BEHIND RED CURTAINS
 
 'Oh, please don't do anything! Please don't!" She hesitated, 
 and her blue eyes met mine in a mute appeal. 
 See page 38.
 
 BEHIND 
 RED CURTAINS 
 
 BY 
 
 MANSFIELD SCOTT 
 
 ILLUSTRATED BY 
 
 GEORGE W. GAGE 
 
 BOSTON 
 
 SMALL, MAYNARD & COMPANY 
 PUBLISHERS
 
 Copyright, 1919, 
 
 BY SMALL, MAYNAKD & COMPANY 
 (INCORPORATED) 
 
 SECOND PRINTING, SEPTEMBER, 19X9
 
 BEHIND RED CURTAINS 
 
 2138044 '
 
 BEHIND RED CURTAINS 
 
 CHAPTER I 
 
 " Our whole discussion, friends, merely brings us 
 back to this one question : Can a man do murder, and 
 not know it?" Mr. Henry Copeland, our host, thus 
 summed up the argument which had already taken 
 half of the early evening. 
 
 " I don't think that quite expresses it, Dad," Arthur 
 Copeland objected. " One man might murder an- 
 other while under a third person's hypnotic power, and 
 still be perfectly conscious that he was doing the 
 deed." 
 
 " But I can't believe that," declared Fred Aldridge. 
 " No person could be forced to commit a crime while 
 under hypnotic power, unless he were wholly uncon- 
 scious of what he was doing." 
 
 " That is my opinion, too," agreed Mr. Endicott. 
 "If his mind once grasped the significance of the 
 thing he was about to do, then he could never be forced 
 to do it!" 
 
 The lawyer made this last statement with emphasis, 
 
 i
 
 2 BEHIND RED CURTAINS 
 
 and then glanced quickly at each of the seven other 
 men, as though challenging any one to attempt to dis- 
 pute the truth of his assertion. 
 
 Mr. Copeland and his son, seated side by side near 
 the fireplace, were silent. Mr. Copeland did not hold 
 any decided opinions upon either side of the question, 
 but he was greatly interested in the almost marvellous 
 power of mind over mind which Norton Osgood had 
 demonstrated to us. His son, Arthur, however, now 
 firmly believed that there was no limit to the mys- 
 terious power which his father's strange guest seemed 
 able to exercise over his fellow beings. Though he 
 possessed the same tall, well-built form and the strong 
 features of his father, Arthur Copeland lacked the 
 ability for calm reasoning which would have checked 
 his over-vivid imagination. He judged upon impres- 
 sions; his father judged only after careful delibera- 
 tion. 
 
 Seeing that neither the banker nor his son was ready 
 to dispute his statement, David Endicott turned his at- 
 tention towards our group at the opposite end of the 
 room. Endicott had apparently passed middle age, 
 but his small form and his round, kindly face still 
 showed the energy of youth and a boyish enthusiasm. 
 He turned towards Norton Osgood.
 
 BEHIND RED CURTAINS 3 
 
 " Mr. Osgood," he said, " you have been the inno- 
 cent cause of all this argument. You would seem to 
 be the one who is best fitted to convince me that I am 
 wrong. In your honest opinion, just how far could 
 this hypnotic power of yours extend? " 
 
 " The answer to that question, Mr. Endicott," Nor- 
 ton Osgood answered slowly, " would depend entirely 
 upon the conditions which might happen to exist. But 
 I can say .one thing, very decidedly. Under favorable 
 conditions, there would be absolutely no limit to my 
 power ! " 
 
 He made the last statement in the quiet, forceful 
 tone of a man who is sure of his subject. Again we 
 all turned our attention to him. The man had an 
 uncanny way of holding attention whenever he spoke, 
 even though the subject of conversation were nothing 
 more important than the weather or the prospect of 
 an early spring. I had known this strange visitor only 
 two days, but already I was partly under tne spell of 
 his magnetic personality. There was a fascinating, 
 impelling something in his large, dark eyes and almost 
 expressionless face. 
 
 The more I had thought of Norton Osgood since 
 I had met him upon my arrival at the home of 
 Mr. Copeland, the greater had been my wonder that
 
 4 BEHIND RED CURTAINS 
 
 such an extraordinary person should have been included 
 in an assemblage of wedding guests. I am not in the 
 least superstitious, but I confess that had the approach- 
 ing marriage been in my family, I would certainly 
 have had a deep feeling of misgiving at this mys- 
 terious character being in the house for almost a week 
 before the appointed day. There would always be a 
 haunting, intangible fear in my mind, lest the man 
 should cast some fatal charm upon the lives of the 
 united couple. 
 
 But Osgood's hypnotic power had evidently not be- 
 come a source of worry to the practical Henry Cope- 
 land. He seemed more than delighted to have this 
 man present at the wedding of his daughter, Grace 
 Copeland, and Fred Aldridge. In fact, Norton Os- 
 good had been introduced to us as Fred Aldridge's best 
 friend. He had come on from Detroit with the young 
 bridegroom-to-be and his two sisters, the Misses Ellen 
 and Lucy Aldridge. That was, indirectly, the cause 
 of my being present at such an early date. I had given 
 in to the urgent pleading of Dr. Robert Manning, who 
 was engaged to Miss Ellen Aldridge, and I had con- 
 sented to come to Boston with him from New York. 
 I had done so with reluctance, for, although I had 
 known Henry Copeland quite well in former years, I
 
 BEHIND RED CURTAINS 5 
 
 was hardly a close enough friend of the family to 
 warrant my spending several days in his home. 
 
 Osgood's calm statement that he could exercise his 
 power without limit was too much for my friend Man- 
 ning. 
 
 " But, Mr. Osgood, there would be a limit ! " he de- 
 clared. " Every real scientist in the world will tell you 
 that. Up to a certain point, no doubt, one human 
 mind can govern the workings of another. But in 
 every case there is a certain definite limit, beyond which 
 no earthly power can go." 
 
 There was a faint smile on Osgood's lips as he 
 shook his head. 
 
 " I agree with you on that point, Bob," Fred Al- 
 driclge said to the young doctor. " We have all seen 
 some of the things which Mr. Osgood can do, and I 
 can assure you that I've seen him do some that are 
 even more wonderful. But we'll certainly agree that 
 there are some things which he couldn't make any one 
 do." 
 
 " But, Fred, we saw him ! " exclaimed Arthur Cope- 
 land, turning quickly to his future brother-in-law. 
 " You saw it, Fred, and Dad saw it, and we all saw 
 it. He did it to me, and then he did it to Mr. Endi- 
 cott."
 
 6 BEHIND RED CURTAINS 
 
 " Probably an elaborately arranged fake ! " 
 
 This from Harrison Kirke, who, up to this point, 
 had been silent in his corner. 
 
 Norton Osgood turned quickly, with a very slight 
 flush visible upon his ordinarily passive face. 
 
 " Please explain what you mean, Mr. Kirke," he said 
 with slow dignity. 
 
 " Just this." Harrison Kirke, a large, heavily built 
 man of thirty-five whom I had run across several times 
 in New York, half straightened up from his lounging 
 position in the armchair which he occupied, and faced 
 
 Osgood. " I saw the things which you made these 
 
 / 
 people do this afternoon, and I am convinced that the 
 
 whole affair was pre-arranged." 
 
 Arthur Copeland gave a start of indignation. 
 
 " Mr. Kirke ! " he returned. " Do you think I faked 
 that hypnotism with Mr. Osgood, after I had given my 
 word that I would attempt nothing of the sort? I tell 
 you, I was completely under his power ! When I came 
 back into the room, I hadn't the faintest idea of what I 
 was to do or why I must do it. But I went straight to 
 that rug, and took out the scissors from beneath it." 
 
 " Oh, I can vouch that the affair was not a fake," 
 Mr. Endicott said. " You remember, he tried it upon 
 me, too. And I certainly wouldn't play any tricks
 
 BEHIND RED CURTAINS 7 
 
 upon you. I went to the bookcase, and took out the 
 book which you had asked him to make me take out. 
 And I was upstairs when you agreed upon the book." 
 
 " Of course," agreed Henry Copeland. " The thing 
 could not possibly have been faked, Kirke." 
 
 " And I'd like to say, also, that I am not in the habit 
 of perpetrating fakes as proof of my power! " 
 
 Osgood flung this at Kirke with more than his 
 wonted display of spirit. 
 
 " I am fully convinced that Mr. Osgood has real 
 hypnotic power," Mr. Endicott said quickly, seeing 
 that Harrison Kirke's insinuation had offended the 
 strange guest. " I simply maintain that his power, 
 and all such hypnotic power, is restricted by a certain 
 definite limit. For instance, to return to the topic 
 which we were discussing a few minutes ago, such a 
 power could certainly never compel one man to take 
 the life of another." 
 
 " But I really can't see why not," Arthur Copeland 
 objected. " I've certainly been deeply impressed by 
 the things I've done this afternoon, and I honestly be- 
 lieve that Mr. Osgood has unlimited power over the 
 minds of other human beings. And, if he can force 
 others to obey his will in small things, why not in 
 in anything? "
 
 8 BEHIND RED CURTAINS 
 
 " But, my dear Arthur, consider science! " came the 
 lawyer's insistent voice. " Science has proved again 
 and again that hypnotism cannot be used to force 
 others to commit crimes. None of us here are con- 
 nected in any way with the psychological branch of 
 science, except Mr. Osgood himself, but we have one 
 of the medical profession among us. Dr. Manning, 
 just what is your honest opinion about this question? " 
 
 My friend considered a moment. 
 
 " Why, I quite agree with you, Mr. Endicott," he 
 replied finally. " I think it has been demonstrated 
 repeatedly that the man under hypnotic influence, no 
 matter what else he may do, will not commit a crime." 
 
 " That is it, exactly," the lawyer agreed. " He 
 could not be made to do anything which, at ordinary 
 times, he would shrink from doing." 
 
 " I believe that's about the way science expresses it," 
 Henry Copeland said. 
 
 Arthur Copeland turned suddenly to me. 
 
 " Bob Manning tells me that you are in scientific 
 work, Mr. Clayton," he remarked. 
 
 " But I'm not in the least connected with psychol- 
 ogy," I replied with a smile. " I am a chemist, in New 
 York." 
 
 " But tell me," young Copeland persisted. " Don't
 
 BEHIND RED CURTAINS 9 
 
 you truly believe that such a thing as a hypnotic theft, 
 or murder, is possible? " 
 
 " I am rather inclined to agree with your theory," I 
 admitted. " Mr. Osgood has shown me so much that 
 is wonderful and superhuman this afternoon, that I'm 
 ready to believe he could cause a person to do almost 
 anything." 
 
 " Yes," agreed Endicott. " Almost anything. But 
 not crime ! " 
 
 " The reason why Mr. Clayton is inclined to believe 
 in such a possibility," Manning explained for me, " is 
 because he once had, right in his family, a startling ex- 
 perience with hypnotism. Tell them about that, won't 
 you, George ? " 
 
 " Yes, do, Mr. Clayton ! " Norton Osgood was all 
 interest. 
 
 " Why, it was really my brother who was affected by 
 it," I replied. " We had gone to see a man who had 
 performed some marvellous feats of that kind. He 
 asked me wha' I wanted him to make my brother do. 
 For a joke, I told him to make Will get up from the 
 dinner table the next day, go upstairs, shave one-half 
 of his face, and then come down and finish his dinner. 
 The man agreed, and proceeded to hypnotize Will. I 
 watched them both every minute, and neither of them
 
 io BEHIND RED CURTAINS 
 
 spoke a word until after Will and I had left the place." 
 
 " And did he do it? " questioned Arthur Copeland. 
 
 " He did ! Gentlemen, this is the absolute truth. 
 We had not been at dinner more than ten minutes the 
 next day, when Will suddenly arose and left the room. 
 He didn't speak a word; he just left. Ten minutes 
 later he returned and one side of his face was 
 freshly shaven ! " 
 
 " And he didn't know that that was what he was 
 going to do? " demanded David Endicott. 
 
 " He certainly did not ! " I answered positively. 
 
 " I should judge from that," remarked Norton Os- 
 good, " that the members of Mr. Clayton's family are 
 particularly well suited for hypnotic experiments. 
 Perhaps, also, Mr. Clayton himself. Did you allow 
 this man to try his powers upon you, Mr. Clayton? " 
 
 " No," I answered quickly. " I was I was afraid. 
 I have always had a terrible dread a horror of any 
 person who has such a power." 
 
 Osgood gave a little laugh. 
 
 " I assure you," he said, " that there is nothing about 
 me which should inspire horror. I don't I don't 
 suppose you'd be willing to let me try a test with you." 
 
 I hesitated. Every nerve in my body cringed at 
 the thought of undergoing such an ordeal. But the
 
 BEHIND RED CURTAINS n 
 
 faces of the others were bright with anticipation. 
 
 "Of course, we can't blame you for being somewhat 
 afraid of it, Mr. Clayton." 
 
 It was Endicott who spoke. 
 
 " But it's nothing but a harmless pastime, when used 
 as we know Osgood would use it," Fred Aldridge 
 said. 
 
 " Perhaps Dr. Manning would be willing," Osgood 
 suggested, while I was still hesitating. 
 
 " I would certainly not ! " Bob Manning said with 
 decision. " Of course, I know it is harmless. But I 
 1 I couldn't think of letting any one have mental con- 
 trol over me, even for a minute. Why, yon know, if 
 there is any truth in the theory which Arthur and 
 George seem inclined to favor, this this hypnotism 
 has possibilities which are too frightful for words ! " 
 
 Manning's strikingly handsome face expressed the 
 same intangible dread which had taken possession of 
 my mind during the afternoon. I saw him cast an 
 involuntary glance toward the slouching Harrison 
 Kirke. My gaze suddenly followed his glance, and I 
 caught a malicious gleam in Kirke's eyes which seemed 
 partly a laugh, and partly a sneer. But whether this 
 was aimed at Osgood's hypnotism or at Manning's ap- 
 parent fear, I was unable to decide.
 
 12 BEHIND RED CURTAINS 
 
 "But, Bob, there's no reason for you to be afraid, 
 here," Arthur Copeland assured my friend. " Of 
 course, we all admit that this hypnotic power might be 
 put to a horrible use, but " 
 
 " / don't admit that, Arthur ! " Mr. Endicott cut 
 him short. " I am just as firmly convinced as ever 
 that there is a certain, definite limit to all such powers, 
 beyond which hypnotism never has gone and never can 
 
 go." 
 
 " And it's exactly the same with me ! " declared Fred 
 Aldridge. 
 
 " Science has proved it over and over again," con- 
 tinued the lawyer. " You must have heard of most 
 of their experiments. A man under hypnotic influ- 
 ence can be made to do anything in the world ex- 
 cept a criminal or harmful act. One man was hypno- 
 tized and told to fire an empty revolver at another 
 person. He did it. But when he was given a gun 
 loaded with real bullets, he came out from under the 
 influence at once, and no effort of the hypnotist could 
 make him point the loaded weapon." 
 
 "Wonderful!" exclaimed Henry Copeland. 
 
 " There were other trials," his friend went on. 
 " Another man was forced by hypnotic power to pour
 
 BEHIND RED CURTAINS 13 
 
 cold water from a small bottle into a friend's coffee. 
 But when this same man was given another bottle, ex- 
 actly similar in appearance, but containing a deadly 
 poison, some mysterious and unexplained source of 
 knowledge immediately warned him of the danger. He 
 dropped the bottle from his hand, and awoke at once 
 to his normal state of mind." 
 
 " This whole business is beyond human thought ! " 
 Manning declared. 
 
 " It simply shows," Endicott finished, " that there is 
 a mysterious dividing line an absolute limit which 
 instantly checks the power of hypnotism when it is 
 directed along criminal lines ! " 
 
 There was a moment of silence. We all sat as 
 though spell-bound by the lawyer's forceful presenta- 
 . tion of these astounding facts. We were lost in won- 
 der at this unaccountable something of mystery this 
 agency, half human and half spiritual which no 
 one has ever explained. 
 
 " Oi course," David Endicott added presently, " I 
 will admit that there have been cases and cases of 
 murder on record in which the criminal seemed actu- 
 ated by some impelling force which was not of his own 
 making or wish. To attempt to deny that would be
 
 i 4 BEHIND RED CURTAINS 
 
 foolish, for we know that many a man has done murder 
 in spite of the most strenuous efforts on his part to 
 prevent it. But what I do maintain is this : Whatever 
 that external incentive, it was certainly not given to 
 him in any way through hypnotism. It is far more 
 probable that it came through heredity, or perhaps 
 from some entirely different mental process." 
 
 A very slight movement on the part of Fred Aldridge 
 caught my attention. I glanced at him quickly. There 
 was a pale, drawn expression upon his clear-cut, earnest 
 face. It disappeared rapidly as he recovered himself. 
 I observed, also, the reassuring grasp of Bob Man- 
 ning's friendly hand upon his arm. 
 
 I suddenly found Norton Osgood's large eyes gazing 
 into mine. 
 
 " Did you decide that you would let me try it, Mr. 
 Clayton? " he asked. 
 
 Again I hesitated. 
 
 "I I've been greatly impressed by what has just 
 been said," I replied, at length, " and I I have been 
 thinking how confident you seem to be that you could 
 make me do anything you wished. Are you quite sure 
 that you would have this power over me ? " 
 
 " I'm quite positive," he answered with a smile.
 
 BEHIND RED CURTAINS 15 
 
 " Over you, Mr. Clayton, I feel I would have unlimited 
 power. Your type of mind is one of the most favor- 
 able for a test." 
 
 " Again, Mr. Osgood, I must correct your use of 
 the words ' unlimited power,' " the lawyer objected. 
 " Your real meaning is, ' unlimited power up to the 
 hypnotic limit ! ' 
 
 For a moment, Osgood did not reply. When he 
 spoke, his tone startled us. 
 
 " I am afraid, Mr. Endicott," he said slowly, " that 
 I, in turn, must correct you. Under favorable condi- 
 tions, my power is quite unlimited. For me, at such 
 times, there would be no hypnotic limit ! " 
 
 Fred Aldridge started in spite of himself. 
 
 "But, Mr. Osgood!" I reminded him. "Think 
 of what such a statement as that would imply! It is 
 the same as saying that if you wished to force a person 
 to do murder, you could do it ! " 
 
 For an instant, Norton Osgood surveyed me in si- 
 lence. Again his dark eyes met mine. In that short 
 instant, my instinctive dread of the mysterious guest 
 was doubled. I felt a new apprehension almost a 
 terror of this man who declared he could be master 
 of us all.
 
 1 6 BEHIND RED CURTAINS 
 
 " Unpleasant as it is to think of it," came Osgood's 
 voice in its low, even tones, " your words, Mr. Clayton, 
 are absolutely true." 
 
 Again he fixed his eyes upon my face. Then he 
 finished : 
 
 " If I wanted I could make a man do murder! " 
 
 No one spoke. 
 
