Year: 1878

~ az "uce au iuea slruck me. "Sup-
pose the young lady and ! exchange
rooms" said. ''Her room is larger
than mine; besides which the light is bet
ter lor painting. II she will agree to this
VIII pay up her back rent, and also
months rent in advance of the room she
will move into"


"lt she dont't accept your Offer Sir.
said the old man, "I'll send her packing
before she's dag older.".


But she did accept it with tears of graf
i'tnde the next day. While the French-
man was from home. the transfer of chat
Ties was effected. and that night slept in
one OF the two rooms on the second floor
'front.'. Only thin brick wall now sepa-
rated Lenoir and myself H
One other piece of information was tnr-
nished me by my landlords garrulity
which might or might not prove useful In
time to come. He gave me to understand
that he had pass-key, which would open
the lock OF every door in the house. He
had supplied himself with this In conse-
quence OF one of his dodgers having COM
mitted suicide in his room, aud the affair
not having been discovered for upward of
week. Ever since that time. II anv of
his dodgers were missing for more than





without ceremony, and satisfied himself
that all was right. did not fail to note
carefully the particular nail in the plate
rack on which the master-key was usually
hung.


Lenoir and were now close neighbors,
indeed, but still, in one sense. as
far apart as ever. The proverbial polite
ness of foreigners was certainly not ex-
emplfied in his case; and, for my own
part. seeing that could never pass the
man without shudder. was hardly like
ly to cultivate bis acquaintance He must
have known that lodged in the same
house with him; in all probability he was
quite aware that | bad moved into the
room next his; but whether on that ac-
count he dstrusted me, and began to re-
gard me with suspicion, have no means
oil knowing. In any case there we were.
as much strangers to each other as though
one of US dwelt inside the Great Pyramid
and the other outside.


Many we're the hours that sat brood
ing and smoking by the open window of
my room. turning over this scheme and
that. vainly trying to devise some plan
which would bring me nearer the end I
had by this time set clearly before myself.
1t was 30 more than to bring LenOir to
Justice as the murderer of Osric Imray.
That he was the murderer | never once
doubted. The certainty was impressed
upon me at the moment Of my seeing him
and his shadow in conjunction at the cafe.
and from that certainty | had never vet
wavered.


But by and by scheme began to shape
itself vaguely in nv brain. II might sue
in mr. rip 1u t,.t 4.
bility was that it would not succeed. In
any case it was better to make an. effort
and fail than not to make an effort at all.


But to carry out my scheme In question
it was needful that should have a confed-
mind as TO whom that confederate should
be. Some two years previously l. had
picked young Arab out of the London
cutters and had induced him to sit to me.
rags and all, as a subject in one sf'mv
pictures. got to teel an interest in the
lad, and after | had done with him for art
purposes. | determined not to lose sight
of him. The result was that, after giving
Tim eighteen months rough schooling. /
found situation for him rs assistant to a
green's grocer. To this green-grocer now
went. and asked him to lend Tim TO
me for a month. a request with which he
at once complied. So Tim and went
back 10 Winckworth street, where. Drew.
nv landlord. provided him with a shake
down in the attic. "9 'ai


The first thing did next morning was
to put into Tins hand a lump of wax. one
surface of which bore the impression of
the wards of key. H. was fac-simile
Of Drew's master-k key r


Watching my Oppnrtupitv ovar;crv .cs.s
evening WREN went down stairs to smoke
pipe with the old man, there. came a
time when he was called out of the room
to answer a knock at the front door. Left
alone, possessed myself of the KEY for a
couple OF minutes, and took careful inn
preston of it on the piece of wax which
| had brought in my pocket for that pur.
pose. This now harfded to Tim. "Take
this" | said, "and get KEY made from
it," Four days later he brought me the
key. d
tried it on my own door first of ALL but
it would neither lock nor unlock it. Then
Tim procured two or three files OF differ
ent sizes and patterns, and he and l
worked on the key at intervals for couple
of DAYS. At the end of that time our la
bors were crowned with success


nat ilOI1tHl VI triumph Wds worm all
the time and labor 1t had cost me. in
serted the key in Lenoir's lock, and the
bolt shot noiseessly back; turned the
handle and the door seemed to open of its
own accord. | stood on the threshold of
Pierre Lenoil's s room.


The room WAS an exact counterpart of
my own. There was the same old-fash-
ioned CRATE and quaintly-carved chimney
piece. The same deep skirting- board of
oak, black with age. The same foliated
cornices of ornamented plaster work run
ming round the room at the junction of
walls and ceiling. The same unwieldv
shutters and the same grand old door. OF
the furniture took no note. Whether il
were good, bad, or Indifferent was no con-
Germ of mine. Satisfied with what l had
| seen, | shut the door, relocked it, and went
back to my own room. So far had been
successful. Should be equally success
in that which proposed to myself to do
nextp $500
l wanted to make a hiding place from
which. myself unseen, could, whenever