8ageway.
Goring his way in the direction of
Al, last sound, Lanyard found the
mall side door ajar. He opened it
,,5 besitated moment, looking out
=, though questioning the weather;
dnuItaaeously his def fingers wedged
no latch back with a thin slip of steel.
4 had, in fact, not been raining
vtbin an hour, but still the sky was
,.,ss with low, sullen wrack of
5ri, and still the sidewalks were
hEFvet
The street was lonely and indiffer-
aly lighted but a swift, searching
renaissance discovered no spy
aukng in the shelter of any of the
u.er shadows.
Stepping out, he slammed the door
md strobe briskly round the corner,
IS if making for the cab rank that
hs up along the Luxembourg gar
lens Of the Rue de Medicis; his boot
heels made cheerful racket in that
riet hour; he was quite audibly 60
g away from Troyon's.
But instead of holding on to the cab
mk he turned the next. corner, and
den the next, rounding the block;
I'D presently, reapproaching the en-
rance to Troyon's, paused in the re-
e8 Of dark doorway and, lifting
ae foot after another, slipped rub
'g pads over his heels. Thereafter
lis progress was practically noiseless.
The smaller door yielded to his
ouch without murmur. Inside, he
dosed it gently and stood a moment
Nening with all his senses-not with
G ears alone, but with every nerve
I'D fiber of his being-with imagina-
GOD to boot But there was not a
and Or movement in all the house
bat he could detect.
And no shadow could have made
us noise than he, slipping cat-footed
Moss the courtyard and up the stairs,
'UdIng with superdeveloped sensi-
VeaeSs every lift that might have
alRahed beneath his tread. In a
USs be was again in a corridor lead.
to his bedchamber.
" was quite as gloomy and empty
Il had been five minutes ago, yet
'n a difference, a something in its
IS4oSphere that made him nod briefly
continuation of that suspicion
lCh had brought him back SO
Fsalthily.
'or one thing, Roddy had stopped
@o'lng. And Lanyard smiled over
y 'nought that the man from Scot.
~ lard might proftably have cop
= taat trick of poor Bourke's, OF
~AAg like the Seven Sleepers when
~Sl completely awake.
was naturally, no surprise to find
oeochamber door unlocked and
~su'F ajar. Lanyard made sure of
automatic, strobe into the room,
SAut the door quietly, but by no
',enS soundIessly.
-s aad left the shades down and the
-S1sS drawn at both windows; and
- 'nese had not been disturbed,
- @'ullng nearly approaching com
\. darkness reigned in the room.
Iolgh promptly on entering his
~ s~S mad closed upon the wall
H., near the door, he refrained
'ufning up the lights immediate
q. ''A fancy, of impish inspiration,
~. ii would be amusing to learn
!, l1o'e Roddy would make when
SlSion became too much even for
Ualned nerves.
."5Fal seconds passed without the
sound disturbing the stiffness.
H., ara himself grew a little impa-
~, !, wen his sight didn't become &C
n '.lsu to the darkness because it
Il w., w aoSolute-it pressed against
s,.s' ing eyeballs like black fluid,
d Ll- rI Opaque, as unbroken as
~. rash within that room.
NM, he waited. Surely Roddy
h. be able much longer to en-
~ such suspense.
e,pn.,S surely enough, the silence was
>,r, ny broken by a strange and
d, sound. hushed cry of alarm
l,, n"s halt a moan and half a sob.
d, SNIu himself was startled, for
'0S never Roddy's voice!
49, was a noise OF muf1ed and