 " But, Mr. Clayton," Osgood laughed, " perhaps I 
 have frightened you. I assure you that my experiment 
 upon you, if you decide to be kind enough to let me 
 attempt it, will be most simple and harmless. I cer- 
 tainly hope you'll allow me to do it ! " 
 
 " Yes, Mr. Clayton ! " exclaimed Arthur Copeland. 
 "Do let him!" 
 
 The others urged me, too. And I consented. 
 
 "Then, come!" cried Arthur gleefully. "Let's 
 join the ladies, and we'll see what he can do with you ! " 
 
 " And perhaps we had better drop this discussion of 
 er of hypnotism in crime and murder," his 
 father suggested. " It isn't a very cheerful subject 
 for a wedding party to have to consider, anyway." 
 
 He led the way into the hall. The others followed 
 at once. When I arose, I found that I instinctively 
 shrank from going with them. I have never been able 
 to give any definite reason for my feeling, but I had a
 
 BEHIND RED CURTAINS 17 
 
 deep-rooted dread of submitting to the test. I had 
 just reached the door when a voice called to me from 
 within the room. I was surprised, for I had thought 
 that all had preceded me. 
 
 " Oh, Clayton." It was Harrison Kirke. He was 
 just rising from his chair in the corner. 
 
 I paused. He came forward slowly. 
 
 " It seems to me we've met two or three times in 
 New York," he said. " I don't know this bunch here 
 at all. Perhaps you can give me a tip or two about 
 them that will set me straight." 
 
 " Well," I returned slowly, " what can I tell you? " 
 
 I left the door, and crossed to where he stood by the 
 fireplace. So great was my desire to put off the ordeal 
 with Osgood that I instinctively welcomed any oppor- 
 tunity to gain time, even though, it involved a con- 
 versation with Harrison Kirke. 
 
 I noticed that Kirke had omitted to mention any of 
 the places where I had seen him. Possibly he had 
 hoped that I would not remember them. No one 
 could run across the man around his accustomed haunts 
 more than once, without learning to know him for 
 what he was a loafer, drinker, gambler, and worse. 
 I could not possibly imagine what had led Henry Cope- 
 land to have this person in his home at such a time.
 
 i8 BEHIND RED CURTAINS 
 
 " I'll tell you what I want to know," Kirke said 
 to me. He came closer, and I could detect a very slight 
 odor of whiskey upon his breath. 
 
 "Who is this chap Osgood?" he questioned sud- 
 denly. 
 
 "Why?" I demanded. 
 
 " No special reason, except that I don't like the looks 
 of the man. I've never seen him before, but I've got a 
 feeling that he has it in for me. He gave me a couple 
 of nasty looks to-night." 
 
 It was on my tongue's end to say, " I don't blame 
 him," but I refrained. 
 
 " Mr. Aldridge introduced him to me as one of his 
 best friends," I replied. " That's all I know about 
 him." 
 
 " Hmm ! " The information was evidently too 
 vague to satisfy Kirke. " Aldridge, eh ? " He was 
 thoughtful for an instant. " I say," he added sud- 
 denly, " that Fred Aldridge has a nerve to marry 
 Copeland's daughter ! " 
 
 " What do you mean? " I asked. 
 
 "Oh!" His tone showed mild surprise. "You 
 don't know, then, about Aldridge? " 
 
 I was puzzled. He waited an instant, and then went 
 on.
 
 BEHIND RED CURTAINS 19 
 
 4< I should think, since you've been so thick with 
 Manning, he would have told you. I'm sure Copeland 
 knows it, and still he's willing " 
 
 " See here, Kirke," I broke in, " you'd better not 
 make any insinuations about Aldridge where Mr. Cope- 
 land can hear you. And as for Fred Aldridge, he's a 
 first-rate fellow ! " 
 
 " Oh, yes ! First-rate ! " the man agreed, with a 
 mirthless laugh. " But Copeland ! Copeland' s daugh- 
 ter, marrying one of the Aldridges! It must be 
 some blow to the old boy's pride! " 
 
 I had taken his previous remarks rather calmly, 
 but these insinuations against the Aldridges as a family 
 were more than I proposed to stand from Harrison 
 Kirke. I did not intend to ignore the hidden meaning 
 of his last speech; it unquestionably included Miss 
 Ellen Aldridge the finest girl I had ever met, or ever 
 expected to meet. 
 
 " Kirke, that will be enough about the Aldridges, 
 unless you are ready to give proof of whatever you 
 have against them! If Air. Copeland hears any of 
 this, you'll soon have all the trouble you are looking 
 for, and more, too! And I'll give you one other bit 
 of advice! If you value your general health, you'll 
 not let Bob Manning hear you, either ! "
 
 20 BEHIND RED CURTAINS 
 
 Kirke's face darkened. 
 
 " We'll leave Manning out of this," he returned. 
 Then, "Copeland!" he muttered, contemptuously. 
 " Just what do you think Copeland is going to do 
 about it?" 
 
 "If / were in his place, I'd fire you out!" I shot 
 back. 
 
 " Come, come, Clayton ; don't get nasty ! " 
 
 He gave a malicious little laugh. 
 
 " You said it, all right," he went on, " when you 
 said that about firing me out. Copeland would like to, 
 I'll bet, if he could. But the trouble is," and he 
 laughed again, " he can't do it! " 
 
 A step at the door caught our attention. Dr. Man- 
 ning entered. 
 
 " They are waiting for you, George," he an- 
 nounced quietly, as he came into the room. 
 
 As I turned away from Kirke and glanced at my 
 friend, I could not help forming a vivid mental picture 
 of the complete contrast between that slouching, worth- 
 less gambler and the man who had entered. Though 
 perhaps a trifle shorter in height than the average man 
 in his twenties, Bob Manning was well-proportioned, 
 erect, and energetic, with muscles like iron wire. To 
 me, he was everything that a young man should be.
 
 BEHIND RED CURTAINS 21 
 
 His face was refined and handsome. His bright, dark 
 eyes showed honesty and fearlessness. He was a 
 Southerner by birth ; I had known him five years since 
 I had first met him in New York. With his kindness 
 and generosity to every one, he made friends quickly, 
 and kept them. Only those who knew him well could 
 have suspected that there was Southern blood in his 
 veins, for he was calm in the midst of excitement, and 
 in the presence of danger he was cool as ice. Nor was 
 Manning easily stirred into passion. He laughed at 
 men who tried to insult him, and overlooked their 
 words. But let any one, by word or action, do an in- 
 justice to one of Bob's friends, and he could transform 
 himself into a veritable human tornado. 
 
 I owed my life to him, and to his dauntless courage 
 and nerve. Three years before this, I had gone with 
 him on a hunting trip in Africa a journey which 
 had all but proved to be my last. Manning's spirit of 
 daring had led us far beyond the regions which hunters 
 can frequent with safety. The whole terrible expe- 
 rience was as clear in my mind as though it had hap- 
 pened the day before. I could see again the vicious, 
 grinning faces of the savage natives as they closed in 
 upon us in the tangled forest. I could feel the pain in 
 my lungs as my running steps faltered; I could see
 
 22 BEHIND RED CURTAINS 
 
 our terrible enemies drawing closer in the rear. I saw 
 Manning's lithe form in front of me, as he distanced 
 them all with his magnificent racing stride. I felt 
 again the horrible burning as I fell to the ground, with 
 a spear-head piercing my leg. I felt strong arms 
 which lifted me up and carried me onward, into a little 
 deserted hut, as Manning, who could have raced to 
 safety without an effort, turned back to fight for me. 
 Then had come the savage assault upon the door of 
 the hut. I could see them surging forward with their 
 spears. I remembered the quick reports as Bob Man- 
 ning emptied both our rifles in a vain effort to stop 
 them. Then he had stood there calm, defiant, 
 ready against the wicked assault of the enraged sav- 
 ages who remained. His hunting-knife was his only 
 weapon. But as each maddened native flung himself 
 at the little doorway, Bob Manning stood his ground, 
 and fought. With lightning, deadly strokes he felled 
 them one by one. With all the fury of a trapped 
 panther he stuck fast to his post at the door. Again 
 and again his knife tore through the savage breasts 
 every stroke straight to the heart. One by one they 
 fell, and none ever rose again. And when friends 
 came to investigate the shots, they found Bob Manning 
 still unconquered in the door.
 
 BEHIND RED CURTAINS 23 
 
 Thus, in my estimation, Robert Manning had 
 come to stand for all that is courageous and noble and 
 loyal in young manhood. 
 
 " What's troubling you, George? " 
 
 " Why, I don't know, Bob," I answered. " Why? " 
 
 " You seem worried," replied Manning, with a little 
 laugh. " George, I believe you're afraid of Osgood ! " 
 
 " Afraid ! " I laughed uneasily. " Why, of course 
 I'm not!" 
 
 My friend put his hand on my shoulder. 
 
 " Then, for goodness' sake, do come," he said. 
 " Mrs. Copeland is wondering what has become of 
 you." 
 
 He took no notice of Harrison Kirke, but led me out 
 into the hall. 
 
 " George," he declared, " I believe this hypnotism has 
 worried you ! " 
 
 Outwardly I protested and denied it. But I knew 
 his words were only too true. I would have given al- 
 most anything I had to be able to escape gracefully 
 from the test I had promised Osgood. It had more 
 than worried me ; it had upset me, unnerved me, terri- 
 fied me. 
 
 Yet I could give absolutely no reason for this haunt- 
 ing fear. That is Perhaps I had imagined it. Or
 
 24 BEHIND RED CURTAINS 
 
 perhaps I had caught a glimmer of a real, half-buried 
 fire, which had seemed to be smouldering in Norton 
 Osgood's mysterious black eyes, when he had said to 
 me: 
 
 " If I wanted I could make a man do murder ! "
 
 CHAPTER II 
 
 We found most of the party gathered around an 
 open fire in the living-room. I noticed that Mr. Henry 
 Copeland and his friend David Endicott were not 
 present, but at that time I did not give the matter a 
 thought. 
 
 Mrs. Henry Copeland was eagerly awaiting our 
 coming. She was a lady of forty-five, always kindly 
 and smiling the kind of hostess that makes a guest 
 feel at home at once. 
 
 Grace Copeland was standing with Fred Aldridge 
 near the fireplace. They were an excellent couple. 
 Grace was a pretty girl, tall and slight ; her clear, dark 
 complexion contrasted with Fred Aldridge's light 
 brown hair and blue eyes. 
 
 Fred's two sisters were the only other ladies in our 
 little party. Ellen Aldridge was perhaps a year older 
 than her brother, and her sister Lucy was about three 
 years younger. 
 
 Two days before this, when I had first arrived from 
 New York, Bob Manning had introduced me to the girl 
 whom he expected to marry. Her face was not re- 
 
 25
 
 26 BEHIND RED CURTAINS 
 
 markable for its beauty, but it expressed earnestness 
 and sincerity. I had a feeling that there was some- 
 thing about her which I could not quite understand. 
 She was bright and cheerful, and she had greeted me 
 with a smile whenever she had seen me. But I felt 
 that there was something - something which showed 
 itself upon her features when she thought that she was 
 unobserved some scarcely noticeable expression of 
 sadness, which suggested that all her cheerfulness might 
 have been displayed with an effort. 
 
 Manning had told me very little about her. She had 
 previously lived in New York, he had said, but had 
 since moved to Detroit with her brother and sister. 
 He had been especially anxious for me to come to 
 Boston with him and meet her. He had always valued 
 my opinions, and I knew it would have been a terrible 
 disappointment to him if I could not have told him that 
 I liked her. But I could tell him that, for I did like 
 her. I liked her as I had never liked any girl before. 
 This last, however, I hardly dared to tell him. 
 
 Her sister, Lucy, seemed a splendid girl, too. She 
 was frail and timid, and of a very retiring nature. I 
 was sorry for her, for I saw how timorous she would 
 have been without the reassurance of her sister's pres- 
 ence.
 
 BEHIND RED CURTAINS 27 
 
 As we entered the room, Norton Osgood arose 
 eagerly. 
 
 " Mr. Clayton, I was afraid you had decided to go 
 back upon our agreement," he said to me. 
 
 " I'll admit that I'm a bit apprehensive about this, 
 Mr. Osgood," I replied, " but I will certainly keep 
 my promise to you." 
 
 " Good ! " Osgood beamed upon me. " Now, our 
 friend Arthur Copeland has already decided what he 
 would like me to force you to do." 
 
 " And do the others know what it is? " I questioned. 
 
 " Oh, yes, indeed ! They all know. It only re- 
 mains for me to cause you to carry out their wish. 
 Now, Mr. Clayton, if you will be seated here, in this 
 chair." 
 
 He had placed two chairs facing each other in the 
 center of the room. I shivered in spite of myself. 
 
 " Mr. Clayton is afraid of this," Ellen Aldridge said 
 quickly, turning to Bob Manning. " You shouldn't 
 have asked him to do it." 
 
 " But / didn't ask him, Ellen," Manning answered. 
 " Mr. Osgood requested it, and George agreed." 
 
 " But, Mr. Osgood," Miss Aldridge's voice was in- 
 sistent, " you mustn't do it, if he is afraid of such 
 things. You know, you hypnotized a girl who was
 
 28 BEHIND RED CURTAINS 
 
 afraid of you once in Detroit, and she was ill for nearly 
 a month. It's a terrible thing, when it's done to the 
 wrong person ! " 
 
 She seemed really concerned lest Osgood should do 
 me some physical or mental injury. But he was in- 
 sistent, and it was clear that he did not wish to be 
 robbed of his chance at the last moment. I seated my- 
 self without any further words. 
 
 He took the chair opposite, and fixed his large eyes 
 upon mine. He demanded my undivided attention, 
 and I gave it. It seemed scarcely a half minute while 
 my eyes stared into his. I could hear his voice in low 
 tones; I sensed, rather than saw, that his hands were 
 in motion. Then, suddenly, something happened. 
 
 His voice drifted away into the far distance. I 
 could still hear it, but I knew that it was now far, 
 far away from the room. The the room ? I sud- 
 denly realized that there was no room at all. 
 
 If I arose to my feet through my own effort, I did 
 not know it. I have no memory of muscular exertion. 
 But it was only too clear that I was on my feet. I 
 was walking slowly, but where, I had not the slight- 
 est idea. I could no longer see Osgood. But I knew 
 that there was something something as yet unknown 
 to me which I must, must do.
 
 BEHIND RED CURTAINS 29 
 
 " You've got to do it ! You've got to do it! " 
 
 It was no human voice that said this, yet the words 
 rang in my brain again and again. 
 
 Then, from nowhere, a small table seemed to take 
 shape before me. I recognized it as one that I had 
 seen in the room. Upon it I saw two books, a red 
 one and a blue one. But still I had not the slightest 
 idea of what I was to do. 
 
 " You've got to do it! " came the words again. 
 
 And I opened the blue book at the first page, and 
 took out a ring from inside. 
 
 I heard a chorus of exclamations. In a flash, what- 
 ever had taken hold upon me disappeared. I found 
 myself standing by the table at one end of the room. 
 Osgood was smiling at me. 
 
 "Very successful indeed!" he remarked. "Did 
 you enjoy it? " 
 
 I held up the ring in wonder. 
 
 "This!" I cried. " Was this it ?" 
 
 Mrs. Copeland nodded. 
 
 " It is mine," she explained. " I put it there, and 
 we asked him to make you take it out." 
 
 Dumfounded, stupefied, I stared at the man whose 
 mind could rule mine at his will. 
 
 " You are a remarkably good subject," Osgood as-
 
 30 BEHIND RED CURTAINS 
 
 sured me. " If you don't object, I am going to try it 
 once more." 
 
 "Oh, wait!" exclaimed Arthur Copeland. "We 
 were going to try Mr. Endicott again, first." 
 
 " That's a good plan, Arthur," agreed Fred Aid- 
 ridge. " We'll give Mr. Clayton a rest. Suppose we 
 hunt up Mr. Endicott." 
 
 Arthur agreed, and they went out in search of the 
 lawyer. But neither he nor Mr. Copeland could be 
 found. Mrs. Copeland and Grace hurried upstairs to 
 join in the search. 
 
 I was still struck dumb with amazement and wonder. 
 When I finally found my voice, I turned to Bob Man- 
 ning. 
 
 " That's simply marvellous ! " I exclaimed. 
 
 Ellen Aldridge smiled at me. 
 
 " He certainly is wonderful ! " she agreed. " You 
 didn't mind it very much, did you? " 
 
 " Why why, no," I answered. " It wasn't nearly 
 so bad as I had expected. You'd better try it, Bob." 
 
 " No, thank you ! " Manning shivered slightly. 
 
 " By Jove, I don't see where Dad can be ! " de- 
 clared Arthur Copeland, as he entered suddenly. 
 
 At that instant I remembered that we had left Har- 
 rison Kirke in the room at the other end of the hall.
 
 BEHIND RED CURTAINS 31 
 
 The thought occurred to me that Henry Copeland and 
 the lawyer might be there with him. I left the living- 
 room, and walked quickly down the long hallway to 
 the room where we had been before. 
 
 I had guessed correctly. The banker and his friend 
 were engaged in animated conversation with Harrison 
 Kirke. As I approached, I heard the name " Wol- 
 cott " mentioned by the lawyer. I knocked at the 
 door. 
 
 " Oh, it's you, Clayton," Mr. Copeland said, rising. 
 " I imagine the others are wondering where I am." 
 
 " They have been looking for you," I replied. " I 
 thought perhaps I might find you here." 
 
 " We'll both be there, immediately," the banker 
 promised. " I wonder if you would tell them that." 
 
 I returned to the living-room, and found the place 
 almost deserted. The others were evidently searching 
 in various parts of the house. When Mrs. Copeland 
 finally returned, her husband and Mr. Endicott had 
 joined me in the living-room. Kirke was not with 
 them. 
 
 Mrs. Copeland laughed. 
 
 " I imagine we'll have to hunt up the others, now," 
 she said. " They seem to have disappeared." 
 
 I stepped into the hall again, to see if I could catch
 
 32 BEHIND RED CURTAINS 
 
 sight of any of them. My attention was caught by 
 the sound of voices in a little room at the right. I 
 learned, to my surprise, that the two speakers were 
 Miss Ellen Aldridge and Harrison Kirke. I caught 
 my breath quickly as I heard one of Kirke's remarks, 
 and then strode forward to the doorway. There I 
 paused, concealed by the darkness of the hallway, and 
 stared into the room. 
 
 It was a small room, evidently used for writing pur- 
 poses. The door into the hall was the only one, but at 
 the opposite end of the room, a pair of dark red cur- 
 tains hid what was plainly an entrance to some place 
 beyond. 
 
 I certainly had no intention of playing the eaves- 
 dropper for the purpose of learning any of Miss Aid- 
 ridge's affairs. But the tone of Kirke's remarks had 
 been such that I considered myself justified in making 
 an immediate investigation. 
 
 She was standing beside the writing-desk, facing 
 Harrison Kirke, who towered above her. The man 
 had evidently entered from the hall, and had found her 
 there. 
 
