Page:Mystery of the Yellow Room (Grosset Dunlap 1908).djvu/186

 He must belong to the house, unless he had an accomplice, which I do not believe he had; unless—unless Mademoiselle Stangerson herself had seen that that window was not fastened from the inside. But, then,—what could be the frightful secret which put her under the necessity of doing away with obstacles that separated her from the murderer?

"I seized hold of the ladder, and we returned to the back of the château to see if the window of the chamber was still half-open. The blind was drawn but did not join and allowed a bright stream of light to escape and fall upon the path at our feet. I planted the ladder under the window.  I am almost sure that I made no noise; and while Daddy Jacques remained at the foot of the ladder, I mounted it, very quietly, my stout stick in my hand.  I held my breath and lifted my feet with the greatest care.  Suddenly a heavy cloud discharged itself at that moment in a fresh downpour of rain.

"At the same instant the sinister cry of the Bête du bon Dieu arrested me in my ascent. It seemed to me to have come from close by me—only a few yards away.  Was the cry a signal?—Had some accomplice of the man seen me on the ladder!—Would the cry bring the man to the window?—Perhaps!  Ah, there he was at the window! I felt his head above me.  I heard the sound of his breath!  I could not look up towards him; the least movement of my head, and—I might be lost.  Would he see me?—Would he peer into the darkness? No; he went away.  He had seen nothing.  I felt, rather than heard, him moving