The L'Anse sentinel., 1923-11-02
something sympatneticaily. In . min

something sympatheticaily. In . min
ute she resumed:
II don't know how long 1t was be- ;
fore l came back to consciousness. I
felt very Ill and sick. l was lying on
dirty bed. There was a screen round
II. but could hear two people talk
Ing in the room. Mrs. vandemeyer was
one Of them. I tried to listen. but at
first l couldn't take much in. When
at last did begin to grasp what was
going on--I was just terrified! won
der didn't scream right out there
and then.
"They hadn't found the papers.
They'd got the oilskin packet with the
blanks, and they were just mad They
didn't know whether I'd changed the
papers, or whether Danvers had been
carrying a dummy message, while the
real one was sent another way. They
spoke of'-she closed her eyes-"tor-
turing me to find out!
II began thinking madly. What could
/ do? / knew I wouldn't be able to
stand up against torture very long.
Suddenly something put the thought Of
loss Of memory into my head. The sub
ject had always interested me, and I'd
read an awful lot about 1t. had the
whole thing at my finger-tips. If only
could succeed In carrying tie blum
through, 1t might save me. said q
prayer, and drew long breath. Then
l opened my eyes and started babbling
In French
MRS Vandemeyer came round the
screen at once. Her face was 30
wicked I nearly died, but I smiled up
at her doubtfully, and asked her In
French where was.
"It puzzled her, could see. She
called the man she had been talking
to. He stood by the screen with bis
face In shadow. He spoke to me In
French. He asked me my name.
said l didn't know-that I couldn't re-
member anything at all.
Suddenly he caught my wrist, and
began twisting 1t. The pain was awful.
/ screamed. He went on. screamed
and screamed, but managed to. shrek
out things In French. don't know
how long / could have gone on, but
luckily tainted. The last thing !
heard was his voice saying: That's
not bluff! Anyway, kid Of her age
wouldn't know enough
"When. came to, Mrs. Vandemeyer
was sweet as honey to me. Shed had
her orders, guess.
"By and by she went out Of the
room altogether. was suspicious
still, and lay quite quiet for some time.
In the end, however, I got up and
walked round the room, examining 1t.
1 thought that even II anyone was
watching me from somewhere, 1t would
seem natural enough under the circum-
stances. It was a squalid, dirty place,
There were no windows, which seemed
queer. I guessed the door would be
locked, but didn't try It. There were
some battered old pictures on the
walls, representing scenes from Faust.
James two listeners gave simul-
taneous "Ah!" The girl nodded.
"Yes-it was the place In Soho
where Mr.. Beresford was imprisoned.
OF course, at the time I didn't even
| know II was in London. One thing
was worrying me dreadfully, but my
heart gave great throb Of relief
when I saw my ulster lying carelessly
| over the back Of the chair. And the
magazine was still rolled up In the
| pocket
"I lay down on the bed again, and
by and by Mrs. vandemeyer brought
me some supper.
'That was an awful night. I'd made
my plan whilst I was waiting for her.
The papers were safe so far, but
couldn't take the risk Of leaving them
there any longer. They might throw
that magazine away any minute. I
lay awake waiting until I judged II
must be about two o'clock in the
morning. Then got up as softly AZ
I could, and felt in the dark along the
left-hand wall. Very gently, un-
hooked one Of the pictures from It's
nail-Marguerite with her casket Of
| Jewels. / crept over to my coat ana
took out the magazine, and an odd
envelope or two that had showed In.
Then l went to the washstand, and
damped the brown paper at the back
of the picture all round. Presently
I was able to pull It away. had
already torn out the two stuck
together pages from the magazine,
and now slipped them with their
precious inclosure between the picture
and Its brown paper backing. A little
gum from the envelopes helped me to
stick the latter up again. No one
would dream the picture had ever
been tampered with. l rehung It on
the wall. put the magazine back IN
my coat pocket, and crept back to bed
"They watched me constantly foI
weeks. Sometimes they'd ask me
questions by the hour--f guess thers
was nothing they didn't know about
the third degree but somehow
managed to hold my own. The strair
Of It was awful, though NJ fell
that the horrors In store for me woult
be too awful once they knew ia beer
only shamming.