 " Don't you think you've given me about enough of 
 that stuff about not remembering me? " he demanded. 
 
 "I told you, Mr. Kirke," Ellen Aldridge replied
 
 BEHIND RED CURTAINS 33 
 
 quickly, " that I do not care to remember you, or ever 
 speak to you again ! " 
 
 " Oh, really ! " Kirke's tone was maddening. 
 " Suppose I tell you that you'll have to remember me ! " 
 
 She made an effort to push by him, but he stopped 
 her. 
 
 " Mr. Kirke, I demand that you let me go ! " 
 
 Her tone was quiet, but ominous. 
 
 " Oh, indeed, miss ! You think I've forgotten 
 about New York ? " 
 
 " I know very well that you haven't! " There was 
 a catch in the girl's voice. " Nor I haven't forgotten 
 it, either! It was your cowardly blackmailing that 
 got my poor father into everything ! You did it ! 
 You were the one who forced him to do it ! And some 
 day, you will pay for that ! " 
 
 " Yes ! " sneered the man. " Some day ! But to- 
 day is the day when you will pay ! " 
 
 " I have told you that you will not receive one cent 
 from me." 
 
 It was said with quiet dignity, with not a sign of 
 wavering. 
 
 " You really mean it? " 
 
 "I do!" 
 
 " Ah ! Very well ! When Copeland's other guests
 
 34 BEHIND RED CURTAINS 
 
 arrive to-morrow, I shall take pains to inform every 
 one of them that they have come to see Grace Cope- 
 land married to the son of Willard Aldridge ! " 
 
 She gasped, and turned pale. And in the darkness 
 of the hallway, I gasped, too. 
 
 Willard Aldridge! Not Willard Aldridge! No, 
 no, it couldn't be, I told myself over and over again, 
 trying with all my heart to believe that the man had 
 lied. Willard Aldridge! The fiendish criminal who 
 had shocked all New York with his five horrible mur- 
 ders ! The man who, under the guise of a heart spe- 
 cialist, had baffled police, detectives, every one, with 
 his diabolical crimes, until he had been finally unmasked 
 and sent to the electric chair by Inspector Malcome 
 Steele of the Secret Service. This wonderful girl > 
 his daughter ! 
 
 So this was the hidden secret which had brought 
 sadness into her heart ! This was what she had been 
 bravely helping her sister Lucy to bear! I felt a 
 sudden longing to strike into the room and wring the 
 worthless gambler's neck, to choke every bit of 
 breath from his body. Boiling over with indignation, 
 I strode forward. 
 
 But I hesitated. What I proposed to do, I reasoned 
 quickly, would only make it harder for Ellen Aldridge.
 
 BEHIND RED CURTAINS 35 
 
 It would certainly not make her feel any better to 
 realize that I, also, knew her secret. I remembered 
 Kirke's previous remarks to me. Mr. Copeland and 
 his family knew the Aldridges' secret ; it was clear that 
 they were all only too willing to forget Fred's past 
 history. All that mattered to them was that he was a 
 fine fellow. Ellen Aldridge certainly had enough to 
 bear, I told myself, when she realized that they knew, 
 and that Bob Manning knew. An intrusion now by a 
 comparative stranger would be nothing less than brutal. 
 I drew back again into the dark hallway. 
 
 But it required every particle of my self-control to 
 keep from flinging myself bodily upon this despicable 
 man, who was deliberately, insolently threatening to 
 lay bare her sad story to a gathering of strangers. I 
 shuddered at the thought of the irreparable havoc 
 which Harrison Kirke might cause among the Cope- 
 lands' guests before the next evening. They would 
 not understand; they had not seen the real worth of 
 Fred Aldridge and his sister. They would hear only 
 the plain, terrible, shocking story that the bridegroom's 
 father had gone to the electric chair for murdering five 
 men. 
 
 I stared in at the little scene. Ellen Aldridge was 
 still facing Kirke. Her calm dignity was having its
 
 36 BEHIND RED CURTAINS 
 
 effect, even upon the gambler. I could see that he was 
 losing his mastery of the situation. 
 
 " I repeat, Mr. Kirke," Ellen Aldridge said quietly, 
 " that I will not pay you one cent." She hesitated, 
 and her voice wavered slightly. " And you you 
 may tell whatever you like." 
 
 I suddenly thought that I saw a very slight movement 
 from the red curtains at the other end of the little 
 room. I was not sure whether I had been mistaken, 
 or whether there was some other person in the passage 
 beyond, listening to the conversation as I was doing. 
 I took a step nearer the door, and peered carefully at 
 the curtains, but I was unable to detect any further 
 movement. 
 
 Kirke was becoming enraged. 
 
 " Then, mark my words, young woman," he shot 
 back at her, " I will tell it ! You were pretty clever, 
 you three skipping off to Detroit to get away from 
 me! But I told you before you went that I'd get you, 
 and get you good, some day ! I told your brother, too 
 -and I'll do it!" 
 
 " And my brother told you," she returned, " that if 
 you ever came into our house again, he would kill you ! 
 You are too much of a coward to go to him and talk 
 this way ! "
 
 BEHIND RED CURTAINS 37 
 
 She turned again, and tried to pass him. He caught 
 her roughly by the arm. 
 
 " Oh, no, you don't, my dear Ellen! " His ringers 
 gripped her arm until she winced in pain. " You 
 think you can beat me, you little she-devil ! " 
 
 I clenched my fists involuntarily. Then a sudden 
 sound caught my attention. It was a sharp, quick 
 sound, like the startled in-take of some person's breath. 
 I had not seen the young girl's lips move, and I felt 
 quite certain that Kirke had not caught his breath. 
 Had I been again mistaken, or had the sound come 
 from a point in the other passage, just behind the red 
 curtains? I stared at these curtains, but I could not 
 observe the slightest motion. I half concluded that I 
 had made the little gasp myself. 
 
 Ellen Aldriclge started in outraged indignation, and 
 struggled to free her arm from his grasp. His fingers 
 gripped her. With a gasp she tore her arm away, and 
 struck him in the face. 
 
 The coward cursed in rage, and struck back. 
 
 For an instant her fearless eyes met his a look 
 that should have put any man to shame. If she had 
 had a weapon, I believe she would have killed him. 
 Then I burst into the little room.
 
 38 BEHIND RED CURTAINS 
 
 " You rotten coward, Kirke ! " I shot at him. " Let 
 Miss Aldridge alone! " 
 
 He turned with a nasty snarl, and swore at me. 
 
 "This is none of your business, Clayton!" 
 
 " I'll make it my business ! " I returned. 
 
 For a moment we glared at each other in our hatred. 
 
 " Well ? " he queried. " Just what do you propose 
 to do?" 
 
 " I'll soon show you ! " I said. Then I sprang at 
 him. 
 
 But as I leaped forward, Ellen Aldridge caught my 
 arm, and held me back. 
 
 " Oh, you mustn't, Mr. Clayton ! " she begged me. 
 "You mustn't! We can't have a disgraceful scene 
 here, in Mr. Copeland's home ! " 
 
 " But I can't see him strike you, and call you what 
 he did ! " I protested. 
 
 " Oh, please don't do anything ! Please don't ! " 
 She hesitated, and her blue eyes met mine in a mute 
 appeal. " You don't know what he may do, - and he 
 may be armed, and " 
 
 She stopped quickly, and stared toward the hall 
 door. I turned. Henry Copeland and his friend 
 Endicott were in the doorway.
 
 BEHIND RED CURTAINS 39 
 
 Miss Aldridge released my arm with a little catch of 
 her breath, and hurried past the two men without a 
 word. 
 
 " I heard what transpired after you entered the 
 room, Mr. Clayton," Henry Copeland said quietly. 
 " I appreciate your willingness to help Miss Aldridge. 
 But you needn't upset yourself any longer. I shall 
 deal with Mr. Kirke." 
 
 " I'd like to explain, Mr. Copeland," I said quickly. 
 " I certainly didn't create this unpleasantness through 
 any personal motives. I was out there in the hall, and 
 I heard Mr. Kirke insulting Miss Aldridge. I came in, 
 and" 
 
 " I understand your motive perfectly," Copeland as- 
 sured me. " You are very kind, Mr. Clayton. I am 
 very sorry that such a thing has- happened here, and I 
 hope you will forget it." 
 
 "Of course I will," I replied, as I left the room. 
 
 But I had a vague uneasiness, a feeling that my 
 host was not entirely satisfied with my explanation. 
 He had seen the annihilating glance which I had just 
 given Harrison Kirke; perhaps he still believed that 
 the quarrel with Kirke was one of my own. 
 
 As I drew near to the living-room door, I paused.
 
 40 BEHIND RED CURTAINS 
 
 The place was almost empty. Mrs. Copeland was still 
 absent in search of the others. Only Ellen Aldridge 
 and Norton Osgood were in the room. 
 
 Then, for the second time within ten minutes, chance 
 made me the half-unwilling listener to a conversation 
 which was too significant to be ignored. 
 
 " Oh, just promise me you will do it! " Ellen Ald- 
 ridge was saying to Osgood. 
 
 "But I really I can't!" he protested. 
 
 " Cant! " she repeated. " You said he was one of 
 the best subjects you ever tried. You said you could 
 make him do anything ! " 
 
 "Oh, I don't mean that!" he exclaimed. "Of 
 course I have the power to do it ! But, don't you un- 
 derstand? I I can't. Why to make Mr. Clay- 
 ton do a thing like that it isn't right! " 
 
 " Oh, no, I I know it isn't," Miss Aldridge re- 
 plied in a low tone. " But I I won't you please 
 do it, just the same? " 
 
 " But, think ! " said Norton Osgood. " Think what 
 it would meanJ Why, under the circumstances, 
 why, I can't ! It wouldn't be right ! " 
 
 " Won't you, please? " she begged him. 
 
 " This isn't a bit like you ! " he declared suddenly.
 
 BEHIND RED CURTAINS 41 
 
 " Certainly you haven't thought of what the conse- 
 quences may be, if I should cause Mr. Clayton to to 
 do that! I know you can't really want it! " 
 
 " But I do ! " she almost whispered. 
 
 " Very well, then," he said slowly. " It's just as 
 you wish. But I I'm afraid you'll regret this." 
 
 " But you must promise me you will never tell ! " she 
 exclaimed quickly. " Promise me ! Never one word 
 to any one ! " 
 
 Osgood hesitated an instant, and then nodded slowly 
 in assent. 
 
 Mrs. Copeland entered suddenly, with Grace and 
 Arthur. Lucy Aldridge and Fred fallowed them. 
 But I still hung back in the hallway. My brain was 
 utterly confused; I wanted a moment to think. 
 
 What had Ellen Aldridge been urging Osgood to 
 force me to do? What demand of hers could have 
 caused him to protest as he had? I thought of the 
 glance which she had given Harrison Kirke when he 
 had struck her. Like a flash, in spite of all my efforts 
 to prevent it, a horrible thought came into my mind. 
 At the same instant, the lawyer's words about heredity 
 came back to me. I started, and forced the idea out 
 of my mind as quickly as it had come. I would never,
 
 42 BEHIND RED CURTAINS 
 
 even for a second, hold such a thought of her! I told 
 myself again and again that the notion was impossible 
 absurd. 
 
 But in spite of all I could do, the suggestion rooted 
 itself in my brain. And it stayed there. 
 
 I was still standing in the hallway when Henry Cope- 
 land and the lawyer came out of the little room where I 
 had left them. They were followed by Harrison 
 Kirke. There was nothing upon the faces of the three 
 which could indicate what had passed between them. 
 I waited, unobserved, until they had passed me; then 
 I followed them into the living-room. 
 
 Norton Osgood was waiting for the lawyer. When 
 I appeared, however, he did not seem as glad of the 
 chance to hypnotize me as he had been before. I saw 
 him give Kirke a look full of hatred, as the gambler 
 took a chair near the door. 
 
 Arthur Copeland said that he had devised some 
 masterpiece of nonsense which he wanted Osgood to 
 cause Mr. Endicott to do. The others had not been 
 told of the nature of this affair, and young Copeland 
 did not propose to tell them. 
 
 " Am I supposed to do this at some unknown time 
 in the future? " the lawyer questioned, before he took 
 his place in the chair.
 
 BEHIND RED CURTAINS 43 
 
 " At some very definite time," Osgood replied, with 
 a slight smile, while Arthur laughed. " I feel confi- 
 dent that you will all concede this coming test to be 
 absolute proof that real hypnotic power does exist 
 and that it can be exercised at will." 
 
 " And remember," Arthur Copeland added, " not 
 one of the others knows what you are to do, or when 
 you are to do it." 
 
 Endicott took his place, and the hypnotism began. 
 The first proceedings were exactly the same as the ones 
 which I had experienced. When the lawyer's face 
 showed that he was no longer conscious of his sur- 
 roundings, Osgood slowly arose, still staring into the 
 eyes of the man before him. The motions of his hands 
 stopped; his low voice broke the silence. 
 
 " You'll do it," were the words. " You'll do it. 
 You will repeat after me now. You'll do it." 
 
 As if in the midst of a dream, the lawyer said, " I'll 
 do it." 
 
 And as he said it, he awoke, and laughed at his 
 friends in the room. 
 
 " You will doubtless think/' Osgood said to him, 
 " that my power over your mind is now at an end. But 
 it is not at an end. When the time arranged for this 
 action comes, no matter where you are or what you
 
 44 BEHIND RED CURTAINS 
 
 are engaged in, you will do what Arthur Copeland 
 wishes you to do ! " 
 
 " And now for the same kind of thing with Mr. 
 Clayton," young Copeland said eagerly. 
 
 I shuddered again. I almost thought that Norton 
 Osgood shuddered, too. But he turned to me with 
 apparent willingness. 
 
 " We haven't decided what to make Mr. Clayton do," 
 the banker's son reminded him. 
 
 For an instant, Osgood hesitated. 
 
 " Whatever you decide to have him do," Fred Aid- 
 ridge said, " it should certainly be a secret from all 
 the rest of us. That is the only fair way; it gives un- 
 deniable proof against trickery by any of Mr. Clay- 
 ton's friends, who might spoil the experiment by giving 
 him advance information." 
 
 " A good suggestion, Fred ! " declared Henry Cope- 
 land. " Which one of us had better decide upon 
 this?" 
 
 "I er I believe," Osgood explained slowly, 
 " that er that the matter has already been decided 
 for me. One of our number has requested me to use 
 my power over Mr. Clayton for a er for a special 
 purpose." 
 
 " Oh! " exclaimed young Copeland. " Then you've
 
 BEHIND RED CURTAINS 45 
 
 already decided this with one of us ! I'm disappointed ; 
 I had a wonderful joke I wanted played on him. But 
 who was it? " 
 
 Osgood's hesitation this time was more noticeable 
 than before. 
 
 " I was the one," Ellen Aldridge volunteered quietly. 
 
 They all turned to her in surprise. She was seated 
 near the fireplace, beside Bob Manning. There was a 
 very slight flush upon her countenance; she was evi- 
 dently conscious of this, for she was trying to conceal 
 it by laughing. 
 
 Manning turned to her in open amazement. 
 
 " You asked him to make George do something, 
 Ellen ? " he questioned. 
 
 She glanced at me half fearfully, I thought as 
 if she would read what I was thinking. I made up 
 my mind not to give any indication that I had over- 
 heard her conversation with Osgood. 
 
 " Why, what what can it be that you would like to 
 see me do?" I asked, apparently puzzled. 
 
 " Oh, it it is really a very silly joke to play upon 
 any one," Miss Aldridge explained quickly, with an- 
 other laugh. "It's an absolutely foolish thing; I 
 simply have a longing to see some one do it. It is noth- 
 ing of any importance, Mr. Clayton ; when you do it,
 
 46 BEHIND RED CURTAINS 
 
 you will probably not realize that you have done it." 
 
 Again she laughed slightly. But I was certain that 
 there was something more serious behind that laugh 
 something which strengthened my conviction that her 
 real desire might not be a simple, foolish joke, at all. 
 
 " This certainly sounds interesting," Henry Cope- 
 land remarked. " Let's have the hypnotism." 
 
 There was no way in which I could gracefully avoid 
 this second test. I seated myself in the chair before 
 Norton Osgood. I was nervous ; I clasped my hands, 
 to hide the fact that they were trembling slightly. 
 
 Norton Osgood seemed as much upset as I was. He 
 seemed almost unwilling to take the chair opposite 
 mine. He hesitated several times, and glanced twice 
 at Ellen Aldridge. Then, drawing a deep breath, he 
 seated himself, and fixed his gaze upon my eyes. 
 
 For a moment, his hands moved as usual. His 
 voice spoke to me in low tones. Gradually, I began to 
 feel the strange, impelling sensation which had previ- 
 ously forced me to obey his will. Then, suddenly, his 
 voice broke, his hands clutched convulsively at the air, 
 and, with a gasp, he crumpled up in a heap in the 
 chair. 
 
 Arthur Copeland sprang forward, and supported 
 him.
 
 BEHIND RED CURTAINS 47 
 
 " What is the matter, Mr. Osgood ? " he cried. 
 "Are you ill?" 
 
 Osgood was apparently himself again in an instant. 
 
 "I I lost him," he explained. His voice trembled 
 slightly. " You mustn't mind my acting this way. I 
 always have this kind of reaction, when I suddenly 
 lose my control over any one's mind. I'm sorry." 
 
 " I never saw anything like this happen to you be- 
 fore," declared Fred Aldridge. 
 
 Norton Osgood hesitated. 
 
 " Of course," he explained, " this loss of control is 
 only temporary." 
 
 Again he glanced toward Ellen Aldridge. 
 
 " Do you want me to try again ? " he asked 
 slowly. 
 
 I gazed at her intently. Her face was crimson, but 
 I could not guess what thoughts lay behind it. 
 
 " Please do ! " she answered. 
 
 " Very well," said Norton Osgood. Then, unmis- 
 takably, he shivered. 
 
 He centered his gaze upon my eyes. The movement 
 of his hands began. I heard his voice. The feeling 
 which had begun before, came anew, and increased 
 with every instant. Gradually the room and the peo- 
 ple around us began to drift away into the distance.
 
 48 BEHIND RED CURTAINS 
 
 I put out my hands, to clutch at them, and hold them 
 back, but they all slipped farther and farther out of 
 my reach. Soon Osgood himself had disappeared. I 
 still heard the low tones of his voice. 
 
 Again, my brain and body were in his power. 
 
 Then I realized that some one or something was 
 talking to me. The words came from somewhere far 
 away, but it was Osgood's voice. 
 
 " You'll do it ! You'll do it ! " The phrase burned 
 its way deep into my brain. " You will repeat after 
 me. You'll do it!" 
 
 I felt my lips move. Then, from somewhere far 
 away, my own voice answered, " I'll do it ! " 
 
 I heard a real, human gasp of agony or terror. In 
 a flash, everything reappeared. Osgood, pale and al- 
 most ghastly, was before me. The others were laugh- 
 ing. 
 
