Evening journal., 1922-11-27
CHAPTER III.

CHAPTER III.
IN terror. / let myself cut OF the
Raining house" the woman con
unued.
AS the basement Of this house
was without windows the fire was
not discovered until I had gotten en-
tirely out OF the neishborhood OF the
Faubourg ST. German.
Il was SO overcome, SO numbed by
this incredible disaster that did
not stop 20 consider any result I
wished TO escape from Paris--to con-
ceai myself somewhere. I thought
Of this villa. but / did not dare 10
take the train from Care de Lyon.
Travelled in a motor. winding south
ward from France. not directly. in
endesvor 70 follow"
Again she touched her mouth with
The lace Handkerchief. There was a
faint red stain on It. She looked at
the stain. but without emotion, and |
presently added
But ! did not succeed. Monsieur |
Dillard and Monsieur Jonquelle have
been able 20 trail me here with an |
equal facility. il seems. and within |
almost the same period ~ time.
can not have managed my travel
with discretion"
She stopped abruptly. For mo-
ment there was silence. The two
men beside her did not move. hut
their aspect changed The Amer
icsn seemed to- relax: his tense
energy 10 ehb. The menace in him
changed 10 an aspect Of disaster: on
he contrary. there came into the
posture Of Monsieur Jonauele
'ertsin tenseness. He spoke. ad- .
iressing the American.
Monsieur. ." he said. 'fs II true A.,
hat the basement room of this
louse was thus hung with cob q
vebs7" :
The man replied az though his =
avs were sin.
Yes" he said the whole rotten Z,
eiling was hung with them. l al
rays went in with an electric nash ;,
"A csndle5-sood God! What an !
ccident,"
Monsieur Jonquelle arose.
Monsieur he said. this was no
ccident. I will show you"
The VIA had been long closed. In
ects had had their will with Il. He =.
vent over to shutter, unlocked II ,
Iwung Il little open removed an
nm ense cobweb. and came back TO
he-border NJ the terrace.
The. American amazed and in a
Interest moved 10 where
e stood on the border Of the terrace ,
efore the woman In the chair. The /,
roman alone seemed beyond any
oncern. She neither moved nor !.
poke. She smiled vaguely. main :,
aiming her posture Of repose. The ;,
.merican could not conceal his pro- !,
ound interest. =
Not an accident" he said. What u
@ you mean?" =
Monsieur Ionauelle held the web y
p in his fingers. struck a match. and
,uched the web with the fame, <
here was no flash. The hlaments d
r the web shriveied little under
,e heat q
II mean" said Monsieur JON !
ielle. "thst a spider-web is not in =
smmabie. and. therefore. the base 81
ent OF this house could not have "
ken fire from the flame OF e
ndie" u
After that two events seemed TO "
sppen as though they were timed. "
70 woman laughed, and the infur- c
ted American lunged toward her; d
IL Monsieur Jonquene's foot caught 50
$ ankle with swift outward turn
u the man plunged hesdlong on vi
. terrace. He got heavy fall. for
the vigor of the infuriated crea- 49,
re was in action. m
What followed seemed to attend X
tn an equal swiftness. The two W
otmen of the Princess Kitzenof b,
sre over the PROSTATE figure. In n
sntiy his hands and feet were Sc
red: gag was in his mouth, and -
ey had removed him. ell
II was all Ike q flawless scene IN A
drama. rehearsed to perfection
detail In thirty eeconds It was G
lded fe
Monsieur" said the woman In III
le chair you are very clever, and r
'ur agents are perfect" " nj
She did not move during the whole gr
olence Of the scene. and her voice
rs now in no whit changed. II was
le same detached, Unconditional HI
oice- She removed her hands from w