River Falls journal. [volume] (River Falls, Pierce County, Wis.) 1872-2019, 1917-06-14

room beyond. He saw an apartment
himself recently had quilted. But in
one particular it differed. 1t was oc-
cupied-and by woman!
Arrayed in gOssamer nightrobe she
lay in the bed beneath the trap, her
sunken face matching the silken white
ness. Her thin arms dropped listlessly
over the rails of the bunk, and upon
her left hand NJ. Max perceived we'd
ding ring. Her hair, f1aXen in the cleo
trio light, was spread about in widest
disorder upon the pillow and breath
of fetid air assailed his nostrils as he
pressed his face close to the gauze
masking the opening in order to peer
closely at this victim Of the cata-
combs.
He watched the silken covering of
her bosom intently, but failed to de-
tect the slightest movement.
"Morbleur" he muttered "Is she
dead2'
He rent the gauze with a sweep of
his left hand, and, standing upon the
ward into the room, looking all about
him. A purple shaded lamp burned
above the bed, as in the adjoining
apartment which he himself had occu-
pied There were dainty feminine tri-
f1es Uttered in the big armchair and
motorcoat hung upon the hook of the
bathroom door. A small cabin trunk
in one corner Of the room bore the mi
tials, IN. L."
Max dropped back into the incredible
library with a stifed gasp.
"Pardieu" he said. 1T is Mrs Lee
roux that have found?
A moment he stood looking from
trap to trap; then turned and surveyed
again the impossible walls, the rows
Of works, few Of which were Euro
pean, some of them bound in vellum,
some in pigskin and one row of huge
volumes, ten in number, on the bottom
shelf in crocodile hide.
cit Is weird, this!' he muttered.
"Nightmarew- the light from
row to row. "How is this lamp lighted
that swings here?
and, even before he found it, had made
up his mind that. once discovered, it
would not only enable him more fully
to illuminate the library, but would
constitute a valuable clew.
At last he found it. situated at the
back Of one of the shelves and set
above a row of four small books, so
that it could readily be reached by in
sorting the hand.
He flooded the place with light and
perceived at a glance that length OF
white fex crossing the ceiling enabled
any one seated at the table to ignite
the lamp from there also. Then, re-
placing his torch in his pocket and as
surfing himself that the iron bar lay
within easy reach, he began deliberate
ly to remove all Of the books from the
shelves covering that side Of the room
upon which the switch was situated.
His theory was sound one. He ar
gued that the natural and proper place
for such a switch in such a room
would be Immediately inside the door,
SO that one entering could ignite the
lamp without having to grOpe In the
darkness. He was encouraged, fur
thermore, by the fact that at a point
some four feet to the left of this
switch there was a gap in the book
cases running from floor to ceiling,
gap no more than four inches across.
Having removed every book from It's
position save three, which occupied
shelf on a level with his~shoulder and
adjoining the gap, he desisted YEARLY,
for many Of the volumes were weighty,
and the heat of the room was almost
insufferable. He dropped, with sigh,
upon silk ottoman close beside him.
A short, staccato, muffied report
split the heavy silence, and little
hole appeared in the woodwork of the
book shelf before which an instant
earlier M. Max had been standing-in
the woodwork of that shelf which had
been upon q level with his head
In one giant leap he hurled himself
across the room as a SECOND bullet
pierced the yellow silk of the ottoman
Close under the trap he crouched.
staring up fearful eyed.
A yellow hand and arn-a hand and
arm Of great nervous strength and OF
the hue of old ivory-directed pistol
through the opening abCVe him. AS
he leaped the hand was depressed with
a lightning movement; but, lunging
suddenly upward, Max seized the bar
rel of the pistol and with powerful
wrench twisted it from the grasp of
the yellow hand. 1t was his own
BrOwningi
He drew himself upright, breathing
very rapidly, and looked through into
the room, the room which he had oc-
cupied and from which moment ago
the murderous yellow hand had pro-
truded.
That room was empty-empty as he
had left it!
"Mille tonneres, he has escaped mev'
he cried aloud, and the words did not
aoona Of bic own choosing.