 " And you are certain," the lawyer questioned, " that 
 Mr. Clayton, as well as I, will do your bidding at some 
 definite time in the future? " 
 
 Hoarsely, fearfully, Norton Osgood answered, 
 " Yes ! He will ! " 
 
 The laughing conversation of the others began again. 
 But I did not join in with them. My mind was still 
 far away, in the power of Norton Osgood. I heard
 
 BEHIND RED CURTAINS 49 
 
 the conversation going on around me. But behind it 
 all, overmastering it all, was the phrase which still 
 ruled my whole consciousness. 
 
 "You'll do it! You'll do it!" 
 
 Do what? 
 
 Again and again I asked myself that question. 
 What had Ellen Aldridge wanted me to do? What 
 mysterious command had been given me to have 
 caused such a terrific effort of will on the part of Nor- 
 ton Osgood? Why was he pale and unnerved, after 
 he had given me the irresistible incentive to do this 
 unknown thing? 
 
 I thought of Harrison Kirke's cowardly insult to 
 Ellen Aldridge. I remembered the blow which the 
 brute had struck her arm. I remembered his devilish 
 threat to expose her sad secret to the guests on the 
 morrow. I thought of the glances of ill-concealed 
 hatred which the mysterious Osgood had given Kirke. 
 
 But more alarming was the thought of my own 
 hatred for the contemptible gambler, my wild longing 
 to rush into the little room where he had insulted Ellen 
 Aldridge, and to throttle him until every last bit of 
 breath had been driven from his body to kill him! 
 
 What might the night bring about? 
 
 I shuddered.
 
 CHAPTER III 
 
 " George, you've got to stop worrying this way. 
 Get a good night's sleep, and you'll forget such ideas." 
 
 Bob Manning was endeavoring to reassure me as we 
 parted for the night in the hallway at the head of the 
 stairs. He had been quick to notice the terrible state 
 of mind into which I had been thrown by my second 
 hypnotic test with Norton Osgood. Though Man- 
 ning could not have guessed the real thoughts which 
 had done the most toward upsetting me, it must have 
 been clear to him that something was very sadly wrong 
 with my usual mental calm. The hypnotism had ap- 
 parently had its disquieting effect upon him, also, but 
 Bob never gave a thought to his own welfare when he 
 saw a friend in trouble. 
 
 His kindly words, however, failed to allay the in- 
 tangible dread which had been haunting me all the 
 evening, and I was as greatly perturbed as ever when 
 we parted. Manning's room was near one end of the 
 hallway, while mine was at the opposite end, near the 
 stairway. Between us were the rooms occupied by Mr. 
 Endicott, Arthur Copeland, Fred Aldridge and Har- 
 rison Kirke. I was disgusted when I discovered that 
 
 50
 
 BEHIND RED CURTAINS 51 
 
 Kirke's room was next to mine, on the same side of the 
 hall, and that there was a communicating door. Be- 
 tween Kirke's room and Fred Aldridge's, another cor- 
 ridor led to the other rooms. 
 
 I entered my room, closed the hall door, and glanced 
 around the place. There was nothing to revive my 
 spirits. The light from the study lamp upon the little 
 table was very dim, and slanting shadows rilled the 
 corners. The windows were rattling in the February 
 storm, and the rain pattered at intervals against the 
 glass. I shivered, and turned on the brighter electric 
 light on the wall. 
 
 The room was comfortable in size and in furnish- 
 ings. There were two small tables, a large Morris 
 chair, and several smaller chairs. A large fireplace, 
 handsome and old-fashioned, faced toward the hall 
 door. The ashes of a fire still glowed now. For a 
 moment I was surprised at this, for I was quite sure 
 that I had not made any fire there during the day. In 
 my present state of mental agitation, nearly a half 
 minute passed before I recalled that I had seen Arthur 
 Copeland building one to take the chill out of the room 
 during the afternoon. Indeed, I should have remem- 
 bered this, for it was then that Arthur had showed me 
 the strange hollow space between the bricks at the right
 
 52 BEHIND RED CURTAINS 
 
 of the fireplace, where, as a youngster, he had often 
 concealed things from his sister. 
 
 A sound from the left caught my attention. I 
 turned, and found Harrison Kirke standing in the 
 doorway which opened between my room and his. 
 He gave me a defiant glance, but he did not speak. He 
 stepped quickly across the threshold, seized the door- 
 handle, and retreated, closing the door tightly behind 
 him. 
 
 In some way, the feeling that the gambler was so 
 near to me, in the next room, with only that door be- 
 tween us, filled me with a new, terrible apprehension. 
 It was as if all the haunting fears of the evening, all 
 that unknown terror which I had been unable to ex- 
 plain, had now taken a clear, definite shape before 
 me. 
 
 " This certainly will not do ! " I exclaimed aloud. 
 
 I strode quickly forward to the door, with the in- 
 tention of locking it. But there was no key. I leaned 
 down carefully and peered into the key-hole, hoping 
 that there might be one on the other side of the door, 
 but I saw at once that the tiny aperture was empty. 
 
 There was nothing to do but leave the door unlocked. 
 I turned away in disgust, and began to prepare for the 
 night.
 
 BEHIND RED CURTAINS '53 
 
 My memory of that part of the evening has always 
 been exceedingly hazy. In fact, there were only two 
 things which I have been able to remember at all. 
 One of these was the fact that I took one of the pills 
 which I had recently been taking for the benefit of my 
 nerves. I distinctly recalled placing the pill-box a 
 hollow wooden affair of cylindrical shape, about five 
 inches long on the table beside the bed. I also re- 
 membered tossing my slippers on to the chair near this 
 table, just before I climbed into bed. Of the latter 
 fact I was very certain, for the slippers were the last 
 objects which I saw before I put out the light. 
 
 For a long time I could not sleep. The house was 
 quiet. I could not hear the slightest sound from Har- 
 rison Kirke's room, or from any of the other rooms 
 which opened into the hallway outside. But to me, in 
 my sensitive, over-wrought condition, this silence was 
 ominous in its very existence. 
 
 I lived over again the events of the evening. My 
 brain automatically reconstructed the conversation we 
 had had in the room at the end of the hall downstairs, 
 where Norton Osgood had so strenuously declared 
 that there was no limit in the world which could restrict 
 his power of hypnotism that not even the suggestion 
 of crime could break the control which he held over
 
 54 BEHIND RED CURTAINS 
 
 those who had placed themselves under his influence. 
 I could feel my blood boiling again, as I thought of 
 Kirke's cowardly words to Ellen Aldridge in the little 
 room with the red curtains. 
 
 Then came thoughts of a very different nature. I 
 thought of the scene which had followed Kirke's re- 
 marks, when I had confronted him in the little writing- 
 room. I could almost feel the touch of Ellen Aid- 
 ridge's hand upon my arm, when she had detained me 
 from throwing myself bodily upon the gambler. I re- 
 membered the pleading, anxious look in her blue eyes, 
 when she had begged me not to attempt to do violence. 
 
 Why had she done that? Had she merely been 
 anxious lest I should stir up trouble in the Copelands' 
 household ? Or or had she could it have been 
 possible that she I checked my thoughts abruptly, 
 and gave a little, scornful laugh at my own expense. 
 For me, such ideas as I had been harboring were noth- 
 ing less than preposterous. 
 
 But in spite of all my efforts, the same question 
 came back to me again and again. Why had she re- 
 strained me with such anxiety ? She she had actu- 
 ally said to me there, just before Mr. Copeland and 
 Mr. Endicott had entered, that she was in terror, lest
 
 BEHIND RED CURTAINS 55 
 
 Harrison Kirke might be armed. Had she really 
 meant it that she was afraid, for my sake? 
 
 " This is idiotic ! " I declared, almost aloud. 
 
 I resolutely forced the impossible notion out of my 
 consciousness. Of all the wild ideas which I had 
 ever conceived, this one was the craziest, and the most 
 unwarranted. If for no other reason than the memory 
 of what I owed to Bob Manning the thought of the 
 man who would so willingly have given his life to save 
 mine I could not, would not, entertain such fancies 
 as these. 
 
 But if it did nothing more, this feeling that Ellen 
 Aldridge might care just a little for me absurd 
 though it was helped to calm my nerves. For the 
 time, it drove away the fears which had been upsetting 
 me. Before very long, I was asleep. 
 
 I have never known exactly when it was that the 
 Thing took hold upon me. I only know that it came. 
 I had been dreaming for some time, and, strangely 
 enough, my dreams had not had the slightest connec- 
 tion with any of the party in the home of Henry Cope- 
 land. Then, suddenly, without the least warning, my 
 whole dream changed. I imagined myself back in the 
 room where, in reality, I was sleeping.
 
 56 BEHIND RED CURTAINS 
 
 Gradually, almost imperceptibly, I began to feel the 
 same sensations which I had experienced during my 
 first hypnotic experiment with Norton Osgood. There 
 was that same deep, persistent longing to do something 
 which was as yet unknown to me. I made the same 
 ineffectual struggle to resist this unaccountable feeling. 
 Again and again I felt the irresistible, overmastering 
 power of the agency which was ruling my brain. 
 
 Then, as if from the atmosphere around me, a voice 
 began to speak. Tirelessly, endlessly, it kept on in its 
 low, even tones. Bit by bit, the meaning of what the 
 voice was saying began to drift into my consciousness. 
 The words were always the same ; from apparently no- 
 where they came over and over: 
 
 " You'll do it ! You'll do it ! You'll do it ! " 
 
 And thus it kept on, until, almost before I realized 
 it, I was carried into the most horrible and terrifying 
 dream that I have ever experienced. 
 
 At first, I still imagined that I was lying upon my 
 bed. I was quite sure of this, for I could still feel the 
 touch of the pillow against my cheek. I could feel the 
 mysterious power urging me to rise. I could feel my- 
 self making a vain resistance to the command. Then 
 and I never knew how it came about I dreamed 
 that I was standing on my feet beside the bed.
 
 BEHIND RED CURTAINS , 57 
 
 The chairs, the tables, the fireplace, and the other 
 objects in the room were clearly outlined before me. 
 I seemed to feel myself groping for my slippers in the 
 nearest chair; then, in a twinkling, I realized that I 
 had pushed my feet into them. 
 
 For a moment, nothing more happened. I stood 
 erect by the side of the bed, and waited. 
 
 Then, I heard the mysterious, commanding voice. 
 
 " You'll do it ! You'll do it ! You'll do it ! " 
 
 Suddenly I realized that I was slowly moving some- 
 where. I could sense the motion of my feet as they 
 carried me forward. Gradually, steadily, I was mov- 
 ing across the room, toward some unknown goal. 
 Again I tried to stop, and to draw back, but I felt my- 
 self swept straight on, toward 
 
 A shiver like an electric shock brought me to a 
 sudden stop. I tried to gasp, and failed. My left 
 hand, groping in front of me, touched something cold 
 and hard. I stared downward. 
 
 The thing that I had touched was distinct before 
 my vision. It was the handle of the door to Harrison 
 Kirke's room ! 
 
 So that was it! This was where Norton Osgood's 
 terrible power had brought me ! This was the cul- 
 mination of my evening of nameless fear! With all
 
 58 BEHIND RED CURTAINS 
 
 my force of will I tried to draw away from that un- 
 locked door, to cry out for help, to tear myself 
 free from the control of the man who had made me 
 come this far. But that other will, far greater than 
 mine, held me terrified and helpless. 
 
 What was this thing that I had been in dread lest 
 I should do ? There could be only one answer. What 
 was my purpose now, before the gambler's door? 
 There could be only one answer to that. What was 
 it that the unknown voice was still commanding me 
 to do? There was only one explanation for all this, 
 and it was terrible enough to freeze the blood in 
 my veins. / was going to murder Harrison Kirke! 
 
 " You'll do it! You'll do it! You'll do it! " 
 
 For the last time I tried to cry for help, but my 
 throat could make no sound. And then I seized 
 the handle of the door, turned it, and pushed. 
 
 The door stuck. 
 
 I shall never forget the flood of relief which surged 
 over me when the door failed to swing open at my 
 push. It was as if a difficulty of the material world 
 had suddenly sprung up before me, to help me out of 
 my plight. 
 
 But again the master power conquered. I felt my 
 left hand reach out to try the door a second time. For
 
 BEHIND RED CURTAINS 59 
 
 some reason which I could not yet understand, it 
 was always my left hand which seemed to reach for 
 the door. My right hand felt as though in some 
 way it was being held in reserve. 
 
 This time I put my weight against the door, and 
 pushed. The door failed to open. 
 
 But even this obstacle could not withstand the will 
 of Norton Osgood. All my desperate efforts all 
 my pitiful struggles were in vain. I was driven 
 onward, with relentless, inexorable force. 
 
 I felt myself pushing against the door for the third 
 time. And now, without even a scrape or a jolt, it 
 swung slowly, noiselessly backward, into the room of 
 the man I seemed destined to kill. Anew there was 
 the motion of my feet. Then, I was inside the other 
 room. 
 
 I could see the gambler's bed, close beside the door. 
 Kirke was lying upon his side, asleep, with the back 
 of his head toward me. 
 
 And still I heard the fateful words, " You'll do it! " 
 
 But how? I had no weapon no possible means 
 of bringing death. 
 
 Suddenly, I started in horror. I had just awak- 
 ened to the realization that there was something in 
 my right hand. It was something of which I had not
 
 60 BEHIND RED CURTAINS 
 
 had the slightest consciousness something hard like 
 wood, and round. I had no knowledge of where the 
 thing had come from, or of how long it had been 
 clutched in my fingers. I only knew that it was there. 
 
 I drew the object slowly up before my eyes, and 
 stared at it. I started back in horror, and my heart 
 seemed to stop beating. I was grasping the handle 
 of a knife! 
 
 It was a big one. The blade was broad, and nearly 
 ten inches in length. I could clearly see the vicious 
 steel gleaming in the moonlight from the window. 
 
 And then, before I knew what I was about, the 
 thing was done ! 
 
 I remember the fierce hatred which smothered all 
 my other feelings when I saw the face of Harrison 
 Kirke on the pillow before me. His lips seemed parted 
 in a fiendish smile, as though he were deriving advance 
 enjoyment from his anticipated mental torture of Ellen 
 Aldridge and her brother. Hatred my own, real 
 hatred was added to the power of the will which 
 was driving me onward. 
 
 I felt the force of the blow as I struck downward 
 with the knife; I saw the shining weapon sink deep 
 into the gambler's side ; I heard his dying gasp of 
 agony; I saw the lingering smile upon his lips trans-
 
 BEHIND RED CURTAINS 61 
 
 formed into a horrible, spasmodic grin. And then 
 I was back, standing in the doorway between the two 
 rooms still clutching the knife-handle in my right 
 hand, while the blade dripped with blood. 
 
 The commanding voice was satisfied at last. I had 
 done it ! 
 
 But even in this moment of horror, my sub-conscious 
 mind did not become panic-stricken. I found that I 
 was still able to think clearly and quickly. The hyp- 
 notic power was no longer exerting its influence upon 
 me; it had gone, leaving me free to devise whatever 
 means I could of concealing the evidence of my crime. 
 
 Whatever else happened, there was one thing which 
 must be done at once. I must get rid of the blood- 
 stained knife without an instant of delay. 
 
 Even in the midst of this fiendish nightmare, I 
 was able to recall definite facts in a clear, logical 
 manner. I suddenly thought of the hollow space be- 
 tween the bricks inside the fireplace in my room. 
 
 I have not the slightest remembrance of closing the 
 door between the two rooms. I began to grope my 
 way toward the fireplace, still carrying the wicked 
 knife in my right hand. It seemed but the work of 
 an instant to find the place. I felt cautiously along 
 the brick surface with my left hand, and found the
 
 62 BEHIND RED CURTAINS 
 
 opening which led to the cavity. Then, pushing my 
 other hand through the hole, I let go of the knife. I 
 heard it drop into the hiding-place with a hollow sound. 
 
 A moment later I found myself beside my bed. I 
 dimly recollect that I kicked off my slippers before I 
 climbed back between the sheets. Then I felt the 
 touch of the pillow against my face. 
 
 Came the reaction. I began to take in the full mean- 
 ing of what had happened. Five minutes previous to 
 this, I had been lying there, exactly where I was now, 
 an innocent man. Now what had happened ? 
 What hideous thing had come to me in the few short 
 minutes while I had been out of bed? What was 
 I now? 
 
 A murderer! A man who had snuffed out the life 
 of a fellow-being by the brutal stroke of a knife! A 
 man to be despised and shunned by friends and ene- 
 mies alike! One destined to live in remorse and hor- 
 ror as long as life should remain, or until discovery 
 should send him to face a jury. And after the jury? 
 The vision was a horrible one. The grave judge with 
 his black cap, that ominous cap which he never 
 donned except on such occasions! The deadening 
 sentence which fell from his lips. And one thing more
 
 BEHIND RED CURTAINS 63 
 
 a terrible thing, silent and waiting the electric 
 chair! I could already feel the grip of the metal 
 electrodes. 
 
 With a gasping, sobbing moan I put up my hands to 
 cover my eyes to shut out the terrible vision, and 
 hide my guilty features from the world. But I re- 
 coiled, as if from the fangs of a serpent. My hands! 
 Those hideous, murderer's hands ! They were red 
 deep, accusing, burning red with the blood of Har- 
 rison Kirke! 
 
 With a supreme effort I sprang upright in the bed, 
 and pushed the blood-smeared fingers out of my sight. 
 And then, from the very depths of my soul, there came 
 one terrible, demon-like cry. I had a vague sense of 
 trying to say, " Murder ! " but my throat would not 
 form any intelligible sound. I simply made one long, 
 blood-curdling scream of fear and anguish. It echoed 
 through the silent house such a cry as I have never 
 heard before or since. 
 
 My breath at last gave out, and the echoes died 
 away. A sudden clattering sound penetrated to my 
 half-awakened consciousness. I awoke. 
 
 I awoke, I say, awoke, to find the room in calm, 
 quiet darkness. Outside, the wind still blew in gusts
 
 64 BEHIND RED CURTAINS 
 
 as the storm continued. I was sitting upright in bed. 
 Around me were the familiar objects in the room, 
 silent and undisturbed. 
 
 And what of my terrible journey into the other 
 room? What of the gleaming knife? What of the 
 hideous crime which had been blackening my soul ? 
 
 A dream ! A senseless nightmare ! A ghastly, ter- 
 rifying dream! 
 
 With a shuddering sigh of relief I sank back against 
 the pillow, and drew the bedclothes tight around my 
 shoulders. 
 
 When I awoke again, it was morning. The room 
 was bright with daylight. The rain was still beating 
 against the window-panes. 
 
 For several minutes I did not remember the dream 
 that I had had. It was not until I happened to glance 
 at the closed door of Harrison Kirke's room that the 
 whole affair came back to my mind. I shivered again 
 at the thought of that horrible five minutes of agony. 
 
