Perth Amboy evening news., 1923-10-12

pressed the bell furiously. Madame
leaned over the counter.
But what ails MONSIEUR" she
demanded.
"What ails me?" he replied at the
top of his voice, speaking now in
broken French, now in English with
an American accent. 'I tell you that
not three minutes & I saw my
wife enter this hotel with a man
She who saw me off, as she thought,
at the Care du Nord not an hour
ago! A curse upon your lift, ma
dame! This is a plot!"
He turned and ran for the stairs,
Followed by a little crowd among
whom l easily escaped detection. We
reached. the second floor. The man,
who now, to my amazement, l real
lied must be Stanfield, was banging
at the panels of a closed door, and
shouting.
ut is locked!" he cried. II knew
1t! Locked! Open, Suzanne! You
gain nothing by this. l come IL /
blow the hotel about your ears!"
The door opened. A few of us
were almost pushed in. Janet, with
her face buried In her hands. turned
away. Monsieur Lutarde, not wholly
at his ease, stood there with folded
arms.
"Who are you, sir, and what are
you doing in my salon?" Stanfield
demanded fercely.
Il am here at your wife's bidding
to receive a message which she as
+ me that her husband has
brought from London" Lutarde re-
piled.
ut is a lie!" Stanfield shouted. az
am her husband, and l know nothing
of you. 1t Is years since my wife
was in London. These are subter-
fuges. Tell the truth, woman"
Janet threw herself on the couch
and hid her face.
HE is your lover?" Stanfield in
sisted.
II could not help it," Janet sobbed.
you have been so cruel lately. Why
did you come back?"
There was a little murmur
amongst the curious crowd in the
background. A thin, dark man with
eyeglasses, obviously a journalist,
was on the point of stealing away.
The time had come for action. l dis
entangled myself from the group.
Stanfield looked into the muzzle Of
my automatic.
Glands up, Stanfield!" l ordered.
word down to bolt the doors of the
hotel"
1 had once come to the conclusion
that, no matter how long our duel
might continue, l should never see a
sign of feeling in my enemy's face.
Through his wonderful disguise,
however, the real man at this mo-
ment leaped out. He stood staring
at me. viciously yet with the half
fascinated amazement of one who
looks upon a new thing in life. Janet
was crouching back upon the couch,
shrinking away from me as far as
possible, her fingers tearing to pieces
some shred of antimacassar. Sud-
denly she sprang like a cat between
her husband and me. He saw his
chance and leaped for the door. The
crowd of stupefied people opened as
though by magic to let him pass. l
lowered my pistol and shouted a
warning at the top of my voice.
There was the sound of a shot be-
low, and the trampling of many feet.
A g~ray-haired. well-dressed man
with a red ribbon in his ~buttonhole.
whom 1 afterward discovered to be
the editor of a leading journal,
pushed his way through.
Monsieur" he said to me, "is
there any answer to this riddle?"
You will find it below" l an
swered shortly. There has been a
plot to compromise the personal
honor of Monsieur Lutarde here,
which you have seen frustrated. The
injured husband is an English crimi-
nal. His wife"-I hesitated-"is his
accomplice. Monsieur Lutarde has
eve seen either of them before in
his life"
Ennison entered, accompanied by
Monsieur Lutarde's private secretary
and a parsonage whom 1 recognized
a high official of the French court.
There was a great deal of rapid con-
versation between the four, a min
gled outpouring of congratulations
and wonder. Then we all moved to-
ward the door. l touched Ennison
on the arm.
"What about s%tanfield" I in
quired eagerly.
ESCAPED for the moment" was
the reluctant admission. "He got
through the back premises of the
hotel, somehow"
They were filing out of the room.