The Elbert County tribune., 1918-02-01

| "o'h"Hf a. MY itii Jul VI Liz lug III
which Madam Gaillard kept her money
and dropped noiselessly to the rug at
| her feet.
She had all day in which to set her
affairs In order, pack her belongings
and make them dainty with the first
extravaganza OF her workaday life
ribbons and sachet. But first the girls
instinct for neatness made her put her
desk in order. When this was done she
started to rise.
| Her foot struck against something
hard and she glanced at the floor.
| There at her feet lay the key which
Madam Gaillard had dropped. Jean
stared at 1t for moment indifferently
and then memory stirred.
| Several weeks before, when first
Jean had come to the bungalow, she
had one day gone quite unthinkingly to
| closed door at the end of the hall,
| and had been on the point of turning
the key when Madam Gaillard had
| come upon her and issued sharp,
| fierce order: "Never enter that room"
Now MS the girl stared at the key
| which had come mysteriously into her
/ possession she looked at it in wonder
ment checked by timidity.
Because Jean had been forbidden to
go into the closed room she felt an in
tense desire to know what lay hidden
there.
She tiptoed down the hall and looked
timidIy up and down to assure herself
| finally that no one was observing her.
Then she put the key into the lock,
fprnad II and aptora1 fba ,nOv-,
She found herself In a small bare
room. On one of the walls there hung
mirror-and what lay under it made
the girl start. There were no windows
In the room, and except for the mirror
and the startling articles beneath 1t
her chamber of mystery was quite
bare. Jean did not observe line of
cleavage in the wall directly opposite
the door by which she had entered
Her attention was entirely focused on
| particular group of objects.
Below that mirror stood a chair and
table across which were flung mans
hat and overcoat. Next the table and
directly under the mirror was stand
with shaving outfit upon it.
What could this mean? No man had
ever come to the cottage while Jean
had been employed there.
The girl suspected an ugly mystery.
Suddenly the panel in the wall, which
she had not noticed, slid open. Jean
sensed an alien presence. She looked
up. There stood Madam Gaillard
framed in utter darkness.
Down the hall Jean rushed and over
to the front door. She jerked it open
and looked out. Across the road just
in front of the restaurant stood man
whom the girl had never before SEEN
She tried to call him, but before she
could speak or motion q hand fell
across her mouth and another one
clutched her shoulder heavily. She
was jerked back into the hallway.
Suddenly she heard heavy footsteps
running down the hall and then her
grimly silent captor spoke to the ne
gress who had come in sudden fear
that ,he would be punished for shirk-
ing her duty. "Lindy, If anyone asks
for Miss Moore she is no longer here"
A hideous terror took possession of
Jean. What was Madam Gaillard 60
ing to do with her? ID. and this
was to have been the day-almost the
hour-of her weddingl
When Madam Gaillard paid her sec
rotary, she crossed the road to the lit
tie inn and handed the proprietor the
labels which Jean had addressed. He,
in turn, gave her little package
which she hid liz her dress. Then she
took the train for New York and en-
tered the first of a series Of taxis to
be favored by her patronage that day.
There she opened the packet which
the proprietor of the inn had given
her, took out bundle of new bills,
crumpled them up in order to disguise
all signs of newness, and put them In
her bag.
One after another of the counter
felt bills she disposed of that day, and
one after another of the people who
were honored by her patronage were
robbed by her subtle methods.
How Jimmy discovered her in the
very act of dlsposing of one of these
valueless five-dollar bills and how he
followed her to Blue Cove only to find
that she had mysteriously disappeared
we already know.
What became of Madam Gaillard
when she stepped into the restaurant
and, as it seemed to Jimmy, fairly
walked into the fourth dimension?
She rushed up to the proprietor with
a GREATNESS, Quick I'm followed"
and then departed after him into the
rear room. On the floor lay a large
rug of woven rags. This the proprie-
tor pulled away, disclosing a trap door
the very one down which 1 found
myself cropping my way twenty-four