 But daylight had revived my peace of mind, and I 
 resolved that I would never allow the memory of the 
 nightmare to enter my head again. I heard sounds 
 of conversation from a room downstairs. It was evi-
 
 BEHIND RED CURTAINS 65 
 
 dently almost time for breakfast. I arose to dress, 
 and felt for my slippers on the chair. 
 
 They were not there. 
 
 Astonished, I looked again. They were on the floor 
 under the bed. 
 
 At first, I was deeply puzzled. I remembered dis- 
 tinctly that I had placed them upon the chair, just 
 before I had put out the light, when I had gone to 
 bed. Had some one been in the room during the 
 night ? 
 
 Then, suddenly, my uncertainty changed to a 
 strange, indescribable dread. 
 
 I went quickly to the door between the two rooms. 
 Apparently it had not been touched since Kirke had 
 closed it on the preceding evening. I listened an 
 instant. Evidently the man had already gone down- 
 stairs, or else he was still asleep. 
 
 I was worried. There could be no question of that. 
 I could hardly wait to dress before hastening down- 
 stairs, to make certain that Kirke was there. I was 
 nervous, and my fingers trembled slightly as I started 
 to lace up my shoes. 
 
 Suddenly I started. I stared at the fingers of my 
 left hand. They were stained a dull black. I exam-
 
 66 BEHIND RED CURTAINS 
 
 ined my shoe, but I saw that it had not been polished 
 for two days. This could not be shoe-blacking. 
 But it was clearly, undeniably black. Black from 
 what? 
 
 From the fireplace? 
 
 I gasped. 
 
 The trembling of my hands was quite noticeable 
 now. I started towards the hall door, but hesitated. 
 Another pill might help me steady my nerves. 
 
 Then I received a third shock. The round pill- 
 box had disappeared from the table. I searched under 
 the bed, under the chairs, and everywhere. I was un- 
 successful. 
 
 My feeling was really one of relief. Surely this 
 proved that some other person had been in the room 
 during the night. What he had wanted of my pills 
 was inconceivable, but the fact remained that some 
 one must have removed them. Then the changing of 
 the slippers from the chair to the floor might also 
 have been this unknown person's work, instead of 
 instead of my own ! 
 
 But what of the black upon my fingers ? 
 
 I longed to throw open Harrison Kirke's door, and 
 see if he had not already dressed and left the room. 
 I longed to thrust my hand into the hollow space in
 
 BEHIND RED CURTAINS 67 
 
 the fireplace, to prove that it was empty, that it 
 did not conceal what I feared might be there. But 
 I could not dared not do either. 
 
 I washed the black from my fingers, and hurried 
 downstairs. 
 
 The Copelands were evidently waiting breakfast. 
 Everything seemed quiet and cheerful. I saw at once 
 that nothing unusual could have taken place. 
 
 We proceeded immediately to the table. In a vague 
 dread, almost in fear, I glanced toward Harrison 
 Kirke's place near the head of the table. It was 
 vacant. 
 
 " Arthur, are you certain that you called Mr. 
 Kirke ? " Henry Copeland asked. 
 
 " I did," replied his son. " I knocked loudly on his 
 door, and called to him twice." 
 
 " How strange ! " remarked Mrs. Copeland. " Had 
 we do you think we had better wait any longer ? " 
 
 Mr. Copeland hesitated an instant, and shook his 
 head. 
 
 " We'll begin," he said. " He will be down before 
 long." 
 
 But he did not appear. Five minutes passed; then 
 ten. We finished the first part of the breakfast. My 
 fear increased with each succeeding minute. I felt
 
 68 BEHIND RED CURTAINS 
 
 certain that every one must notice the shaking of my 
 hands. I was afraid that my face was pale. 
 
 " Arthur ! " exclaimed Mr. Copeland suddenly, after 
 about fifteen minutes had elapsed. " Kirke must be 
 asleep ! " 
 
 " Well, he may be," answered Arthur. " But if 
 he slept through that knocking, he's a wonder ! " 
 
 " I can't understand it at all! " declared Mrs. Cope- 
 land. 
 
 " Nor I, either," Mr. Endicott said. 
 
 In spite of myself, I almost smiled grimly. It was 
 not likely that any of them would understand it 
 except me. I glanced around at the other guests. 
 
 Grace Copeland seemed a trifle puzzled, but appar- 
 ently she was only too glad that Kirke was absent from 
 the table. Fred Aldridge showed absolute indifference 
 to the whole matter. Ellen Aldridge was apparently 
 a little more concerned, but her sister, Lucy, was 
 chatting unconcernedly with Bob Manning. Only 
 Norton Osgood displayed anything unusual. 
 
 At each mention of Harrison Kirke, I was certain 
 that I could catch an indescribable expression upon 
 Osgood's face. It was a thoughtful, expectant ex- 
 pression as though he might be waiting for some- 
 thing.
 
 BEHIND RED CURTAINS 69 
 
 At the head of the table, Mrs. Copeland and the 
 lawyer were openly puzzled. Mr. Copeland evidently 
 now shared their perplexity. 
 
 " Arthur," he said quickly, " do run up and see what 
 see why he doesn't come down to breakfast." 
 
 " All right, Dad." Young Copeland arose, and 
 hurried up the stairs. 
 
 I shall never forget the half minute of silence which 
 followed. No one spoke. All were waiting, wait- 
 ing. We heard Arthur's footsteps in the hall above. 
 There was the sound of his loud knocking. A silence 
 followed. He knocked again. There was another 
 silence. Then we heard the slight squeak of a door as 
 it was opened. We heard Arthur take several steps 
 into the room. 
 
 The long silence which came now was terrifying, 
 menacing. Then 
 
 " Great God ! " came Copeland's voice from the room 
 above. 
 
 We heard him as he stumbled down the stairs. 
 With one accord, we turned to stare at his face as he 
 entered the dining-room. He was deathly pale. 
 
 "Arthur!" cried his father. "Arthur! What is 
 it?" 
 
 " Harrison Kirke is dead ! " replied Arthur Cope-
 
 70 BEHIND RED CURTAINS 
 
 land. " He has been murdered, with a knife, wound in 
 his side!" 
 
 So that was it! In my horror I half arose, pale and 
 shaking, from my chair. That was the real meaning 
 of my frightful "nightmare!" That was how my 
 slippers had been changed, and how I had received the 
 black smudge upon my ringers! / had done it! / 
 had crossed the room, and / had slain Harrison Kirke ! 
 
 I thought of the lawyer's argument. Once and for 
 all, I had proved his words untrue. What now of 
 the absolute powerlessness of hypnotism in the pres- 
 ence of contemplated crime? What now of the " hyp- 
 notic limit " ? / had broken it ! 
 
 And what of Norton Osgood? I turned and stared 
 at him. The others in the room were startled, shocked, 
 horrified. He alone was calm and resigned. 
 
 With the desperation of a drowning man, I clutched 
 out at the last straw of hope that remained for me, 
 the last bit of reasoning and logic which stood 
 between me and a murderer's fate. It was simply 
 this. The knife! 
 
 Where had I found the knife? There had been 
 no weapon in my room when I had gone to bed. If 
 this whole dream of mine had been real, then I must 
 have carried out my work according to the events
 
 BEHIND RED CURTAINS 71 
 
 in the nightmare. That was in accordance with all 
 laws of hypnotism. But I had certainly never dreamed 
 of leaving my room in search of a knife. 
 
 As if in a flash of prophetic vision, I foresaw that 
 my whole case would depend upon that one question. 
 Where had I got the knife? 
 
 I suddenly felt some one grasp my arm. It was 
 Bob Manning. 
 
 " For Heaven's sake, sit down, George ! " he ex- 
 claimed in a low tone. " You're as pale as a sheet, and 
 they're beginning to look at you." 
 
 I dropped back into a chair beside my friend. As 
 though in a dream, I heard the stunned exclamations 
 of the others. I saw Mr. Copeland and the lawyer 
 hurrying up the stairs. 
 
 But all these things were like the happenings of 
 another world. I heard and saw them all, but my 
 terrified brain could not grasp their meaning. I saw 
 Ellen Aldridge looking at me, and I tried to be natural 
 again. But my mind was too full of sickening dread. 
 I stared straight past her, into space. 
 
 Foreboding, uncertainty, terror all these had fled 
 now. In their place, black horror had rushed in. It 
 was complete, overpowering horror, deadening my con- 
 sciousness to all that went on in the room. And
 
 72 BEHIND RED CURTAINS 
 
 through it all, there rang in my ears again and again 
 that staggering, crushing question: 
 Was I a murderer?
 
 CHAPTER IV 
 
 The few minutes which followed the discovery of 
 the murder of Harrison Kirke were filled with excite- 
 ment and consternation for the members of Henry 
 Copeland's household. Copeland and Mr. Endicott 
 had rushed upstairs immediately after Arthur's star- 
 tling announcement of the tragedy, and they were soon 
 followed by Mrs. Copeland and Grace. Arthur Cope- 
 land, suddenly deciding that his mother and sister 
 must not see the grewsome sight in Kirke's room, 
 raced up the stairs after them. Within, five minutes 
 the house was in an uproar. The general confusion 
 soon spread to the servants, who could be heard dis- 
 cussing the affair in excited whispers. 
 
 I saw and heard but little of this. My brain was 
 too busy with its own thoughts.. I had suddenly come 
 to the conclusion that, whether or not I had actually 
 stabbed Harrison Kirke, I was not morally guilty of 
 his murder. If Norton Osgood's hypnotic power had 
 forced me to leave my bed and commit thii ghastly 
 crime, then Norton Osgood, not I, should pay the 
 penalty for it. 
 
 73
 
 74 BEHIND RED CURTAINS 
 
 But I realized that it would be no easy matter to 
 bring home the real guilt to Osgood. Juries are not 
 likely to acquit one man and convict another, with- 
 out any other evidence than an almost incredible theory 
 of hypnotism. If I could hope to clear myself of guilt, 
 I must first find tangible proof against the real mur- 
 derer. 
 
 My whole subsequent course of action depended 
 upon the fact that I did not consider myself guilty 
 of the murder of Kirke, even if I had actually driven 
 the knife into his side. Clearly, then, since I could 
 not be held actually guilty, it was not my duty to 
 inform Henry Copeland or the police of my suspicions 
 concerning the strange part which I had played in 
 the tragedy. If they wished to learn the truth about 
 the mysterious mission which Norton Osgood had 
 transmitted to my brain, or about my own horrible 
 sensations when the hypnotic power had taken hold 
 of me in the night, they must find it out for them- 
 selves. I resolved to keep absolute silence concerning 
 the whole affair. This was my only hope for safety. 
 If I had not left damaging clues somewhere during 
 my sleep-walking, I might escape suspicion, after all. 
 
 Henry Copeland and the lawyer remained in the 
 room upstairs for several minutes. At length we
 
 75 
 
 heard Mr. Copeland's voice at the head of the stairs. 
 
 " Arthur," he called, " telephone police headquarters 
 at once ! " 
 
 But Arthur Copeland had left the dining-room with 
 his mother and sister. Mr. Copeland did not repeat 
 his request For a moment, we all stared helplessly 
 at each other. Then Fred Aldridge arose. 
 
 " I'll do it," he said. 
 
 But he was so nervous that he could not find the 
 number in the telephone directory. His hands shook 
 as he brought in the book from the hall. He turned 
 the pages aimlessly. All the rest of us seemed in 
 about the same condition. At length he gave up look- 
 ing for the number. 
 
 " I don't even know where to look for it," he said, 
 with a helpless gesture. 
 
 Ellen Aldridge arose quickly to assist him. Bob 
 Manning was ahead of her. 
 
 "I'll find it," he said to Fred Aldridge. "You 
 go back and sit down." 
 
 Manning quickly found the number. In a few 
 clear, concise sentences he informed the sergeant on 
 duty that Harrison Kirke had been murdered during 
 the night in the home of Henry Copeland, and that 
 the identity of his murderer was unknown.
 
 76 BEHIND RED CURTAINS 
 
 " He is going to send men right down, with a de- 
 tective," Manning told us, as he hung up the receiver. 
 
 The police came within half an hour. Copeland 
 and the lawyer had not disturbed anything in the 
 room of the slain man, and the police were careful 
 to see that nothing was touched until after the arrival 
 of the coroner. 
 
 Coroner Andrews put in an appearance in the course 
 of an hour. He was accompanied by Detective Harry 
 Gray, a local man who had made quite a name for 
 himself by his work on murder cases. The detective 
 was short and wiry, with a brisk, energetic manner. 
 
 He at once startled Henry Copeland by giving 
 orders that no person should be allowed upon the 
 second floor, in any room whatsoever, until he and 
 his men had completed a careful investigation. 
 
 " That shall be just as you wish, Mr. Gray," Cope- 
 land replied, as soon as he had recovered from his 
 surprise. " You may consider yourself as being in 
 complete charge of my home, until this dreadful affair 
 has been solved." 
 
 The detective thanked him, and proceeded upstairs. 
 It was nearly noon before he returned. The hours 
 seemed longer than days, while we waited below in 
 feverish anxiety.
 
 BEHIND RED CURTAINS 77 
 
 What had I done in my dream that could betray 
 me? I asked myself that question again and again. 
 What tell-tale slip had I made, which might reveal 
 my secret to the police? 
 
 About half-past eleven, Harry Gray returned to the 
 living-room, and informed us that his preliminary 
 search had been completed. 
 
 " Does that mean that we may again use the floor 
 above?" asked Mrs. Copeland. 
 
 " It does, madam," answered Gray, " with the excep- 
 tion of Mr. Kirke's room, and of the room immediately 
 adjoining his." 
 
 Copeland was surprised. 
 
 "You mean Mr. Clayton's room?" he questioned. 
 
 " I don't know whose room it is," the detective 
 replied. " But I should like to be able to use it as a 
 sort of temporary headquarters. Its nearness to the 
 dead man's room makes it unusually convenient for 
 us." 
 
 He paused an instant, and then went on. 
 
 " The report which I have to make, Mr. Copeland," 
 he said, " will probably be very unpleasant and startling 
 to you. But there can be no doubt of what I have to 
 say. As you know, Mr. Kirke was stabbed in the 
 left side with a knife during the night. The door
 
 78 BEHIND RED CURTAINS 
 
 to his room from the hall was unlocked. All the out- 
 side doors, and all the windows, were securely fas- 
 tened this morning. We have made certain that there 
 is no other possible means of entering this house from 
 the outside." 
 
 He paused, as if to let us grasp the full significance 
 of his words. 
 
 " It follows, then," he went on slowly, " that the 
 person who killed Harrison Kirke was one of the 
 inmates of this house ! " 
 
 We were not startled. We had all foreseen that this 
 was coming. I caught a glimpse of one or two of the 
 party glancing fearfully into the faces of the others. 
 
 "Of course," the detective added hastily, " that does 
 not mean that I am thinking of accusing any of you. 
 What about the servants? " 
 
 " The servants," Henry Copeland answered slowly, 
 " I could not possibly suspect. We have had them 
 all in the house for years. Besides, there could not 
 be the slightest motive for any of them." 
 
 " Then the servants are practically eliminated," 
 Harry Gray went on. " I am sure you can all see 
 exactly what this fact means. It means, beyond the 
 least shadow of doubt, that the murderer of Mr. Kirke 
 is one of the party in this house."
 
 BEHIND RED CURTAINS 79 
 
 We were all silent. The truth was too terrible for 
 words. 
 
 " I trust, Mr. Copeland," Detective Gray said slowly, 
 " that the realization of this regrettable fact will not 
 prevent you from giving me all the assistance which 
 may lie in your power." 
 
 " No, it will not ! " Henry Copeland answered at 
 once. "I I shall certainly do my best to aid you 
 at all times." 
 
 He turned to the others in the room. 
 
 " I am sure you all feel the same way," he said to 
 us. " I admit that it will be exceptionally hard for 
 us to look at it in this way, for I believe that we 
 all know how richly Harrison Kirke deserved the fate 
 which has come to him." 
 
 Our faces showed that we agreed. 
 
 " But this is not the time to consider Harrison 
 Kirke's character," Mr. Copeland declared. " It can 
 not make the slightest difference now what kind of 
 man he was. The fact remains that he has been mur- 
 dered, in this house, by one by one of us ! We can- 
 not allow the guilty party to take the law into his 
 own hands as he has done. Justice must be meted 
 out; we rnust discover the party who has done this 
 crime ! "
 
 8o BEHIND RED CURTAINS 
 
 " Your attitude is most reasonable," the detective 
 commented. " The words which I am speaking now 
 are addressed to whomever one of you is guilty of this 
 crime. Would it not be simpler, would it not result 
 in a far lighter sentence for you, when you are arrested, 
 as you inevitably will be, if you should admit now, 
 once and for all, that you are the one who has killed 
 Mr. Kirke?" 
 
 There was a long silence. I smiled grimly. How 
 could the murderer be expected to confess, when he 
 was not yet sure that he was a murderer? It was 
 certainly a unique situation. I glanced toward Nor- 
 ton Osgood. He was silent, and his face was express- 
 ionless. 
 
 " Very well," the detective said at length. " We 
 will continue, then, in our course of discovering the 
 guilty person." 
 
 He paused again, and glanced quickly around the 
 group. 
 
 " Perhaps, Mr. Copeland," he suggested, " you 
 would be willing to introduce the members of this 
 party to me. I should like to be able to know them 
 by name." 
 
 " Certainly," replied the banker. He turned to 
 those beside him. " This is Mrs. Copeland, Mr. Gray.
 
 BEHIND RED CURTAINS 81 
 
 And this young man is my son, Arthur Copeland." 
 
 " And you said that these guests were here for 
 the wedding of your daughter ? " questioned Detec- 
 tive Gray. 
 
 " Yes. This is Miss Grace Copeland, beside Mrs. 
 Copeland." 
 
 " And the young gentleman whom she is to marry? " 
 Gray asked. 
 
 " I am he," answered Fred Aldridge. " My name 
 is Frederick Aldridge. I live in Detroit." 
 
 He had recovered his self-composure, and was able 
 to speak in a calm and collected manner. 
 
 " These are my sisters," he continued, " Miss Ellen 
 Aldridge, and Miss Lucy Aldridge." 
 
 Detective Gray turned to Mr. Endicott. 
 
 " I believe I have met you, sir," he said. " You are 
 Mr. David Endicott, the lawyer?" 
 
 " Correct," answered Endicott. 
 
 " This includes every one, I believe," the detective 
 remarked, " except these two gentlemen by the fire- 
 place. May I inquire " 
 
 " This gentleman nearest the door is Dr. Robert 
 Manning, of New York," Henry Copeland explained. 
 
 Manning turned to me.
 
 82 BEHIND RED CURTAINS 
 
 " This is my friend," he told the detective, " Mr. 
 George Clayton, also of New York." 
 
