Evening star., 1921-04-23
Continued from Yesterdays Starr

exploring. The moon still shone fit
fully through the trees, but since tn
two car watchers were near the roaC
on the other side of the house ther'
was but little danger to be appre
hended from them. First he took of
his shoes, and tying the laces to
gether he slung them round his neck
Then, as silently as he could. he com
menced to scramble upward.
1t was not an easy operation; one
slip and nothing could have stopped
him slithering down and finally crash
ing into the garden below. with
broken leg. at the very least. for ms
pains. In addition. there was the FISK
of dislodging a slate. an unwise pro
ceeding in house where most of the
occupants slept with one eye open
But at last he got his hands over the
ridge of the roof. and in another mo-
ment he was sitting straddlewise
across it.
The house. he discovered. was built
on a peculiar design. The ridge on
which he sat continued at the same
height all round the top of the roof.
and formed. roughly. the four sides of
a square. In the middle the roof
sloped down to a fiat space from which
stuck up a glass structure. the top
of which was some five or SIX feet
below his level Around it was a
space quite large enough to walk in
comfort; in fact. on two sides there
was plenty of room for deck CHAR
The whole area was completely
screened from view. except to any one
in an aeroplane. And what struck him
still further was that there was no
window that he could see anywhere
on the inside of the roof In TACT. It
was absolutely concealed and private
Incidentally, the house had originally
been built by d gentleman of doubtful
sanity. who spent his life observing
the spots in Jupiter through tele-
scope; and having plunged himself
and his family into complete penury,
sold the house and observatory COM
plete for what he could get Laking-
ton, struck with its possibilities for
his own hobby. bought it on the spot.
and from that time Jupiter spotted
undiSturbed.
With the utmost caution Hugh
lowered himself to the full extent of
his arms; then he let himself slip the
last two or three feet onto the level
space around the glass roof He had
no doubt in his mind that he was ac-
tually above the secret room. and. on
tip-toe. he stole round looking for
some spot from which he could get
glimpse below At the first inspection
he thought his time had been wasted;
every pane of glass was frosted. and
in addition there seemed to be a thick
blind of some sort drawn across from
underneath. of the same type as is
used by photographers for altering
the light
A sudden rattle close to him made
him start violently. only to curse him
ment, and lean forward eagerly. One
of the blinds had been released from
inside the room, and pale. diffused
light came fiitering out into the night
from the side of the glass roof. He
was still craning backward and for
ward to try and find some chink
through which he could see. when.
with kind of uncanny deliberation,
one of the panes of glass slowly
opened 1t was worked on a ratchet
from inside. and Hugh bowed his
thanks to the unseen operator below.
Then he leant forward cautiously
and peered in
The whole room was visible to him.
and his jaw frightened as he took in
the scene. In an armchair smoking
al unconcernedly as ever. sat Peter
son, He was reading a letter. and oc-
c4sionally underlining some point
with pencil. Beside him on a table
was big ledger. and every now and
and make an entry. But it was not
Peterson on whom the watcher above
was concentrating his attention: it
was Lakington-and the thing beside
him on the sofa
Lakington was bending over a long
bath full of some light-brown liquid
from which faint vapor was rising.
He was in his shirt sleeves, and on
his hands he wore what looked like
rubber gloves. stretching right up to
a test tube into the liquid. and going
over to a shelf he selected a bottle
ana added few drops to the contents
OF the tube. Apparently satisfied with
the result, he returned to the bath
iand shook in some white powder I'm
mediately the liquid commenced to
froth and bubble, and at the same
moment Peterson stood up.
Are you ready7' he said. taking off
his coat and picking up a pair of
wearing
quite answered Lakington.
abruptly. Well get him in"
They approached the sofa: and
Hugh. with a kind of fascinated hor-
ror. forced himself to look For the
Thing that lay there was the body of
the dead Russian. Ivolsky.
. The two men picked him up and
having carried the body to the bath.
they dropped it into the fuming
normal thing in the world. they
peeled of their long gloves and stood
watching. For minute or so nothing
happened. and then gradually the body
commenced to disappear: A faint.
sickIy smell came through the open
window. and Hugh wiped the sweat
of his forehead. 1t was too horrible
the hideous deliberation of it all.
And whatever vile tortures the
wretched man had inflicted on others
in Russia. yet il was through him
that his dead body lay there in the
bath. disappearing slowly and relent-
lessly.
Lakington lit cigarette and strolled
over to the fireplace.
Another FIVE minutes should be
enough" he remarked. Damn that
cursed soldier"
Peterson laughed gently, and re-
sumed the study of his ledger
To lose ones temper with a man.
iority. But it certainly is a nuisance
that Ivolsky is dead. He could talk
more unmitigated drivel to the min
ute than all the rest of 'em put to-
who to put in the Midland area"
He leaned back in his chair and
blew out cloud of smoke. The light
shone on the calm. impassive face:
and with feeling of wonder that was
never far absent from his mind when
the high. clever forehead the firmly
nodded nose and chin. the sensitive,
humorous mouth. The man lying back
in the chair watching the blue smoke
curling up from his cigar might have
been great lawyer or an eminent
divine; some well known statesman,
perhaps. or a Napoleon of finance.
There was power in every line of his
ngure, in every movement of his
hands
He might have reached to the top
of any profession he had cared to fol-
low. just as he had reached
to the top in his present one.
Some kink in the brain, some little
ism, and great man had become
great criminal. Hugh looked at the
bath; the liquid was almost clear.
You know my feelings on the sub