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 the table. Taking both, she laid them lengthwise about the wooden door in such fashion that in shutting the door the tiny crack would be sealed.

A moan from the bed brought her quickly over. She bent above Valdeck for a moment, lifted the cloth, and contemplated the handsome face with a look of inhuman satisfaction. Again she saturated the bandage, laying it back almost tenderly. The bottle itself she put down upon the pillow. Raising her hand, she deliberately turned out the gas, and waited a moment before turning it on in full.

The room slowly filled with poisonous vapor. She stood, till her brain was dizzy, watching the form upon the bed. At last, as if tearing herself away from some entrancing spectacle, she turned to her own room, carefully shutting and locking the door. The last avenue of ventilation was closed.

The mad countess sat down to listen—and wait. 285