 " I am greatly obliged to all you gentlemen," De- 
 tective Gray said. " This knowledge should be of 
 great assistance to me. Now, in view of the fact that 
 all my investigations must inevitably tend toward the 
 arrest and conviction of one of you, it may seem out 
 of place for me to ask for your help on this case. But 
 I'm afraid I shall be forced to do so again, and also, 
 perhaps, many times. I should like to have more than 
 Mr. Copeland's opinion on this matter. I'd like you 
 all to tell me whether you think I have any right to 
 ask you to assist me." 
 
 He hesitated. 
 
 " I think we're all agreed that it is our duty to help 
 you," Arthur Copeland said. 
 
 " Of course it is," Bob Manning agreed. 
 
 " Then none of you can see any reason why I should 
 not ask this of you? " 
 
 He paused. There was a short silence. 
 
 " We cannot see any possible reason," Norton Os- 
 good said. 
 
 The detective turned to him in surprise. 
 
 " I think I must have overlooked you, sir! " he ex-
 
 BEHIND RED CURTAINS 83 
 
 claimed. " I certainly don't remember having spoken 
 to you before." 
 
 " Well, it doesn't make any particular difference," 
 Osgood replied, with a slight smile. " My name is 
 Norton Osgood. My home is in Detroit." 
 
 " Oh, in Detroit," remarked the detective. " Then 
 you probably came with Mr. er with this gentle- 
 man who is beside " 
 
 " Yes," explained Osgood. " I came with Mr. Aid- 
 ridge." 
 
 " Thank you. Now, in regard to the help which I 
 think you may be able to give me. First of all, I 
 will question you in regard to last night." 
 
 He seemed to be trying to read the faces of his 
 listeners. 
 
 " Mr. Kirke's room," he went on slowly, " is lo- 
 cated quite near several rooms which were occupied 
 last night. Now, you will readily see that for any 
 person to commit a murder in that room, surrounded 
 by a number of other people, without making some 
 sound which could be heard, is a feat which requires 
 a great deal of cleverness and skill. The question 
 which I am going to ask is this : Did any of you hear 
 the slightest sound, however seemingly insignificant, 
 at any time ? "
 
 84 BEHIND RED CURTAINS 
 
 There was another short silence. 
 
 " I did," replied Henry Copeland. 
 
 " I think I did, too," said his son. 
 
 " At the time," Mr. Copeland continued, " I did 
 not think anything of it. But I remember now that 
 it awoke me from a sound sleep. It was a long, 
 terrified scream, a man's voice, I think. I thought 
 then that some one was awakening from a nightmare." 
 
 " That's just what I thought, too," Arthur Copeland 
 added. 
 
 Mrs. Copeland, Ellen Aldridge, Mr. Endicott, and 
 several others remembered that they had heard such 
 a scream. It had been made, they all thought, at some 
 time well toward morning. They had all thought the 
 same thing that the sound had been made by some 
 one who was awakening from a terrifying dream. 
 
 The explanation of all this was not any mystery to 
 me. I knew well that I was the one who had made 
 the sound. For a moment I thought rapidly. I had 
 resolved not to give the detective the slightest inkling 
 of my horrible experience during the night. But this, 
 surely, was a different matter. That scream might 
 eventually be traced to me. The fact that I had not 
 owned up to it would tell against me. 
 
 " That sound," I said slowly, " was mine. I made
 
 BEHIND RED CURTAINS 85 
 
 it in the midst of one of the worst nightmares I have 
 ever had." 
 
 " Oh ! " the detective said, with interest. " You are 
 Mr. Clayton, I believe. Your room, then, was the one 
 next to Mr. Kirke's." 
 
 I shivered. Instinctively, I felt that that little shiver 
 had helped my case more than any words could have 
 done. 
 
 " It must have been horrible ! " exclaimed Henry 
 Copeland. 
 
 " It was a terrible dream ! " I answered. " I re- 
 member that I tried to cry out, but I never knew until 
 now that I had succeeded." 
 
 " I heard you," Bob Manning said quickly. " My 
 room, you remember, was at the opposite end of the 
 hall from yours. I heard the scream, and I thought 
 I recognized your voice. I thought perhaps your 
 dream was still going on. I would have got up and 
 come in to you, if I had heard you again." 
 
 " That is just what I was going to do," Mr. Endi- 
 cott remarked. " I did not recognize the voice as Mr. 
 Clayton's, but I felt sure that some one was having 
 a nightmare. I was on the point of getting up, when 
 I heard some one else going to quiet him." 
 
 Gray was surprised.
 
 86 BEHIND RED CURTAINS 
 
 "Did any one come to you, Mr. Clayton?" he 
 questioned. 
 
 " Why, no ! " I answered quickly. 
 
 " But Mr. Endicott says that he heard 
 
 " I am not certain of that," the lawyer interrupted. 
 " Immediately after the scream, I thought I heard 
 soft footsteps in the hall outside. I supposed, natu- 
 rally, that some one was going to quiet the person 
 who was having the nightmare." 
 
 " Did any of you other people hear those footsteps? " 
 demanded Gray. 
 
 " I didn't," replied Arthur Copeland. 
 
 " I heard only the scream," said Bob Manning. 
 
 " And you, Mr. Copeland ? " asked the detective. 
 
 Mr. and Mrs. Copeland shook their heads. 
 
 " Very strange," Gray commented. " Mr. Endicott, 
 are you sure that you did not imagine the steps ? " 
 
 " I can only repeat that I am not positive of this," 
 replied the lawyer. 
 
 Henry Copeland started. 
 
 " Can it be, Mr. Gray," he demanded, " that you 
 are trying to that you believe that the scream was 
 not made by Mr. Clayton at all, but by Mr. Kirke, and 
 that the footsteps were those of the murderer? "
 
 BEHIND RED CURTAINS 87 
 
 " Not so fast, I beg you, Mr. Copeland ! " the detec- 
 tive expostulated. 
 
 " I don't believe any such theory is possible," de- 
 clared Bob Manning. " I am quite certain that the 
 voice was Clayton's. I have known him a good many 
 years, and I could hardly mistake his voice." 
 
 "/ am quite sure it was Mr. Clayton, too," Ellen 
 Aldridge agreed. " At the time, I felt sure it was his 
 voice." 
 
 " As for me," said Gray, " I am not willing to believe 
 that the voice could have been any other than Mr. 
 Clayton's. Especially since Mr. Clayton remembers 
 that he tried to cry out. We'll drop this point for 
 the present, until my men have made a more thorough 
 search for possible clues upstairs. There is one more 
 question that I want to ask. Who discovered the 
 crime ? " 
 
 " I did," answered Arthur Copeland. " We had 
 been waiting breakfast for Mr. Kirke for some time. 
 At length I went up to see where he was." 
 
 " You did not see any knife? " 
 
 " There was none in the room, unless it was con- 
 cealed," replied young Copeland. 
 
 " Very well. Who else saw the body, except the 
 police, before I came?"
 
 88 
 
 " Mr. Endicott and I went up as soon as Arthur 
 discovered the murder," Henry Copeland informed 
 him. " We are quite certain that there was no weapon 
 in the room. Mr. Kirke was lying upon his right 
 side. The knife had been driven into his left side, 
 and probably went through the heart." 
 
 " Correct," agreed Gray. " Then, unless the guilty 
 person left the house after committing the crime, he 
 must either have thrown the knife from a window, 
 or have concealed it somewhere in the house." 
 
 " The latter seems far more probable," remarked 
 Mr. Copeland. 
 
 " I agree with you," declared the detective. " We 
 are going to make a careful search of all the rooms 
 which we have not yet searched. The criminal would 
 hardly be foolish enough to hide such a thing in his 
 own room. Besides, we have just gone over all the 
 rooms which were occupied last night. That is all, 
 for the present, Mr. Copeland. I'll report to you as 
 soon as we find anything definite." 
 
 He hurried out to give further orders to his men. 
 Most of the party were beginning to feel confidence 
 in the ability of the little detective to solve the problem 
 which had so suddenly confronted us.
 
 BEHIND RED CURTAINS 89 
 
 " I think he's a splendid man for such a case as this," 
 declared Grace Copeland. 
 
 " He's good, all right," Fred Aldridge agreed. " He 
 keeps things hustling, and he gets his results." 
 
 But Henry Copeland shook his head slowly. 
 
 "I I don't believe he has a chance," he said. 
 " He is quick and methodical, I know, but I'm afraid 
 it will take something more than that to solve this 
 affair." 
 
 " Why, Dad, what makes you think that? " his son 
 demanded. 
 
 " Oh, I don't know," the elder Copeland answered. 
 " I simply have that feeling. It's a reasonable one, 
 too. Whoever has done this crime is clever. We 
 know he must have been clever. He will fight for his 
 life. Even though this criminal is one of us, we want 
 him brought to justice, you know. We could never 
 be happy, all our lives, if we had to realize that some 
 one of us was an unpunished murderer. And I 
 I'm afraid Gray will never succeed." 
 
 " But, father ? " Grace was astonished. " Who 
 else could we find, any better than he is? " 
 
 " Well, never mind, now," replied Mr. Copeland. 
 " I'll let Gray keep on, for the present."
 
 90 BEHIND RED CURTAINS 
 
 " We might help him out," suggested the lawyer, 
 " if any of us have ever tried detective work." 
 
 " That's a good idea," declared Mr. Copeland. 
 " Mr. Osgood, how about you ? I should think you 
 might be able to do wonders in that line." 
 
 " Why, er I have done a little," Osgood ad- 
 mitted. " In Detroit, several times, I have made use 
 of hypnotism for the detection of crime. But in a mys- 
 tery so baffling so absolutely unaccountable as 
 this, I don't imagine I'd be of much use." 
 
 " Still, you might try/' the lawyer suggested hope- 
 fully. 
 
 I suddenly turned to Bob Manning. 
 
 " You used to be interested in detective work, years 
 ago," I reminded him. " You were mighty good, too ! 
 Why don't you try?" 
 
 Manning laughed. 
 
 " Yes, do try, Dr. Manning, if you were ever at all 
 good at it ! " Mr. Endicott urged. 
 
 " Why, of course, if you really want me to," my 
 friend replied. " But I'm really afraid you'll find me 
 a laughable kind of detective. I never attempted 
 anything serious of that kind, in my life." 
 
 I was more hopeful. I had mentioned Manning's 
 ability with a deliberate purpose in mind. When Nor-
 
 BEHIND RED CURTAINS 91 
 
 ton Osgood had agreed to help Gray in whatever way 
 he could, I had foreseen that he would do his utmost 
 to fasten the guilt upon me. With Bob Manning's 
 efforts opposed to Osgood's there would be much less 
 chance of the hypnotist's success in incriminating me. 
 
 It was a weird tangle indeed. Here was Detective 
 Gray, who should have been told all the inside facts 
 of the case, working in the dark. Osgood, who had 
 given me the incentive to commit the crime, had a full 
 knowledge of all that had happened, and was ready 
 to do his best to send me to the electric chair. I real- 
 ized that nothing but the skill of Bob Manning could 
 save me from the fate of a murderer. 
 
 Even now, I was not sure that I had done the crime. 
 There were three great questions in my mind. Above 
 all else, these must be answered to my own satisfaction 
 before I could hope to wage open battle with Osgood. 
 
 Had I killed Harrison Kirke, or had I dreamed it 
 all? Did Norton Osgood believe that I had done it at 
 his bidding? And if I had not slain Kirke, who 
 had?
 
 CHAPTER V 
 
 Shortly after one o'clock that afternoon, I found 
 a chance to talk to Bob Manning alone. We were in 
 the living-room. Mr. Copeland had gone upstairs 
 with Detective Gray. I half expected that they would 
 return any minute. 
 
 " Bob," I said, in a low voice, " I have something 
 to tell you. It's something important/' 
 
 Manning glanced up quickly, surprised by my grave 
 manner. 
 
 " Something important? " he repeated, slowly. 
 
 " Yes," I answered. " But I can't tell you here. 
 We must go somewhere where we are certain to be 
 alone." 
 
 For a moment he stared into my face, as though 
 he would read my thoughts. Then he arose. 
 
 " Very well, George," he said quietly. " We'll go 
 into another room. Come." 
 
 We went out into the hall. At the entrance to the 
 little room with the red curtains, Manning paused. 
 
 " How about this room here, if you want to be 
 alone ? " he questioned. 
 
 92
 
 BEHIND RED CURTAINS 93 
 
 I hesitated. My experience in that little room on 
 the preceding evening had been a strange mixture 
 indeed. But that part of my story I had determined 
 never to tell, even to Bob Manning. 
 
 " All right," I agreed. " In here." 
 
 We went inside the little room. It was the first 
 time that I had been so near the red curtains. They 
 were much thicker and heavier than I had imagined 
 not at all likely to be swayed by a breath of wind. 
 
 I well knew that no one except Manning must hear 
 what I was going to tell. I turned to close the door 
 from the hallway. But Manning had already care- 
 fully latched it. 
 
 I sat down in a chair by the writing-desk. My 
 friend stood in silence near the door. Again his eyes 
 met mine in a long, questioning glance. For a min- 
 ute, I was unable to say anything. There was an 
 interval of tense waiting. Then Manning came for- 
 ward slowly, and seated himself in a chair opposite 
 mine. 
 
 "Well, George?" His voice was low, and a trifle 
 unnatural. " What is it ? " 
 
 I hesitated. His manner was perplexing me. 
 
 " Perhaps you have guessed it already," I said. 
 
 He was silent an instant.
 
 94 BEHIND RED CURTAINS 
 
 " Perhaps," he replied finally. " It's in regard 
 to Kirke, I suppose." 
 
 " Yes," I answered. Instinctively, almost fearfully, 
 I glanced toward the hall door. 
 
 He did not show any surprise. He was thoughtful 
 for a moment. 
 
 " I understand," he said. 
 
 " But you don't understand, at all ! " I declared. " I 
 see now what you think. You think I've been holding 
 back some information from Gray, so that you could 
 solve the case before he does. But that isn't it ! I've 
 been holding back information because I was afraid 
 to tell it!" 
 
 " Afraid ! " Manning was astounded. " Afraid of 
 what?" 
 
 " Don't you understand now ? " I asked. 
 
 " I certainly don't! " he declared. 
 
 " Bob. It it's merely this : I think I did it ! " 
 
 My friend started. 
 
 "You!" he gasped. "You did what? What 
 do you mean ? " 
 
 " I mean," I answered, " that I think I killed Har- 
 rison Kirke ! " 
 
 " George ! " He seized my arm in amazement and
 
 BEHIND RED CURTAINS 95 
 
 consternation. " George, you must be crazy ! What 
 on earth can you mean by this nonsense? " 
 
 " I think I'm the one who did it," I repeated. 
 
 " This is idiotic ! " Manning exclaimed. " You 
 think you did a murder ! It's the craziest notion " 
 
 " Wait ! " I checked him. " You must understand 
 what I mean! I think Norton Osgood made me do 
 it, through his hypnotic power, in the night ! " 
 
 " O-oh ! " Manning's face showed sudden compre- 
 hension. " Oh ! I see your meaning, now ! " 
 
 " You remember last night," I went on, " how Os- 
 good said he could have unlimited power over me. 
 You saw him hypnotize me the second time. You saw 
 how pale and shaken he was, just after he had done it. 
 I tell you, Bob, he made me kill Kirke! And I 
 did it!" 
 
 " That's all very true. No doubt, he did hypnotize 
 you with some such intention. But how do you know 
 you did it?" 
 
 " Because I dreamed it all ! " I answered. 
 
 " Dreamed what ? " he asked. 
 
 " I dreamed the whole ghastly thing, from start 
 to finish! At some time toward morning, I felt that 
 power take hold of me again that same power that
 
 96 BEHIND RED CURTAINS 
 
 made me take the ring out of the book last night. The 
 first thing I knew, I dreamed I was out of bed, cross- 
 ing the room. And then I felt myself trying to open 
 Kirke's door. I kept pushing on it, until finally " 
 
 " Pushing on it ! " Manning cut in suddenly. " You 
 mean it stuck ? " 
 
 " Yes ! " I answered. " I tried and tried to keep 
 myself from trying again to open it. But I was forced 
 to try twice more. And then it opened ! " 
 
 I paused, with a shudder. 
 
 "And then what?" Bob Manning questioned, in 
 a low tone. 
 
 " And then I I Oh ! " I gasped. " The knife ! 
 All at once I felt a knife in my hand! And then I 
 did it ! I stabbed him to the heart, and he died ! " 
 
 " Wait ! " said Manning, tensely. " You never had 
 any knife in your room last night. Where did you 
 get it?" 
 
 "I I don't know. I only know that it suddenly 
 came there, in my hand." 
 
 "Nonsense!" exclaimed Manning. "If you had 
 any knife at all, you got it somewhere. You dreamed 
 this whole business. What became of it? " 
 
 " Oh ! " I suddenly remembered. "I hid it, in 
 the fireplace ! "
 
 97 
 
 " In the fireplace ! What do you mean ? " 
 
 " That is what I dreamed I did ! " I told him. " I 
 dropped it into a hollow space, behind the bricks on 
 the right-hand side." 
 
 "Look here, George!" Manning grasped my arm. 
 " All this is nonsense crazy nonsense ! You never 
 killed Kirke!" 
 
 " But I I'm certain I was out of bed in the 
 night!" 
 
 Manning was startled. 
 
 " How do you know? " he demanded. 
 
 " I'll prove it to you," I answered. " Last night 
 I left my slippers on the chair beside the bed. This 
 morning they were on the floor. And this morning 
 my left hand was black with soot from hiding the 
 knife in the fireplace ! " 
 
 My friend was silent in thought. 
 
 " Now," I demanded, " what am I to do? " 
 
 " Do nothing ! " Manning answered instantly. 
 
 "You mean" 
 
 " I mean that you are to keep silence about this ! 
 Absolute silence! You know, and I know, that you 
 never killed Kirke ! Then there is no reason " 
 
 " But I don't know that ! " I exclaimed. 
 
 " You do know it ! " Bob Manning contradicted.
 
 98 BEHIND RED CURTAINS 
 
 " You did not kill Harrison Kirke ! I am as certain 
 of that as I ever was of anything in the world. Now 
 you keep quiet, and give me a chance to " 
 
 "But, Bob!" I interrupted. "There's a chance 
 that I may have done it! I'm almost certain that I 
 did!" 
 
 " It won't take me long to prove to you that you 
 didn't!" 
 
 "How?" I demanded. 
 
 " I am going to look in that fireplace ! " Manning 
 answered. " As soon as the detective is through with 
 your room up there, I am going to prove that you 
 never had any knife at all! But meanwhile, you be 
 careful. If they should once find some reason to sus- 
 pect you, and some one should remember the way 
 you " He stopped. 
 
 "The way I what?" 
 
 Manning's face had suddenly become grave. 
 
 " Nothing," he replied. " Don't worry. But in 
 heaven's name, don't give them a chance to suspect 
 you! If they should, and some one should remember 
 that, we'd have a terrible time getting you clear of 
 this!" 
 
