Evening star., 1933-01-12
INsTALLMENr XXI.


Alacia was obliged to cross the
i square and climb the steep paw
ing of the La Turbie road in
order to enter the impasSe. She almost
ran the last stretch, for time was pre-
cious. and when she reached the bnno
alley, was rather relieved than otner-
wise to find it as deserted as the rest
of the district Painting from the swift,
hard climb. she walked straight to the
wooden doors of the old barn and ex-
amined them carefully. To all ap-
pearances, the rusty paddock whicn
fastened them had not been disturbed
since her last visit, but there had been
a heavy shower during the night ana
the small strip of earth between the
paving and the door sill was still damp,
and on this scrap of mother earth was
the imprint of an automobile tire "A
wave of excitement flowed over her as
she stopped to examine this. Yes. with
out a doubt car had crossed tnat
threshold not many hours earlier, and
1t had been a big car. using the same
kind of tire which she herself had so
carefully selected for the racing Eu-
ropasl
But how on earth had the car got
In, or out as the case may have been?
It was a puzzle. In a flash OF lnsplra-
ton Alacia examined the hingeSSo the
doors. Those on the left were strong
and firmly set in their sockets. but they
had a well-oiled appearance which pre-
sented a striking analogy to the rusty
paddock which held the doors together.
And the hinges of the right hand door
told an even more interesting story.
These were not only free Of all rust, but
they had no pinions holding them in
placel The rings were set evenly one
above the other. and only close C-ami-
nation was likely to reveal the fact
that there was anything unusual about
them. Feverishly, Alacia ran her hands
along the moulding of the door close to
the hinge, and presently she found
what she was searching for; small
metal object almost flush with the
wood, which yieI,ed on her pressing 1t
with one finger. Immediately the whole
door swung inward silently, revealing
a space large enough to hold two cars
with ease. She stepped inside, Won
deringly, for the place was empty ex-
cept for an old harness on a peg, and
a few handfulS of musty hay upon
the wooden floor. She stepped across
this gingerly and, as she did SO, she
realized the door was swinging back
Into place of its own volition.
With little scream, she ran back
toward the street, but it was too late.
and she was prisoner. Real terror
seized her now and she beat on the
paEeling until her hands hurt, crying
out, as she knew, uSeleSsly And then
another horror was added to her plight.
Her hand slipped downward over the
rough face of the door without her own
volition. and she realized that the floor
was sinking. The sensation, coming
wholly Unexpectedly, was sickening
Looking upward, she could see the cob
webbed rafters of the ceiling receding
rapidly, and falling to her knees, she
covered her face with her hands Then,
abruptly the motion ceased and 1t
dawned on her what had occurred OF
course! The floor was merely an ele-
vator-an ordinary elevator Of the kind
commonly used in garages, and 1t ac-
counted perfectly for the means by
which Santini's Europa had made SO
dramatic an exit. The machinery was
apparently put into operation by the
closing of the old stable door. Her re-
lief was so great that she was almost
ready to laugh at her own fears, as she
stood up and looked about her.
At first the darkness was too great to
see anything very clearly, but as her
eyes gradually became accustomed to it.
she made out the fact that she was In
space directly behind and opening
into garage; presumably that of the
villa on the square. A faint light en-
tered through a yentilator over the door
leading into the house and by this she
recognized the familiar lines Of the
Europa, standing not dozen feet away.
Her heart leaped at the sight, and she
creapt cautiously toward it. listenNs
intently, measuring every footstep and
taking infinite precautions to avoid
making any sound.
Whem she reached the car, the house
above was as silent as a tomb. Alacia
shuddered at the instructive compari-
son. Whatever drama lay behind that
pitiful cry which had rung out across
the empty square little earlier, it was
finished now, and the stiffness it had
left behind was unnerving. Perhaps
Santini had left, alone! The idea con-
jured up thousand hideous poSsibili-
ties, and all but froze her to inaction.
But the car was there, a substantial,
comforting reality, even though at any
moment somebody might be coming for
1t. She had no time to lose. Stepping
on the running board. she leaned over
and felt for the back of the drivers
seat At first she could feel nothing but
the cold, slippery leather Of the uphol-
stery. and then suddenly her inQuiSitive
fingers encountered a foreign substance,
deep in the wadding and close to the
seat
Then from above came the first evil
dence that the house still had other
occupants. Some one was moving about
in the room directly overhead with q
slow, heavy step. For a moment Alacia
stood paralyzed with terror and then
leaping from the car she ran noiselessly
back to the elevator, where she found
some sort of concealment behind an
angle of the dividing wall, and waited
in an agony of suspense while the foot
steps crossed the room above and de-
scended the first step of the stairs lead
ing to the garage.
1t was then that the meaning of the
mans laboriouS progress became cleal