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Show 7" : : : --"ii The Mystery of Sdl j a f?". Author of ! theSilver Dagger 3 no pleasant Job, to he sure, and I was compelled to steel myself to the attempt, yet I no longer held back paralyzed para-lyzed by fear. I easily found a .secure fastening for the strip of bed spread at my own window, and then, satisfied that It was taut and securely held at both ends, lowered my body cautiously over the sill, until my stockinged feet nervously gripped the narrow stone of the coping. I dare not look down or permit my mind to dwell for an Instant on what was below. Slowly I straightened up, until my entire weight was upheld by this precarious foot-hold. To advance step by step was Impossible; all I could hope to accomplish In locomotion was to stealthily advance one foot a ' few Inches, sliding It along the stone, ever retaining contact, and then, as carefully care-fully drawing the other after until 4hey met, toe and heel. It was the slew progress of a snail, yet the slightest slight-est effort at hurrying would mean a certain fall. '.Shis was not unduly perilous, however, how-ever, so long as I retained firm hold on trie sill, or even could grip my fingers over the lower frame f the open blind, as I was enabled thus to partially sustain my weight, and, even If a foot slipped, the feel of the solid wood yielded confidence. But finally my hand readied out and grasped only the cloth cord, twisted into some semblance sem-blance of a rope, and, as it gave slek-eningly slek-eningly to the pressure, the old fear swept over me In a torrent of agony. I could never make It never! I would go swirling, crashing down to that death below. It was but a step, to be sure ; a step and I could reach the firmness of the other blind:' but. oh, the step the speechless horror of it ! Ytt there was no going backward : I tried this, only to realize at once Its Impossibility, and the perspiration burst out from every pore, as the full horror of my situation suddenly flashed over me. I must go on, trusting trust-ing to that thin, unstable cord, balancing balanc-ing myself above the gulf. There was no other way, no retreat, no means of escape. I do not know now how the act was accomplished ; It Is hardly a I had fed. I knew this, and in my exhaustion cared to know no more. Then I staggered to my knees, and, with opened eyes stared curiously about, gathering my wits together. There was nothing to see but the four walls. I tried the door, and it opened silen-iy, permitting me to glance out inlo a narrow dark hallway, hall-way, unearpeisd. I could dimly discern the top of a flight of stairs leading down to the story below. I slipped out, and closed the door softly behind me. being plunged Instantly into funereal blackness. I groped a way forward toward the stairs, guided by a hand against the wall, until the touch of the upper rail assured me of my position. A narrow strip of carpeting rag I took It to be from the feeling extended down the center of the stairs, sufficient to muffle any footsteps, and I paused a moment Jistening for-the,. slightest nolse'aml th -darkness bebeath. -All remained stlil'ajid mysterious; so that I drew forth my shoes from a coat pocket and slipped them on. Twice the boards creaked ominously under my tread, sounding terrific la that silence, and causing me to hang In suspense over the banister rail, holding my breath in fear of discovery. At last I attained the wider space at the bottom, and sought blindly to explore ex-plore my surroundings. But for the carpet underfoot, and a small sofa encountered In a recess, I would have believed myself in a deserted house. I knew I was on the third floor, yet there was no curve in the banisters, showing a way to the next flight of stairs, nor could I locate them by any effort. As the result of blindly groping about, I lost all sense of direction and must have wandered into a side room through an undraped recess, for I suddenly brought up against a table, littered with papers and books. Startled by this encounter into a realization that I was lost in a strange house at an unholy hour of the morning, morn-ing, and that the slightest misstep In that darkness might result in an alarm to awaken every sleeper, for a few minutes I did not venture to move In any direction. Yet manifestly I could CHAPTER XI Continued. 17 I stole as silently as possible across to the door. It was securely locked, of course, and could be forced open, If at all, only by creating considerable alarm. I stood, staring helplessly bout, feeling the Impossibility of scape. I could only wait for my Jailers Jail-ers to appear. Impotent to aid myself In any way or her. After 11, that last thought was the most Impelling. That they suspected Marie GeMler of being Implicated In both murder and robbery was dearly evident ; lu leed, they not only suspected, but were convinced con-vinced that she had done the d"ed. I was secretly obliged to admit that tbey had some reason to so bellee ; that they even possessed proof which would probably convict her in court f the crime. This gave them a terrible ter-rible advantage over the glr!, once they had her bodily In their posses-' posses-' slot). Gutlty or not guilty, she could not estobll6h her Innocence; under torture and threat, such bjb they would doubtless use In their money lust, there was no knowing what might happen. Alone, helpless is the grasp cf these ntiscnipulous crooks, her fate might be death, disgrace. Certainly it would be foul insult, and. If she failed to yield, the desire for revenge might even drive those cowards to a secret denouncement of her to the police. This, however, would be their last resort re-sort ; they would exhaust all other efforts first. And no one else knew of her danger; no one else was In position to aid her; she must face this gang absolutely alone unless I could effect an escape. It was not merely my own life at stake ; hers wos also In the balance And the time In which to act was short. If I escaped at all. It must be accomplished before my Jailers returned, re-turned, before they . dreamed that I had aroused from unconsciousness, or had strength enough to make the attempt. Yet what possible way suggested itself? I felt In my pockets; they were utterly empty, except for a single overlooked bill. There was no means of egress other than the window win-dow and that seemed hopeless. Yet In desperation I crossed over once more, and again looked out. Could I dare I attempt to cling to that ellght ledge In my stocking feet, even for the one or two steps necessary to