 " I don't see that I have a chance anyway ! " I de- 
 clared, with a helpless shudder. "I I suppose I
 
 BEHIND RED CURTAINS 99 
 
 might as well tell the whole business to the detective, 
 and let him decide " 
 
 " You'll do nothing of the kind ! " my friend com- 
 manded. " You are absolutely innocent of this crime, 
 and I mean to prove it." 
 
 I was silent. He placed his hand on my shoulder. 
 
 " George, stop worrying," he urged me. " There's 
 nothing for you to be afraid of. I want you to re- 
 member that. You couldn't possibly be convicted of 
 this murder." 
 
 " There is, if the real criminal remains undiscov- 
 ered," I protested. " And suppose I am the one." 
 
 " You are not! " Bob Manning said again. "And 
 the real murderer will be discovered, long before the 
 least suspicion can be pointed toward you." 
 
 I could only hide my face in my hands, in horror 
 and despair. 
 
 " Please believe me, George ! " my friend begged me, 
 as he arose. " You trust me and I'll get you out 
 of this." 
 
 He turned quickly toward the door. 
 
 " Are you going up to look now ? " I questioned, 
 nervously. 
 
 "If your room is empty," he answered. " If the 
 detective is still there, I'll come back right away."
 
 ioo BEHIND RED CURTAINS 
 
 I did not raise my head. I heard him open the 
 door, and go out. 
 
 For several minutes I waited for him to return. I 
 realized that the whole question of my guilt or inno- 
 cence would hang upon the point which my friend had 
 gone out to determine, whether or not I had actually 
 used a real knife during the night. 
 
 The house was ominously quiet. I could barely 
 hear the footsteps of the detectives. The minutes 
 passed, and Bob Manning did not return. 
 
 At length I heard a door close. It was not from 
 the direction from which I had been expecting it. The 
 sound was from the lower floor, from some point near 
 the room where I was waiting. It was as if the 
 heavy latch of an outside door had closed. 
 
 I waited in silence. Suddenly, I heard the sound 
 of a soft footstep in the hall doorway. Some one 
 entered the room. I felt instinctively that the ques- 
 tion was to be settled once and for all. I could not 
 summon courage to raise my head, for fear of what 
 I might learn. 
 
 " Was it there ? " I asked in a hoarse whisper. 
 
 There was a silence. 
 
 " For heaven's sake, tell me, and have it over ! " I 
 exclaimed. " Did you find it in the fireplace ?"
 
 BEHIND RED CURTAINS 101 
 
 I turned in nervous impatience, and looked up. 
 Ellen Aldridge was standing in the doorway. 
 
 She was staring at me in open amazement. Her 
 eyes met mine in a half-frightened questioning, as 
 she saw the dread and horror depicted upon my coun- 
 tenance. 
 
 " Why why, Mr. Clayton," she faltered. " I 
 I can't imagine what you mean ! " 
 
 " Oh, I I beg your pardon, Miss Aldridge ! " I 
 said hastily. "I it must have sounded strange 
 the things I just said. I hope you I really can't 
 explain them. I didn't have any idea it was you who 
 had entered. I thought it was I mean " 
 
 I stopped in despair. All that I could say would 
 only serve to give my previous questions a worse mean- 
 ing. Her face told me the terrible thought which she 
 was trying to put out of her mind. 
 
 " Mr. Clayton ! " she said suddenly. " You you 
 seem horribly upset. What can be the trouble ? " 
 
 " I really can't explain, Miss Aldridge! " I repeated. 
 " The fact is, I I am upset. But I don't believe 
 I can tell you why." 
 
 " Whatever it may be, I am very sorry, Mr. Clay- 
 ton," she said. " If there is anything I can do to 
 help you, I hope you will let me know."
 
 102 BEHIND RED CURTAINS 
 
 " That's very kind of you, I'm sure," I replied. 
 
 She turned toward the door, but hesitated. For a 
 moment she stood there irresolute. Then she returned 
 quickly, and seated herself in the chair which Bob 
 Manning had occupied. 
 
 " Mr. Clayton," she said quietly, " there is some- 
 thing which I feel I ought to tell you. You realize 
 that I overheard you at the door just now. I I 
 didn't understand what you were talking about, and 
 I still don't see what it all meant. But I I couldn't 
 help wondering if it could have been anything in con- 
 nection with with Mr. Kirke." 
 
 I was silent, for I could not think of anything to 
 say. 
 
 " I hope you'll excuse me for saying this," she added 
 quickly. " I didn't for a minute mean to suggest that 
 you could have had any connection I really didn't, 
 Mr. Clayton! I only " 
 
 " I certainly understand that you didn't, Miss Aid- 
 ridge ! " I assured her. " I can see how absolutely 
 meaningless my words must have seemed. And I 
 I suppose I had better explain them to you." 
 
 She did not reply. My brain was in a turmoil, as 
 I debated whether or not I should tell her my secret. 
 My first thought, I reflected, had been that I must tell
 
 BEHIND RED CURTAINS 103 
 
 my trouble to Bob Manning. Was there any reason 
 why I should not entrust it to this girl as well ? There 
 was certainly no one whom I would rather be able to 
 trust than Ellen Aldridge. 
 
 " Miss Aldridge," I said slowly, " you weren't in 
 the room last evening while we were discussing hypno- 
 tism." 
 
 She shook her head. I hesitated again before I 
 continued. 
 
 " We were talking," I went on, " about the possible 
 use of hypnotism in in crime." 
 
 Ellen Aldridge gave a visible start. 
 
 " Mr. Clayton ! " she exclaimed. " You don't 
 you couldn't mean " She checked herself. 
 
 " Let me finish the sentence for you," I said quietly. 
 " This is what I mean. Your brother has evidently 
 known Mr. Osgood for some time. Do you know of 
 the least reason that Mr. Osgood could have for 
 for hating Harrison Kirke ? " 
 
 " Yes, I do," she answered quickly, with sudden 
 comprehension. " Mr. Osgood told Fred last night 
 that he remembered Mr. Kirke, and that he had hoped 
 he would never see him on earth again. What his 
 reason was for feeling that way, I don't know." 
 
 " That explains it, then," I said.
 
 104 BEHIND RED CURTAINS 
 
 " But, Mr. Clayton ! I don't understand what you 
 mean ! You can't believe - She stopped again. 
 
 " Your surmise is quite correct," I informed her. 
 " I believe that Mr. Norton Osgood forced me to kill 
 Harrison Kirke ! " 
 
 " Mr. Clayton ! " She drew back in horror. " I 
 can't believe it! I'll not believe it! You didn't!" 
 
 " I I'm afraid I did." 
 
 " But it's impossible ! " she declared. " Science has 
 proved that crime is beyond the power of hypnotism! " 
 
 " How do you know that? " I demanded. 
 
 " Why why, Fred has told me. You couldn't 
 have done it, Mr. Clayton! There is no power in 
 the world that could ever make you do such a thing ! " 
 
 " I only wish I could feel that way, myself ! " I 
 said. " I know it's against the laws of science that 
 Osgood could have been able to make me do such a 
 thing. But it wasn't only there was more than his 
 hypnotic power urging me to do it." 
 
 " I don't understand ! " declared Ellen Aldridge. 
 " You don't mean that you had some motive of your 
 own!" 
 
 " Why, of course I did ! " I answered. " I hated 
 the man, with all my heart! You must have forgot- 
 ten, Miss Aldridge ! I heard what he said to you, you
 
 BEHIND RED CURTAINS 105 
 
 remember, and I saw what he did, in this room, last 
 evening! " 
 
 I have never been able to see wherein I said too 
 much at that moment. It may be that in my over- 
 wrought state of mind my words were spoken a little 
 more earnestly than I realized. I have never thought 
 of it since without being a little sorry that I was not 
 more careful more hesitant. Had I only been so, 
 how much of all that followed could have been pre- 
 vented ! 
 
 I suddenly realized that Ellen Aldridge's eyes were 
 gazing into mine, with a look that I could not under- 
 stand. 
 
 " I wasn't sure that it really mattered to you, Mr. 
 Clayton, what he said to me," she said, in a low 
 voice. 
 
 Her tone puzzled me, but I supposed that it was 
 merely because of gratitude for my willingness to de- 
 fend her against the gambler. 
 
 " Of course it matters," I answered. " I couldn't 
 hear him talk to you as he did ! " 
 
 " It it's very wonderful of you to feel that way, 
 Mr. Clayton." 
 
 I glanced at her in quick surprise. She put out her 
 hand, and grasped mine.
 
 106 BEHIND RED CURTAINS 
 
 " And I'm going to do everything I can to help you," 
 she said slowly. 
 
 For an instant I was too stunned to say anything. 
 The total unexpectedness of the thing fairly took my 
 breath away. The room seemed turning in circles. 
 I was certain that I had not said anything, nor given 
 her reason to understand anything, which should have 
 caused this. 
 
 In the first few seconds I was unable to realize any- 
 thing except that my foolish dreams of the preceding 
 night had come true. But after that first moment, 
 reason returned. I began to see the shocking injustice 
 of the affair which I was allowing to take place, the 
 enormity of the wrong which I was about to do to 
 Bob Manning. I withdrew my hand from hers. 
 
 " I'm quite sure that you must have misunderstood 
 me, in some way, Miss Aldridge," I found myself 
 saying. " I certainly didn't intend I'm sure I didn't 
 give you any reason " 
 
 " Oh, I understand," she interrupted suddenly. " I 
 didn't judge by what you said, Mr. Clayton. It was 
 because of of what I thought you were afraid to 
 say. I see my mistake." 
 
 " But you weren't mistaken," I told her, in spite of 
 myself. "I I do care a great deal for you."
 
 BEHIND RED CURTAINS 107 
 
 I had no sooner said the words than I would have 
 given anything in the world to have been able to recall 
 them. 
 
 " But I know you must understand ! " I declared 
 suddenly. " All this is impossible ! It's absurd ! 
 And I'm sure I couldn't have given you any reason 
 to think " 
 
 I stopped, with a little start. I glanced toward the 
 doorway, but the hall seemed vacant. I had half 
 imagined that I had heard quiet footsteps, and the 
 closing of a door. In an instant came the thought 
 of what it would mean if some one should overhear 
 this. What if Bob Manning should return? What 
 if some one else should come, and should fail to un- 
 derstand that I had not been the one to blame for it? 
 I must put an end to this situation at once, and in 
 such a manner that my friend could never learn what 
 had taken place. That was the most appalling thought 
 of all the return of the man who was upstairs try- 
 ing to save me from the fate of a murderer the 
 same man who had faced the onslaught of a score of 
 African savages, willingly offering his life so that he 
 might save mine. 
 
 " Miss Aldridge," I said earnestly, " surely you must
 
 108 BEHIND RED CURTAINS 
 
 see how impossible this is ! Certainly you must under- 
 stand " 
 
 "But I really don't understand!" she interrupted 
 again. " Why why is it impossible ? " 
 
 " I can hardly believe that you don't see why ! " I 
 answered. " You have promised Bob Manning " 
 
 "But I I wish that I hadn't!" 
 
 " What did you say ? " I demanded, in open aston- 
 ishment. 
 
 " I said that I wish now I hadn't promised him 
 anything," she answered, with a little smile. "I I 
 promised him about a year ago, when I was lonely and 
 unhappy, and when no one in the world was ever kind 
 to me, except Bob. And I hope I can always have 
 him as a friend; he's been so splendid, with all of us. 
 But I wish I had never promised him anything else." 
 
 She was becoming more of a mystery to me every 
 minute. 
 
 " How long have you wished this? " I managed to 
 ask. 
 
 " Since since day before yesterday," she answered 
 quietly. 
 
 I was silent. I was heartily sorry now, and I was 
 not sure that the whole affair had not been my fault. 
 
 "I I don't know what he will do," she went on,
 
 BEHIND RED CURTAINS 109 
 
 "when I tell him this. I'm really afraid; perhaps 
 I had better not tell him yet." 
 
 " You needn't be afraid of what he will do," I 
 answered. " For I know Bob Manning's character. 
 The thing to be afraid of, is what he will think of me." 
 
 " Oh, I must tell him," she said quickly. " And 
 I'll explain to him that it hasn't been your fault at all." 
 
 She hesitated an instant. " But I I don't see 
 how I can ever dare to speak about it." 
 
 " There needn't be any reason for you to speak about 
 it!" I told her firmly. 
 
 " What do you mean ? " 
 
 " I mean that everything shall be exactly as it was 
 before," I answered. " I'll forget this, and you'll for- 
 get it, and we'll let it drop, right now." 
 
 "But I couldn't! I couldn't!" 
 
 There was no doubt in my mind now that she was 
 in earnest. 
 
 "You must!" I declared. "It's the only way we 
 can be fair to Bob Manning. He's the finest friend 
 any man ever had, and I've got to be on the level 
 with him. Promise me that you'll never think of this 
 again. Promise me, please ! " 
 
 " I'll try ! " she answered softly. 
 
 I arose. I had firmly resolved upon the only course
 
 i io BEHIND RED CURTAINS 
 
 which could possibly be followed under the circum- 
 stances, and I dared not stay in the room any longer, 
 lest my determination should weaken. 
 
 I went out into the hall, half intending to start up- 
 stairs and learn what had been keeping my friend so 
 long. I reasoned that he must have found Detective 
 Gray busy in my room, and had thus not been able to 
 investigate the fireplace. But the sound of voices in 
 the living-room caught my attention. I went in, and 
 found Manning there with Mr. Copeland and his son. 
 
 I took my first opportunity to speak to my friend 
 alone. 
 
 " What did you find? " I asked cautiously. " Was 
 it there?" 
 
 " I don't know, yet," Manning answered quickly. 
 " When I went up to your room, the detective was 
 there, and I didn't dare go near the fireplace. He 
 looked at me, too, as if he wondered what I was doing 
 up there in the hall." 
 
 " What can I do now ? " I questioned. 
 
 " You'd better look for it yourself in a few minutes," 
 he replied. " He won't think it strange for you to 
 be in your own room. But I'd better not try it again." 
 
 I made up my mind to take his suggestion at the
 
 BEHIND RED CURTAINS in 
 
 first favorable opportunity. But Detective Gray did 
 not come downstairs until after four o'clock, and it 
 was not until nearly five that all his men had finally 
 left the murdered man's room. By that time, Gray 
 himself had a discovery to report which drove all 
 thoughts of the fireplace out of my head for the mo- 
 ment. 
 
 I happened to be in the living-room when Gray came 
 in and spoke to Mr. Copeland. 
 
 " Mr. Copeland, we have made one discovery," he 
 announced. We all gathered around at once. 
 
 " It is concerning the knife which the criminal used," 
 the detective continued. 
 
 " You've found it? " demanded Henry Copeland. 
 
 " No, we haven't," was the answer. " But we've 
 found where it came from. Your servants have told 
 me that there have always been two large knives, 
 about eight inches in length, in the pantry. This 
 morning, I am told, one of those knives was missing. 
 That shows clearly, Mr. Copeland, that the murderer 
 obtained his weapon from the pantry last evening." 
 
 " It seems unquestionable," the banker agreed. 
 
 " The only question about it is the following," pur- 
 sued the detective. " Did he get it in the early eve-
 
 ii2 BEHIND RED CURTAINS 
 
 ning, or was it much later, after all had retired?" 
 
 " Do you consider that part of the question im- 
 portant?" asked Norton Osgood. 
 
 " Not especially," replied Gray. " There can be no 
 doubt in the mind of any one that this crime was 
 premeditated. The very nature of the murder shows 
 that. The only question is, did the guilty person plan 
 the deed in the early evening, and plan for it accord- 
 ingly, or did that person resolve upon the crime after 
 he or she had retired? " 
 
 " I can't see that it would make much difference, 
 either way," Fred Aldridge remarked. 
 
 " Well, it's just this. If the murder was not planned 
 at least several hours in advance, the guilty person 
 must have got up from bed and come down to the 
 pantry for the knife, during the night. I intend to 
 have the stairway, kitchen, and pantry examined for 
 finger prints. It is not likely that we shall find any- 
 thing there, for the servants have been busy around 
 the place all day. However, we are going to try." 
 
 After promising to report any further progress, he 
 again left the room. I saw that my chance to investi- 
 gate the fireplace had come. 
 
 But I simply did not have the nerve to go up to my 
 room and look. I was terrified by the realization of
 
 BEHIND RED CURTAINS 113 
 
 how much the question of the knife was really going to 
 mean. The knowledge that the weapon had come 
 from the pantry had been a distinct shock to me. 
 By what possible means could it ever have come into 
 my grasp as I had made my way across the room in 
 the night? I was absolutely certain that I had not 
 been near the pantry, nor even as far as the upper 
 hallway. It must mean that the whole incident of the 
 knife had been a dream. Yet I did not dare to look 
 in the fireplace. 
 
 For nearly an hour I struggled with myself, trying 
 to overcome the cowardice which was keeping me from 
 going up into that room. But I did not succeed. I 
 had too great a horror of what I might find. I was 
 afraid to face the test of whether or not I was the 
 guilty person. 
 
 It was after six o'clock when Bob Manning at length 
 found me still pacing about alone in the living-room. 
 My face must have showed that I had not yet been 
 upstairs. 
 
 " George ! " he exclaimed. " Why on earth don't 
 you go up and make sure of that? What's the mat- 
 ter with you ? " 
 
 " I can't, Bob! " I answered. " I'm afraid to go." 
 
 "Afraid?"
 
 ii 4 BEHIND RED CURTAINS 
 
 " Yes, of what I may find." 
 
 " Nonsense ! You'll find nothing at all in that fire- 
 place ! Come, come ! Gray may take it into his head 
 to make a close search of those upstairs rooms any 
 minute." 
 
 " I know it ! " I said with a shudder. " But I 
 I'm afraid to go." 
 
 " You must go ! " my friend said firmly. " Come. 
 I'll go with you, if you don't want to go alone." 
 
 He led me out to the stairs. Together we went 
 up. There was a single light in the upper hallway, 
 and the place was deserted. The door of the dead 
 man's room had been securely fastened up by means 
 of an iron chain and padlock. I shuddered when I 
 saw this, and Manning led me into my own room. 
 He switched on the light, and I saw that there was 
 another contrivance securing the door between my 
 room and Kirke's. 
 
 " Bob, I can't look there ! " I cried, with a shiver. 
 
 " Come," said Manning. " We haven't any time 
 to lose." 
 
 He strode across the room to the fireplace. I fol- 
 lowed. 
 
 Manning went directly to the fireplace, and stooped
 
 BEHIND RED CURTAINS 115 
 
 down to peer inside. His hand felt along the bricks 
 at the left-hand side. 
 
 " It's it's the other side," I told him. 
 
 He turned quickly to the bricks on the right. 
 
 " Here's the place," he said, as his hand found the 
 hole. He started to reach inside. 
 
 "No! No!" I gasped. 
 
 He gave a start of astonishment, and stared around 
 at me. 
 
 " Don't put your hand in there ! " I begged him. 
 " I couldn't stand it, to stay back here and watch you 
 do it, and not know whether you had found anything, 
 until you told me ! Bob, I can't stand it ! " 
 
 I was almost beside myself. He arose from the 
 fireplace. 
 
