he lamp?... Why, of course, he took off the screw that
fixes the staple--a simple push will suffice." With a push of his
shoulder the door yielded. The stranger entered and carefully closed the
door. He walked to the window and drew the curtains, muttering:

"That fool should have thought of this just now."

Taking a small electric torch from his pocket he turned on the light.
Calmly, collectedly, he approached a couch at one side of the room....
On it lay Elizabeth Dollon in a deep sleep. She looked white as death.

"An excellent narcotic," he muttered, bending over the unconscious girl.
"When one thinks that she took it at dinner, then went out, and that
then it produced its effect!..."

Moving away from Elizabeth, he crossed the room to where the contents of
the overturned trunk lay.

"Damnable papers!" he growled low. "To think!... It is too late now to
continue the search.... Bah! By shutting the mouth of an informant ...
that's the way to settle it ... the best way too!... Now for it!..."

Without apparent effort, the man in the hooded mask seized Elizabeth
Dollon in his muscular arms.

"Come, mademoiselle," he said in a jeering tone. "Come to bye-bye! Sleep
better than on this sofa! You will sleep a longer sleep, that's
certain!" An evil smile punctuated these sinister remarks.

He laid the poor girl's body on the floor in the middle of the room;
then, approaching a little gas stove, he detached the india-rubber tube
and slipped the end of it between his victim's teeth.

He turned the gas tap....

"Perfect!" he said, as he straightened himself.

"To-morrow morning, early, at eight o'clock, or at nine, the excellent
Madame Bourrat will open the meter. The narcotic this child has taken
will prevent her from waking, so that, without suffering, without cries,
quite gently--pfuit!... sweet Elizabeth will pass from life to death!...
But it will not do to linger here ... let us find Jules and give him the
necessary instructions!"

The stranger went out into the corridor closing the door. The thing had
been well managed; the screws keeping the bolt case in position were put
back in their holes--the key remained inside--no one would suspect that
only a slight push was necessary to get into the room.

With a chuckle, the stranger bent down and pushed a tassel under the
door.

The servant must not discover the trick when she is sweeping the
passage: now with this wedge, the door cannot be opened without a
v