The midland journal. (Rising Sun, Md.) 1885-1947, 1936-05-15
By
Dornford Yates
Copyright By Minton. Baleh q Co.
WNU Service.
CHAPTER XI-Continued


mouth. Pharaoh, Of course: but alone.
She put up fight, but he very soon
had his way. He bound her wrists and
ankles and took her master key. Then
he carried her down her private stair
case and into secret room-the ante
chamber, in fact, to the cellar where
lies the gold.
I'm afraid there's no doubt that she
suffered: but, except that Pharaoh put
It across her, she simply leaves that
bit out. But he must have been pretty
ruthless, for in the end she opened the
secret panel concealing the cellar
steps,
swell, Pharaoh and Dewdrop went
down, to view the gold; but Rush and
Bugle remained in the chamber on
guard. l ought to have said that her
hands and her feet had been freed.
Still, she hadn't much chance, for they
kept a torch on her face.
II shall never understand why Pha-
raoh employed two such wash-outs as
Bugle and Rush. The first thing those
two bright lads did was, between them,
to drop the torch. BY the time they'd
found 1t again their prisoner was gone.
The door to the secret room is Sc
cret door. 1t cannot be opened from
within. 1t was, therefore. standing
open. In a flash my lady was out and
had shut the door.
"Wen, though she was safe, she
wasn't clear of the wood. She was
locked in a staircase-turret, and Rush
had her master key. She called from
the embrasures, but, as the castle was
empty, there weren't any ears to hear.
Then, after a while she found Sabre
standing beside her, licking her hand"
felt that such statement demand
ed some sort Of expression Of disbe-
lief.
But you said"
"You shut your face" said Godfrey.
''Truth is stranger than fiction-every
time. The door to the turret was open
and so were the doors to her room. But
her room had been used. The thieves
had escaped by the chimney, entered
her room by the fireplace, cleaned
themselves up in her bathroom and dis
appeared"
1.-THE obvious thing to do was to
search the castle forthwith. I ought to
have said that long before I got back,
the switchboard had been repaired and
the lights had come on, and while my
lady was talking, the staff which had
been scattered was trickling back.
Florin and induced some sort of order
before beginning the search.
"We began with my lady's bedroom.
One look at the hearth was enough.
There was SCOT all over the place. But
nothing and nobody else. We left the
watchmen there and my lady and
Florin and I went down to the secret
room. It was empty now, we knew,
for Pharaoh and company were gone:
but the door to the cellar was open
and my lady wanted 1t shut"
He took a deep breath.
''I'l tell you what we found. We
found Pharaoh, Dewdrop and Rush
Va NhCAu uCdus
"Go on" said I, incredulously.
'Fact," said my cousin, shortly. "I'm
glad you weren't there to see it. 1t was
a dreadful sight. Bugle had done the
three In and then cleared out. fancy
there'd been some scrap. Pharaoh's
back was broken: he had no wound.
"And here's my Interpretation of this
astounding find.
SIN Pharaoh's absence Bugle and
Rush between them let Lady Helena
60. Warrantably fearful of the conse-
Quences Of what they had done, Rush
and Bugle quarrelled, and Bugle killed
Rush. Afraid to face Pharaoh-such a
dereliction Of duty meant almost GER
tain death-Bugle decided to kill him
and Dewdrop, too. And so he did.
Then he escaped by the chimney, with
Lady Helena's master key. This let
him out of the castle by the way by
which he came in. Why he waited to
let her out, cannot conceive. Pos
sibly some twinge Of conscience-you
never know. That's one Of the points
which we shall never clear up"
"Then everything's over" said l.
"The terror is laid"
"The terror is laid" said Godfrey.
"Bugle remains, of course. But l very
much doubt If we shall see Bugle
again"
Thoughtfully I regarded my napkin.
Was it FIVE or six days before
corpse rose to the surface of the wa
ter In which it lay?
"Then everything's over" repeated.
Except the interment," said Geof-
frey: (which is fixed for tomorrow
evening, as soon as it's decently dark.
As you seem to have had night of,
think you might help with that"
.
Six days had gone by, and my pre-
cious secret was safe.
This was hardly surprising. Only
two beings knew that had approached
the castle that terrible night: and Of
these the one was a dog and the
other was dead. I had not used Bar
ley's pistol: l had cleaned my cous-
FMS knife: my filthy garments lay hid
in the Plumage woods. Nobody knew
that in my notecase was Helena's mas
Ter kew