Marion Marlowe's Peril, or, A Mystery Unveiled — page 26: what you’re looking at

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24 “Well, there’s nothing else to sit on,” said Marion, a little dubiously; “but perhaps we can go to some other apartment?” A gleam of cunning lit up the woman’s dull eyes. “Not yet,’ she said, quickly. think he’s coming!” Marion sprang from the divan and rushed te the door. She meant to dart from the room the momént opportunity offered. A soft rustle of skirts made her look around. She was alone once more with the awful picture, and only the tray of luncheon to prove that she had been visited. The young girl set her teeth hard when she saw how she had been duped. no further doubt in her mind now that she had been imprisoned purposely. She rushed over to the window, but found she could not raise it, and as she gazed out anxiously she saw only the roofs of the neigh- boring buildings. Then she began a careful scrutiny of the walls of the studio, peering behind the pictures, and even moving them about in her desperate search for the secret entrance. “It’s a regular trick room, like some I have read about,” she whispered, finally. “There is not a door in sight. Oh, this is perfectly horrible!” A full half hour she searched for the secret entrance, and by that time she was _ thor- oughly frightened and exhausted. She nib- bled a bit of cracker and ate a few bits of chicken that were on the tray, then raised a glass of wine in her hand and looked at it carefully. “Tt is the first time I ever was tempted to drink wine,” she whispered, shivering. “Oh, I wonder why it is that all my courage has deserted me!” It was a_ position which alarmed any woman, yet this brave girl cen- sured herself severely that she should feel so much frightened. She was a prisoner in the home of this ec- a man whom she knew to be “Wait—l would have centric artist unscrupulous in his dealings, and whom she firmly believed to be on the brink of insanity. She set the glass of wine down feebly and drank some water She could feel that her brow was becoming heated and instead, MY QUEEN. ful!” she gasped; “ There was joven and a feeling of faintness was fast | overcoming her. | “It is the air of this room—its odor is aw- and to think that the win- | dow cannot be opened.” She looked at the divan, which was wide and comfortable, and as her head was now — swimming she felt obliged to lie down on it. “I won't close my eyes,” she whispered, 1 doggedly; “I'll just keep on the lookout as sharp as possible, though it isn’t pe all prob- ; able that he intends to harm me.” For about five minutes the beautifttl gray eyes were strained wide open, then a gradual faintness stole over her senses, and with a shudder of agony they closed in unconscio 1s- ness. Five minutes later the door was softly opened and a figure stole into the room. was Vincent St. Clair, his eyes more blood- shot than ever. , There was a cunning smile on his lips as he tiptoed cautiously over to the divan and peered down into the face of the unconscious maiden. . “Bah! She has not touched it!” he whis-~ pered, raising the glass of wine. “She has only fainted! I must wait a little longer!” _ As he stole softly from the room Marior stirred uneasily. As the door clicked behind him she opened her eyes and stared about her. “Help! Save me!” she murmured in- dreamy whisper, then clasped both hands over her face and trembled violently. “He was here! I feel it!’ she cried, springing up suddenly. “He peered into my face with his burning eyes! Oh, I am posi tive now that he intends some infachies vi She glanced at the tray, and then for ¢ moment the blood almost forsook her heart The glass of wine had been moved—evidently to examine its contents. ~ With a sharp sob of horror, Marior erasped the situation, It had come to her as a flash what the artist was endeavoring ta rc accomplish, and this sudden knowledge brought to her a hideous revelation. “Great Heaven! I understand it now!’ she cried out, chokingly. “He is trying te poison me with that glass of drugged wine then he would paint me as I suffered, ane thus satisfy his horrible micbooks com