Page:The Mystery of Madeline Le Blanc (1900).djvu/72

72 floor night before last?" asked the prefect.

"I could not hear them plainly enough. That man I think was dead, although, as I reported, he was still warm. The voice that I heard last night say 'Monsieur' would not probably belong to a man of that size. It was not clear, and seemed weak.—But let me finish about last night."

"Certainly, go on."

"I could see from the hole in which I lay that the day was breaking. Presently I heard scuffling sounds over the floor. They must have been pretty loud for that kind of noise else I could not have heard them. There was no conversation now, and I could only hear low monotonous sounds at about the interval of one's breathing. At length the talk began again, almost all coming from one voice; but I feel nearly certain that in this last conversation two persons were speaking; neither voice, however, sounded like the one that had called 'Monsieur.' Occasionally, I heard a noise as if some one were pounding or drumming on an iron door or wall; but this stopped soon; and that is all I