Adventure, June 1911 — page 194: what you’re looking at

Machine-transcribed from the original scan — historical spelling and the odd misread are preserved.

380 through an areaway back of the house and thence through a gateway in the rear wall into a narrow court, along which they had procecded some distance. From here they had entered the rear of a house facing upon the adjoining street, to which the cellar belonged. They had all, however, com- pletely disappeared, and left hardly a trace of their presence. No doubt by now the Emerald Buddha was far on its way toward the little shrine in Ping Yang, carefully secreted among the belongings of the oid temple priest. I felt a sort of secret sat- istaction at learning this, and I think Sergeant McQuade did as well. Certainly its possession could have brought nothing but trouble and danger to all of us. { had six stitches taken In my head and drove back an hour later aiter saying good- by to the man from Scotland Yard. I received a letter from him later with refer- ence to the investigation which the authori- ties made into the cause of the carbonic acid vas, Itseems that the heating system in the house had been installed by its former eccupant and owner, a native of Brazil, un- used to our cold English Winters. The pipe for the green room ied directly from the combustion-chambers of the furnace instead of from a hot-air chamber and thus carried away from the furnace great quantities of carben dioxide, produced in the combustion of the coal. An oid valve in the pipe showed that this source of supply could be shut off when so desired, and trom tnis [ tudged that the Adventure owner of the house may have had the piping intentionally so constructed, with the idea of putting out of the way some undesirable friends or relatives. That such was actually the case seemed borne out by the rumors of at least two sudden and mysterious deaths which were known to have occurred in the house. I had noticed the register the night T slept in the room, and presume it had been turned on by Mr. Ashton. Pe T REACHED the house about four “SJ o'clock and found Muriel awaiting my return in the library. Her father, she told me, had gone off for a walk. We had a great deal to say to each other, and it took us till dinner to say it, but [ have an idea that it would not interest the reader particularly. We had a lively party at dinner and the Major got out some special vintage champagne to celebrate our engage- ment and drink to our future happiness. It was late before I turned in, and I did not, you may be sure, sleep In the green room. Here ends the story of the Emerald Buddha and the memorable week it caused me. It has now been three years since Mur- riel and f were married, and they have been three years of almost perfect happmess. We think of making 2 trip to China, some of these days, and if we do, we have con- cluded to make a special pilgrimage to Ping Yang and place upon the altar of Buddha the most beautiful bunch of flowers that nioney cart buy, as a little testimonial of our appreciation of what he has done fer us. COmiclboooks.G©