The Washington times., 1919-03-04

the stimulant; suddenly she grew con-
1 Scious of a stealthy tread on the
! stairs behind them. Had Snyder also
! heard it? Apparently his absorption
/ in her blunted him to all else, or was
| it Fuller coming to his assistance?
/ Mrs. Thayer shivered, then straight
eued up.
Come" she said I'll get the tri-
angle you want It's concealed in
| the Dutch Room
snyder eyed her tnoughtfully. mo
/ treachery" he snarled. Keep
| straight ahead"
Upward Mrs. Thayer led him, paus-
, ing every little while to listen for
the following footsteps. Were they
/ Salning-had they stopped altogeth
er! Her nerves were cracking under
the strain, but the scream she felt
coming was stified as, turning a last
| corner in the spiral staircase, their
J progress was blocked by a Dutch
ooor, the lower half only of which
was closed. Inside the lighted room
MRS. Thayer made out Madeline Con-
| nor stretched on a sofa, apparently
asleep, and on a chair by her night
light reposed the fateful red triangle.
Mrs. ThayeT heard Snyder's sud
den intake of breadth, then she was
thrust to. one side and. slipping his
hand over the Dutch door. he unbolt-
| ed the lower half and stole forward.
J Nearer and nearer he approached the
sleeping girl and Mrs. Thayer
watched his every movement in
bTeathless fascination. He had al
most reached his goal when a door
in the further end of the room opened
and WI glided in. 1t required all
Snyder's dexterity to slip unseen un-
der the rolling back of the sofa be-
| fore the Chinaman reached the CEN
, ter OF the room. There he paused on
perceiving. that the girl he took to
| be asleep was quietly regarding him.
so you have come back" Made
| lines low voice held no CULVER OF
| fear as she sat up on the sofa. How
many hours had passed since her last
violent scene with WI she did not
/. know: too utterly exhausted to do
] more than throw herself fully dressed
on the sofa when finally rid of his
obnoxious presence, she had slept
heavily. Upon awaking she had lain
/ still trying to piece out the events
which had transpired before she again
became his captive. She recalled en-
tering a taNicab-the rest was blank.
! Your mission is useless" she add
, ed. as the Chinaman vouchsafed no
remark. Il will not give you the Sc
! cret of the triangle"
The oblique black eyes stared at
her steadfastly; there was no change
J in the parchment-like face. but as
1 they regarded each other Madeline
| became conscious OF a nameless ter
ror Would the man never speak ? BY
a violent effort OF her will Madeline
dropped her eyes before his hypnotic
gaze and in so doing caught sight Of
the triangle lying on the chair under
Iher night light. A cry escaped her
She had left her triangle locked in
the safe OF the Bureau OF Standards!
To think was to act with Madeline.
/ Before the Chinaman grasped her in
ltention she held the triangle over The
flame of the night light. The parcn-
ment was tough-would il never tg-
mite? Wa was moving toward cher;
she dared not look at him, her eyes
were focused on the triangle. AS the
heat from the candle reached the
parchment there appeared on its sur
| face a message in sympathetic ink.
! Madeline read but the words: won
Bern" when her hands were seized
in a vice-like grip. In her struggle
TO free herself she failed TO see two
figures creeping toward them
A whistle, shriII. sIbiIant cut the
silence. II had hardly died away
when a sbriek, carrying sueh frenGied
fear as 10 make the voice unreeOEniE-
able, filled the room.
An instant later the triangle waG
wrenched from Madeline. and a shout
of triumph broke from her ad-
versary. Madeline, eIinEInE to his
siIk-eIad arm, EaEed dumbIy mt the
hand holding the triangle. The voice
was the voice of WI, but the hand
/ was the hand Of