Evening star., 1927-11-29
other, working nearer and nearer to

other, working nearer and nearer to
the edge Of the lawn.
And then suddenly there came a
half-choked cry from the other. The
man had tripped in the underground.
Locke swung his weight to complete
the fall-tripped himself-and both,
with their balance gone. but graphing
the fiercer at each other, pitched
| headlong with terrific force into the
| trees at the side of the path.
And Locke was for an instant con-
| scious of a great blow, of StreakS of
, fiery light that smote at his eyeballs
with excruciating pain-and then utter
blackness came.
When he opened his eyes again a
moonbeam lay along the path, and a
figure in a long dressing gown was
passing by. He was dreaming, wasn't
he? There was a sick sensation in
mis- head. a giddiness-and besides that
it gave him great pain.
He raised himself up cautiously on
his elbow, fighting to clear his mind
and suddenly his lips frightened grimly.
There was something ironical in that
Notwithstanding that mocked
him in disclosing figure in a dressing
gown instead of face that had been
unmasked yet still could not be seen.
He looked around him now. He was
lying few feet in from the edge of
the path, and against the trunk of
large tree. Yes, he remembered now.
His head had struck against the tree
and he had been knocked unconscious.
And the man who had been masked
was gone.
He rose to his feet. He was very
groggy-and for moment he leaned
against the tree trunk for support.
n rrid
That was old Mr.. Marlin who had Just
gone by. Well, neither the old mad
man nor his money had come to any
harm, anyway! He stepped out on the
path. and from there to the edge of
the lawn. The old mailman was just
disappearing around the corner of
the veranda, q.
Locke put his hands to his eyes.
How his head throbbed How long
had he lain there unconscious? He
took out his watch. His eyes seemed
blurred-or was it the meagerness of
the moonlight? He was not quite
sure, but it seemed to be 10 minutes
after 3. It wasn't very easy to figure
backward. He did not know how long
he and the old maniac had been to-
gether in the aquarium, but, say. half
an hour. Starting then at the hour
of the rendezvous, which had been at
quarter past 2, that would bring it
to quarter of g. then, say, 10 min
utes for what had happened afterward,
including the fight, and that would
make it five minutes of g. He must
therefore have been lying in there un.
conscious for at least Is minutes
The man who had worn the mask
was gone now-naturally. But per.
hn
pick up the trail. Capt. Francis New
combe's room offered very promising
possibilities-and there was a torn
coat sleeve that would not really be
replaced in IS minutes.
He made his way now across the
lawn, and up the steps to the ve-
randa. He tried the front door. 1t
was locked. OF course! He had for.
gotten that he had left the house by
crawling out of the aquarium window
There was no use going back that
way, because the old madman had
locked the aquarium door. Mr.. Mar
lin, though, had some means of en-
trance-and if that door through
which the man had so suddenly ap.
peared in the back hall meant any,
thing, the entrance the old man used
was likely to be somewhere in the
rear. But Mr.. Marlin would probably
have locked that, too, behind him.
He looked up and down the now
moon-1ecked veranda-and began to
try the French windows that opened
upon it from the front rooms Of the
house. The first two were locked, as
he had expected. 1t was only a
chance. but he might as well begin
here as anywhere else. He tried the