reach the next window? The very conception of such a feat made my head reel giddily and my stomach rise In protest. Besides, even if I made it by some miracle, what if that other window should be closed and locked? How could I ever move backward to regain safety? Yet wait: there was a way, dangerous danger-ous enough to be sure, yet possible if I possessed the necessary nerve. There were opened blinds at each window ; they would help some as grasping spots for the hands. The one within reach appeared solid enough, firmly anchored to the casement, and secured to the brick wall by means of an Iron hook. Between the two the space to be traversed was not wide; a single stride on the ground beneath would bridge the distance. If I had some thing to ding to above anything that would keep me upright I might hold my footing on the narrow stone and make the passage slowly. It was a daring, deadly venture, but possible. But what could I hope to utilize as support? The bare room offered but not remain there indefinitely, and so, blindly choosing a course, I set forth, feeling a way cautiously forward until I first ran Into a chair, and then struck one hand against a side wall. I followed fol-lowed this latter as best I could, inspired by the thought that if I continued con-tinued this course long enough I must attain the opening through which I had entered the room. On the way my hands felt the outlines of a closed door, and, In aimlessly groping about, encountered a key In the lock. It was so inserted as to be extracted at the touch of my fingers and instantly instant-ly a tiny ray of light shot forth through the vacated hole. It was such a relief In the heart of that darkness as to cause me to quickly bend down and endeaver to view the scene within. It wes evidently a chamber of some size, and well furnished, rather dimly illuminated by a single shaded electric globe, a handsome green rug on the floor, and numerous pictures hung about the walls. I could perceive the outlines of a bed at one side, barely within the range of the vision, and opposite this an ornate dresser, with three mirrors. But what my eyes rested upon with greater Interest was a luxurious, leather couch beside the further wall on which a woman rested, with some sort of covering draped about her. She lay with face toward the wall, motionless, and to all appearances appear-ances sound asleep. To arouse her was the last thing I desired, and I would have slipped the key back Into the lock, and stolen silently along In the darkness, had she not suddenly stirred, flinging out one hand as though in fear of some dream, and turned partially, so that her face became clearly visible. The sleeper was Marie Gessler ! For a moment 1 rould scarcely credit the discovery; yet there could be no mistake. I remembered re-membered too well every characteristic character-istic of the girl, to be deceived. (TO BE CONTINUED.) j The Sleeper Was Marie Gesslerl memory, except as some wild delirium of sleep haunts one when they awake. Inch by inch I crept, hand encroaching encroach-ing on hand, foot pressing against foot, every slightest movement au inexpressible in-expressible agony then I gripped the support of wood once more, and dung to It as with the grasp of death. I clung there unti? my mind came back, until I felt the return of strength to my body, and I could look down through the moonlight without reeling dizzily. The blind was strong, firmly braced, and I felt safe In Its protection. protec-tion. But what about the window-beyond? window-beyond? Suppose it should be locked? or the room into which I opened, occupied? I could not continue to ding there In uncertainty: I must learn the truth assure myself that I had not passed through all this tense agony in vain. I moved slowly, barely an inch at a time, each advancing foot feeling for support, but more confident now because of the grasp of my fingers on the upper wood. The window was closed., but dark and grimy looking, as though the room within had been long unoccupied. Its very appearance gave me courage. I balanced mysel on the precarious footing of the stone, clinging tenaciously with my left hand to the Iron hinge of the blind, while my right endeavored to raise the sash. At first I believed the window firmly fastened down the suspicion leaving me numb with despair. But reckless tugging loosened its hold, and enabled me to shove up the sash little by little, until finally the opening open-ing became sufficient for me to squeeze through. I felt as though I had returned re-turned from the dead, the nervous reaction re-action so great that I lay for a moment on the floor where I had fallen, unable un-able to move. I knew I was alone, the space untenanted, the walls as bare us In that other room from which a single suggestion the dirty coverlet which had been thrown over me. Torn apart fiom corner to corner, and twisted Into the form of a rope, It ought to safely sustain my entire weight In case a foot slipped. I started to tear with my teeth, and thus succeeded In ripping the thing from end to end. It was scarcely long enough for the purpose, which compelled com-pelled me to make the noose correspondingly corre-spondingly small. However, with this Improvised lasso gripped In my right hand, I took position astride the sill nf he window, In an endenver to project pro-ject the loosened end over some protuberance pro-tuberance of the blind beyond. By holding tight to the frame with my left hand, the right was left free, and I was enabled to lean out far enough to obtain a clear toss. There wp.s little the noose could catch on. and continued failure left me listless and disccurnged. I lost hope, yet kept at it, and finally, to my surprise, the ring of the cloth settled over an Iron projection of the hlne, nd dung there, extending straight across from window to- window. I hardly dared breathe as I drew the thing taut and tested the firmness with which it was held at the other end. The noose closed down tightly about the lrjn staple, and resisted every effort at release. re-lease. To all seeming It was as safely anchored s though I had placed It there by hand. Somehow the very knowledge that this had been accomplished, accom-plished, tint the way was open, brought with It a renewal of the feeling feel-ing of horror with which I had first contemplated the possibility of such an accomplishment. Would I ever dare the attempt? My head swam as I gazed downward, and then across, and I shrank back absolutely terrified at the very thought. Tel my norve returned, and I found myself '-ool and delermined. It wa |