Evening star., 1925-01-11

| But no, she couldn't say that. II
would be a far, far worse thing that
she did. What about the dear dean?
Her sister-in-law arriving alone from
Paraguay tomorrow? All her dear peo-
pie and friends in Easingstoke? Her
darling Tony, the large gray tabby cat?
Any minute people might arrive The
chambermaid, the boots, the manager,
| the gendarmes . Visions of
gendarmes arriving armed with swords
and note books vitalized her almost ex-
hausted energies. She was desperate
woman. Fortunately now she had not
to worry about the light. She sprang
more at the door and tried to force it
open with her fingers. The result hurt
| her and gave her pause. IL she was TO
escape she must think, and think in
tensely She mustn't do anything rash
and silly, she must just think and
plan calmly.
! She examined the lock carefully.
! There was no keyhole, but there was
a slip bolt, so that the hotel guest
! could lock the door on the inside, but
| Ii couldn't be locked on the outside.
oh. why didn't this poor dear dead man
lock his door last night? Then this
trouble could not have happened. She
| could see the end of the steel pin. 1t
was about half an inch down the hole.
/ III any one was passing they must surely
noticed the handle sticking out too far;
the other side! She drew hairpin
| back, but she only succeeded in push
| ing ii little farther in. She felt the
color leaving her face, and a strange
feeling of faintnss come over her.
! She darted round the room like an
animal in trap. her mind alert for
| the slightest crevice of escape The
window had no balcony and there was
| drop of five stories to the street
below. Dawn was breaking.
| She went back once more and
| stared at the lock. She stared at the
dead mans property, his razors and
brushes and writing materials. He
| appeared to have a lot of writing
| materials, pens and pencils and rub
| ber and sealing wax. Sealing wax!
Necessity is truly the mother of in
vention. 1t is in any case quite GER
| tain that Millicent Gracegirdle, who
| had never invented thing in her life,
would never have evolved the inge-
MUS little device she did had she not
| believed that her position was utterly
| desperate. For in the end this is
what she did
She got together a box of matches,
a candle, bar of sealing wax and a
| hairpin. She made a little pool of
| hot sealing wax, into which she
| dipped the end of the hairpin. Col
| lecting a small blob on the end of It,
| she thrust it into the hole and let it
| adhere to the end of the steel pin.
At the seventh attempt she got the
thing to move. 1t took her just an
| hour and ten minutes to get that steel
| pin back into the room. and when at
| length 1t came far enough through
| for her to grip it with her finger
| nails she burst into tears. Very, very
carefully she pulled it through, and,
holding it firmly with her left hand,
| then slowly turned il. The door
| opened!
| The temptation to dash out into the
| corridor and scream with relief was
almost irresistible, but she forebore.
| She listened. She peeped out. No one
was about. With beating heart she
went out, closing the door inaudibly.
She crept like a little mouse to the
room next door, stole in and flung
herself on her bed. Immediately she
| did so it flashed through her mind
that she had left her sponge bag and
! towel in the dead mans room,
| TN looking back upon her experience
she always considered that that
second expedition was the worst of
all. She might have left the sponge
| b1o anu lo"eA OHly lHdl the
| towel-she never used hotel towels
had neatly inscribed in the corner
m. B."
She managed to retrace her steps
| She re-entered the dead mans room,
reclaimed her property and returned
/ to her own. When this mission was
| accomplished she was indeed we'll
nigh spent She lay on her bed and
| groaned feebly. At last she fell into
a fevered sleep.
1t was IL o'clock when she awoke,
and no one had been to disturb her.
The sun was shining, and the expert
| ences of the night appeared a dubious
nightmare. Surely she had dreamed
| it all,
With dread still burning in her
| heart, she rang the bell. After
short interval of time the chamber
maid appeared. The girls eyes were
| bright with some uncomfortable ex-
citement. No, she had not been
dreaming. This girl had heard some
| thing
please?"
| Certainly, madame"
The maid drew back the curtains
and fused about the room. Suddenly
she approached the bed and whispered
excitedly:
"Oh, madame, I have promised not
| to tell, but terrible thing has hap
pened. A mana dead man-has been
| found in room lila guest. Please
not to say 1 tell you. But they have
all been here-the gendarmes, the
doctors, the inspectors. Oh, it is ter
| rible-terribler
The little lady in the bed said
| nothing. But Marie Louise Laucrat
was too full of emotional excitement
I to spare her.
But the terrible thing is-do you
| know who he was, madame? They
! say it is Boldhu, the man wanted for
the murder of Jean Carreton in the
barn at Vincennes. They say he
strangled her and then cut her up in
| pieces and hid her in two barrels,
which he threw into the river. Oh,
| but he was a bad man, madame
terrible bad man! And he died in the
room next door. Suicide, they think,
or was it an attack of the heart?
Remorse, some shock, perhaps Did
you say a cafe complet, madame?"
No. thank you, my dear. Just
cup of tea-strong tea"
"Parfaitement, madame"
The girl retired and a little later a
waiter entered the room with a tray
| of tea. She could never get over her
| surprise in this. 1t seemed so-well
indecorous for a man. although only
! a waiter, to enter lady's bedroom.
There was no doubt a great deal in
what the dear dean said They were
certainly very peculiar-these French
people. They had most peculiar no
tions. 1t was not the way they be-
haved at Easingstoke.
When he had gone she sat up and
slipped her tea, which gradually
warmed her. She was glad the sun
was shining. They said that her sis