Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1925-04-20
CONTINUED from Yesterdays star.)

Josef and his equally impressive COM
panion. They took me some SO yards
to small wooden hut situated at the
shore-end Of stone jetty jutting into
the lake. Here they laid me, with all
the respect that was due to one who
was already dead, upon q pile of fag-
Rots, which appeared to be all that
the chalet contained, and, leaving me
to my own devices, took their de.
parture, shutting the door behind
them.
will spare you my reflections. They
were of the bitterest kind, and it
would do no good to repeat them. In
deed, 1 doubt If I could find adequate
words to express what 1 felt when I
realized that it was partly my own
rash Impotence which had placed me
in the power of these scoundrels and
had involved Beatrice in a fate which
even now I shudder to contemplate.
/ regarded my death as quite inevita-
BILE, and 1t was rendered doubly bitter
by my impotence to save the girl
loved. / do not easily abandon hope,
but 1 unhesitatingly confess that at
that moment, helpless as 1 was and
destined shortly to test the profess
sor's doctrine concerning a future
life, I was within an ace of utter and
complete despair.
Action alone could save me from
allowed me at least to struggle
with my bonds. I was lying half
on my back and half on
my side, in a condition of extreme
physical discomfort, owing to the
tfghtness of the cords round my
wrists, when I discovered, on trying
to move, that my feet were less
strongly secured. l found that l
could even move them slightly, and
this discovery sufficed to divert my
thoughts from the desperate specula-
tons to which my condition had given
rise. I rolled over on my back, and,
raising my feet in the air, kicked and
struggled for some moments, with the
result that I succeeded in loosening
appreciably the cords round my
ankles.
My next action was to endeavor to
get to my feet, which, after several
attempts, succeeded in doing, though
at the cost of some difficulty and pain.
Once upright, 1 took stock of my
surroundings.
The building in which I stood ap-
parently consisted of a single cham
Der, unfurnished and bare except for
the bundles of faggots and few old
sacks. 1t had one window, looking
out toward the lake and opposite
the door. / shuffled toward the door
anu lIiSO II with my SnOuIueT, Out 1t
was fast, as 1 had expected, though
closer examination revealed the fact
that 1t possessed no apparent keyhole
and was therefore presumably bolted
on the outside. l stood for a moment
thinking hard. I was not in much
better a position than when 1 had
first been deposited In the chalet.
True, I had the partial use of my
legs, but my arms were still securely
hound and tho GILL ndlyornhiof wa
fast over my mouth.
1t was very silent in the chalet and
In the garden outside, though from
time to time L heard a piercing Shrek
from the direction of the villa. / was
puzzled to account for these dreadful
cries until I remembered Ahasuerus,
the Professors parrot. Apparently he
was protesting against his enforced
removal, and 1 hoped whoever had
the task of Inducing him into his
travelling cage would be severely
bitten during the process.
Presently I heard another sound,
this time from the direction of the
lake. There was borne to my ears
the faint gurgle of water beneath the
bow of a boat and the occasional
creak of a rowlock. Some fisherman,
I thought, forgetting the season of
the year, and l became filled with the
vague hope of being able to attract
his attention. 1 shuff1ed and hoped
across the floor until 1 got to the
window, only to find that it was too
high up in the wall to enable me to
get a view. Returning to the pile
of faggots, 1 succeeded, after several
attempts, in rolling one toward the
wall, on which I was able to perch
precariously. This brought my head
above the level of the sill, and 1
gazed out, craning it this way and
that in an effrt to locate the boat.
1 soon caught sight of it. It was
heading rapidly for the end of the
jetty, which have already mentioned.
It contained two occupants, one at
the SOULS, with his back toward me,
and the other at the tiller, in the stern
sheets. The man at the tiller was
leaning forward, as though engaged
in conversation with the man who
was rowing, and he appeared to be
wearing a close-fltting white hat.
Presently, however, he raised his
head, and saw that what 1 had mis-
taken for a hat was in reality
bandage beginning low on the fore
head and covering most of the head.
Hope sprang alive and undefeated
from the depths of despair, for I
recognized beneath the bandage the
face of my friend, Etienne Rehmy,
whose companion could be no other
than De Blanchegarde.
I could have shouted for joy till I
remembered that, gagged as I was, I
could not even whisper to them of
my urgent need. I was obliged to
watch them, in a silent agony of I'M
patience, as they approached the
jetty. They reached 1t at last and
CASTOR shipped his SOULS, grasping a
ring in the stone and steadying the
boat while Rehmy jumped ashore. A
moment later they were walking
along the jetty in my direction. 1
noticed that Rehmy, despite the
bandage round his head, did not ap-
pear to have been badly damaged by
his encounter with the telegraph pole,
for his stride was firm and steady
and his face had its usual color.
Should I be able to attract their
attention? The chalet, though at the
shore end of the jetty, was not direct
~ opposite to it, but somewhat to
the right, so that If they continued
on their way to the villa they would
inevitably pass me by and walk
straight into the arms of the pro-
fessor.
thrust my chin over the sill to
hold myself erect and, throwing my
weight upon my left leg, kicked the
wooden wall of the chalet as hard as
I could with my right. Owing to the
fact that the cords round my legs
were only loose, and that I was thus
not altogether free from them,
could not swing my foot very far
and consequently could not make
much noise.
They were almost abreast of me
now. and I redoubled my efforts, with
the result that, just as they were
passing me by, overbalanced and fell
IN the floor knocking I'D against the