 " Then do it yourself! " he commanded. 
 
 I obeyed. Trembling, I knelt down and thrust my 
 hand into the hollow opening. For a moment I groped 
 in vain, as my fingers reached deeper and deeper. 
 Then I felt a hard, round, wooden substance. 
 
 " My God ! It's here ! " I almost breathed the 
 words. 
 
 "What is there?" asked Manning. He was calm. 
 
 " The knife ! " I answered. " I feel the handle ! " 
 
 " Bring it out! " he ordered.
 
 ii6 BEHIND RED CURTAINS 
 
 Manning's face was grave, but it did not show any 
 excitement. I could feel the corners of my mouth 
 twitching. There was nothing to do but obey his 
 command. 
 
 So I seized the wooden handle, and drew the object 
 out into the glare of the electric light. And together 
 we stared down in silent horror at the blood-stained 
 blade of a kitchen knife.
 
 CHAPTER VI 
 
 For a moment we both stared helplessly at the knife 
 in my hand. There could be no doubt that it was the 
 one which was missing from the pantry. It had a 
 blade about eight inches in length, and a wooden handle 
 about five inches long. The stains upon the metal 
 had unmistakably been made by blood. 
 
 " That settles it ! " I said, breaking a long silence. 
 "I killed him!" 
 
 " You couldn't have done it, George ! You 
 couldn't!" 
 
 Bob Manning's face showed doubt. 
 
 " But this proves it, beyond anything ! " I persisted. 
 " What other explanation can you give, of this knife? " 
 
 Manning did not reply. I felt instinctively that even 
 he had lost confidence in my innocence. It was almost 
 as if he now realized the hopelessness of my case, 
 and was willing to leave me to my fate. 
 
 " Bob! " I cried suddenly. " Bob, for heaven's sake 
 don't go back on me now ! I know I killed him, and 
 I'll pay the penalty for it ! But I'm not a criminal, and 
 
 117
 
 n8 BEHIND RED CURTAINS 
 
 I can't stand it if you aren't willing to stick by me! " 
 
 " Why, George," my friend replied slowly, " I can't 
 see what ever gave you the idea that I'm not willing." 
 
 " It's the way you act now. You're not sorry 
 for me any more; I feel it. I know I did it, but I'm 
 not a criminal, and " 
 
 " I'm sure I can't see why you talk this way," 
 Manning broke in. "Of course I am sorry for you. 
 And I know you're not a criminal. But I really can't 
 see how you are going to get out of this." 
 
 His words certainly showed all the sympathy that 
 could be expected, but I missed the reassuring grasp 
 of his hand on my shoulder. 
 
 " Bob," I said suddenly. " If you think I'm lying 
 to you, tell me so! You believe that I deliberately 
 killed Kirke because of my own motives, and then 
 invented this story of hypnotism in order to get you 
 to help me! That's what you think, isn't it? Tell 
 me! Isn't it? " 
 
 Bob Manning actually hesitated before he answered. 
 
 " Why, George, I I certainly wouldn't like to 
 think that." 
 
 That was the last straw. Even Bob Manning had 
 lost faith in my honesty. He had shown it by his 
 sudden change of attitude, by his hesitancy in denying
 
 BEHIND RED CURTAINS 119 
 
 that he did not believe in me, and by his only too plain 
 aversion to making any further effort to save me. And 
 I would rather have paid the full penalty a thousand 
 times than have lost Bob Manning's confidence. 
 
 The knife dropped from my fingers, and clattered 
 to the floor in front of the fireplace. I buried my 
 head in my hands, and shook with convulsive sobs. 
 
 Then, suddenly, I felt an arm around my shoulders. 
 My friend was bending over me. 
 
 " George ! George ! " There was a choke in his 
 voice, and his face showed as much agony as mine. 
 I stared up at him in wonder. 
 
 " George, I do trust you ! Good God ! What 
 have I done? " 
 
 " You ! " I exclaimed. " You haven't done any- 
 thing" 
 
 " I've done everything ! " he cut in. " Everything 
 that I once believed I could never do! I've refused 
 to help the best friend I ever had ! I've watched you 
 suffer here for ten minutes, and never said one word 
 to make things easier for you ! I've let you think that 
 I believed you are guilty! And if I told you why 
 Oh, I'm the greatest coward in the world ! " 
 
 " You're not a coward ! " I declared. 
 
 " I am ! " he contradicted. " I haven't had the nerve
 
 120 BEHIND RED CURTAINS 
 
 to stand up for you, now that the evidence points as 
 it does. George, forgive me! Only forgive me, and 
 I'll do my best for you all my life! " 
 
 He took my hand, just as if he felt he had done me 
 some great wrong. 
 
 " Will you forgive this? " he asked. 
 
 " There isn't anything to forgive," I answered. 
 "Of course I will!" 
 
 " Thank you! " he said quietly. " Now I'm ready 
 to do my best for you." 
 
 " I don't see that there's anything to be done," I 
 said. 
 
 " What do you mean ? " 
 
 " This knife shows clearly that I am the one who 
 killed Kirke," I replied. " There is nothing to be done 
 but turn it over to Gray, and give myself up." 
 
 " That knife proves absolutely nothing," Manning 
 declared. " And you are not to give yourself up to 
 Gray, because you are not guilty of this crime ! " 
 
 " I may not be morally guilty of it," I admitted. 
 " But the fact remains that I killed Kirke. And it's 
 my duty to tell them about it." 
 
 " You did not kill Kirke ! " my friend returned. 
 
 " Then what about this knife? " I demanded. 
 
 " Some one else put it there," declared Manning.
 
 BEHIND RED CURTAINS 121 
 
 " That's impossible ! " I exclaimed. " I am the only 
 one who knew about the dream I had, until I told you 
 downstairs. No one else could possibly have known 
 where I hid the knife in my dream. My dream was 
 real. You can't explain this knife in any other way." 
 
 " Some other person put the knife in that fireplace, 
 since this morning," Bob repeated. " I don't see how 
 it could have been a coincidence. Some one had 
 learned your dream, and then hid it there to make you 
 feel that you were guilty." 
 
 " But no one in the world, except you, could have 
 known that I had such a dream ! " 
 
 "Oh, couldn't they?" asked Manning, slowly. 
 " How about the man who gave you that dream? " 
 
 I saw the possibilities of the idea, and began to 
 have hope again. 
 
 " Just the same," I declared, " it is my duty to put 
 Gray in possession of all these facts." 
 
 " It is not your duty ! " my friend exclaimed. " Do 
 you know what he will do if you tell him this? He 
 will tell you that your story of hypnotism is an abso- 
 lute falsehood a clever attempt to shift your guilt 
 upon some other man. He will say that you have 
 confessed because you saw that discovery must come 
 before long. I know that type of detective. You'll
 
 122 BEHIND RED CURTAINS 
 
 be tried for murder. George, you are not guilty of 
 the murder of Kirke, and you shall not throw your 
 life away in any such way as this! " 
 
 " But, anyway," I persisted, " I had better give this 
 knife to Gray, and tell him that I found it somewhere 
 in this room." 
 
 " And have him find your finger marks all over it, 
 and mine, too, where we have just handled it! " Man- 
 ning finished. 
 
 " I don't see what else I can do with it." 
 
 "Take it away, and throw it out!" said Manning 
 quickly. 
 
 "Throw it out? Where?" 
 
 " Anywhere," replied Bob. " Only get it away, 
 where no one can find it. Take it out in the garden 
 and bury it, or anything." 
 
 " That wouldn't be right," I answered. 
 
 "Why not?" 
 
 " Because I would be deliberately blocking justice. 
 I can't do it. Whether I'm guilty or not, I can't " 
 
 " That's nonsense ! " Manning broke in. " You 
 know as well as I that you did not kill Kirke. It's 
 nothing less than criminal for you to risk your life 
 by refusing to get rid of evidence which has no right 
 to be here."
 
 BEHIND RED CURTAINS 123 
 
 " I can't do it," I repeated, shaking my head. 
 
 " George ! " cried Manning, seizing my arm, " you 
 must do it ! You know what it will mean, if this knife 
 is ever found in your room! For heaven's sake get 
 rid of it, before it's too late! " 
 
 But I only shook my head again. And all his plead- 
 ing failed to persuade me to take the knife out of the 
 house. I felt that it was beyond my right deliberately 
 to remove such important evidence, and I refused to 
 agree to such a course. 
 
 "The most I'll do is this," I said finally. "I'll 
 put it back in the fireplace, where it was, and say 
 nothing at all about it to any one." 
 
 " The detective will be certain to search this room 
 to-morrow morning," Manning warned me. 
 
 " Let him," I returned, as I dropped the knife back 
 into the hollow space in the bricks. " He'll not find 
 it. Arthur Copeland is the only one in the house who 
 knows about this hole." 
 
 I arose, and started toward the door. Manning 
 stopped me. 
 
 " George, do as I told you ! " he exclaimed. " Take 
 that knife out of there, and bury it! " 
 
 "No, Bob!" I answered. "I'll not do it! It's 
 not within my right to do that. I'm not called upon
 
 124 BEHIND RED CURTAINS 
 
 to make it easy for Gray, but it isn't right to make 
 it hard for him." 
 
 And Bob Manning had to be content with leaving 
 the weapon where it was. 
 
 Detective Gray did not wait until morning to con- 
 tinue his activities. About eight o'clock that evening 
 he called us all together in the living-room, where he 
 proceeded to take impressions of the finger prints of 
 every member of our family. He would have them 
 photographed, he said, by the next morning, so that 
 any finger marks which he might discover in Kirke's 
 room could be identified at once. 
 
 I do not believe many of us slept that night. I know 
 that I did not. It was a tired, nervous group which 
 gathered at the breakfast table the next morning. 
 
 This was to have been the wedding day. But now, 
 of course, such a thing as a wedding was utterly 
 impossible until the mystery surrounding the death 
 of Harrison Kirke had been solved. Henry Cope- 
 land had reluctantly cancelled all the invitations, and 
 the marriage had been indefinitely postponed. 
 
 The body of Kirke had remained in the house dur- 
 ing the night. This had been greatly against Henry 
 Copeland's wishes, but Detective Gray had declared 
 that it must not be disturbed until he had had time
 
 BEHIND RED CURTAINS 125 
 
 to make a more thorough search for finger print evi- 
 dence. 
 
 Gray appeared at the house about eight o'clock, and 
 announced his plans to Mr. Copeland. He intended to 
 make a final search of the rooms upstairs, including a 
 more careful examination of the room of the murdered 
 man. 
 
 " I understood that you searched the other rooms 
 yesterday," the banker remarked. 
 
 " I did, once," replied Gray. " But you remember, 
 I intended to make a much more careful search yes- 
 terday afternoon, and I didn't get around to it." 
 
 " Oh, I I understood that you did." Mr. Cope- 
 land seemed rather puzzled. " I don't know just 
 where I got the idea, but I have the impression that 
 some one told me you were searching the other rooms 
 yesterday afternoon. Weren't you in my son's room, 
 and Mr. Clayton's, and some of the others? " 
 
 The detective shook his head. 
 
 " I stepped into your son's room for an instant, 
 to make certain that the window was fastened," he 
 replied. " But I did not make any search there. As 
 for Mr. Clayton's room, I am quite certain that I did 
 not even go inside it during the afternoon." 
 
 " That's very strange," the banker mused. " I don't
 
 126 BEHIND RED CURTAINS 
 
 see how I got that impression. Well, we are waiting 
 anxiously for your results, Mr. Gray. Be sure to let 
 us know as soon as you learn anything." 
 
 At noon the detective returned, with the air of a 
 man who has made astonishing discoveries. 
 
 " It certainly seems that the criminal must have 
 worn gloves," he announced. 
 
 We were all attention immediately. 
 
 " There is not a single finger mark which is of any 
 real help to us," Gray went on. " There are quite 
 a number in Mr. Kirke's room, but nearly all of them 
 have proved to have been made by Mr. Kirke himself. 
 There are two or three which are not his, but those also 
 do not help us, for they are clearly those of the young 
 Mr. Copeland." 
 
 "Of course!" exclaimed Arthur Copeland quickly. 
 " I must have made them when I discovered the body 
 yesterday morning." 
 
 I can never describe the relief which I felt at that 
 moment. Above all else, I dreaded that I had left my 
 finger prints somewhere in Kirke's room. Indeed, it 
 was almost inconceivable that I could have been in 
 there and not have done so. 
 
 " The marks in the other rooms," the detective went 
 on, " are invariably those of their occupants. There
 
 BEHIND RED CURTAINS 127 
 
 was one in particular that I noticed. In Mr. Clayton's 
 room, on the handle of the door which opened from 
 there into Mr. Kirke's room, are Mr. Clayton's finger 
 prints. He has also placed his hands upon other 
 portions of the door, on his own side." 
 
 " I can readily account for that," I explained. " On 
 the night of the murder, when I learned that Mr. Kirke 
 was going to sleep in the next room, I made an effort 
 to close the communicating door and lock it." 
 
 " You say you closed the door at that time ? " asked 
 Gray. 
 
 I thought quickly. The truth was safer. 
 
 "No," I replied. "I think Mr. Kirke himself 
 closed it. I then went over and tried to lock it, but 
 there was no key." 
 
 " That, then, accounts for Mr. Kirke's own finger 
 prints on his side of the door," the detective com- 
 mented. " It is clear that no one else touched either 
 that door or the hall door on the inside, unless he 
 did it with gloves. The point is not at all important, 
 and can lead us nowhere. I'll go back, and try 
 again." 
 
 Most of the party were now beginning to be decid- 
 edly dissatisfied with Gray's work. As Henry Cope- 
 land had said, he was not the kind of detective who
 
 128 BEHIND RED CURTAINS 
 
 would be likely to be successful in such a case as this. 
 His whole scheme of investigation seemed to be a 
 mechanical searching and re-searching of the house 
 for material evidence which no really clever person 
 would ever have left. We could all see that his efforts 
 were not getting him anywhere. Norton Osgood and 
 Bob Manning had not yet been able to give him any 
 assistance. As for the police, they had done abso- 
 lutely nothing of value since the crime had been dis- 
 covered. 
 
 Detective Gray had been working on the case for a 
 day and a half, but he had not yet made a single effort 
 to get at the real facts concerning Harrison Kirke. 
 The question of motive had apparently not occurred 
 to him at all ; he seemed content to establish the motive 
 after he had arrested the criminal. He had not yet 
 shown the slightest surprise that such a man as Har- 
 rison Kirke should have been one of Henry Cope- 
 land's guests, nor had he made any effort to learn any- 
 thing about Kirke except his mere identity. I had 
 not heard him ask a single question concerning the 
 events of the early evening before the murder. If he 
 had been informed that there had been tests of hypno- 
 tism carried out during that evening, he had not paid 
 any attention to the fact. In so far as I knew, he
 
 BEHIND RED CURTAINS 129 
 
 had not had the slightest conception of the possible 
 connection of hypnotism to the case. Until he should 
 obtain some knowledge of the tangle of facts con- 
 nected with the early evening of the crime, and until 
 he began to see that the hypnotic tests might have been 
 the basis of the whole tragedy, he could have little hope 
 for success in a mystery as involved as this one. 
 
 But he still kept on with the same methods during 
 the afternoon. As far as we could see, he did not 
 have the slightest intention of adopting any other 
 plan in the future. 
 
 About half past four, he announced that he was 
 ready to have Kirke's body removed from the house. 
 Then it was that Henry Copeland threw a bombshell 
 into the whole party. 
 
 " I believe, Mr. Gray," he said quietly, " that I will 
 ask to have the body left upstairs, undisturbed, until 
 to-morrow morning." 
 
 The request came as a distinct shock to Detective 
 Gray. 
 
 " I'll explain the reason for my request, Mr. Gray," 
 the banker continued, " and I would like to be certain 
 that it is carried .out, until the morning. I have de- 
 cided, in view of the extraordinary difficulties pre- 
 sented by this affair, that it would be of great help if
 
 I 3 o BEHIND RED CURTAINS 
 
 I could find some one who would give you and the po- 
 lice a little aid. You see, I feel that there are some 
 aspects of this case which cannot possibly be solved 
 by the usual police methods." 
 
 " I think I understand," the detective said. " There 
 is some one coming to help out to-morrow morning, 
 and you would like everything left just as it is until 
 that time." 
 
 " Yes," replied Henry Copeland. " I was fortunate 
 enough to get in touch with this gentleman this after- 
 noon by telegram. He is at present in New York, 
 and has promised to be here to-morrow morning. 
 Mr. Gray has undoubtedly heard of Inspector Steele." 
 
 "You don't mean that Steele is coming!" ex- 
 claimed Fred Aldridge. His face showed real appre- 
 hension. 
 
 Henry Copeland glanced at him in quick surprise. 
 Bob Manning quickly explained Fred's agitation. 
 
 " Fred has had a very unfortunate experience with 
 Inspector Steele's methods," Bob said to the banker. 
 " I'm sure we'll all excuse him for feeling as he does." 
 
 I understood why Fred Aldridge dreaded the com- 
 ing of the great secret service man. It had been 
 Inspector Steele who had sent Fred's father to the 
 electric chair.
 
 BEHIND RED CURTAINS 131 
 
 " He is coming from New York on the midnight 
 train," the banker went on. " I think I was mighty 
 lucky to find him, at the very time when we need 
 help most." 
 
 "You are sure that he is coming?" asked Ellen 
 Aldridge. 
 
 " Quite sure," replied Mr. Copeland. " You see, 
 I happened to be able to do a little favor for him, a 
 few years ago. It really wasn't anything at all, but 
 Mr. Steele seemed to think it was. When I told him 
 of our trouble, to-day, he wired back that he would 
 be only too glad to help us out, and that he would be 
 willing to spend a week here, if that were necessary." 
 
 Detective Gray was evidently much impressed by 
 the fact that Inspector Steele was coming. He went 
 to work again at once, apparently in the hope that 
 he might be able to solve the mystery before the 
 Inspector should arrive. Needless to say, his hurried 
 efforts were no more successful than his previous 
 more careful ones had been. 
 
 There were so many things puzzling and worrying 
 me that I spent as much of the evening as possible 
 by myself thinking them over. I was still quite at 
 a loss to explain why Bob Manning had at first seemed 
 so unwilling to believe in me, and had been so sorry
 
 132 BEHIND RED CURTAINS 
 
 about his previous lack of trust as soon as he had 
 seen what great trouble I was in. It was doubly 
 unfortunate that we should have had even a temporary 
 misunderstanding at this particular time, on account 
 of my affair of the early afternoon with Ellen Aid- 
 ridge. I now dreaded more than ever the consequences, 
 if she should mention that affair to Bob. I pur- 
 posely avoided talking to her during the evening, lest 
 something that I might say should induce her to tell 
 Manning sooner than she had intended. I was greatly 
 relieved when I saw that Bob Manning was not with 
 her very often, either, for it meant that there would 
 be less likelihood of her telling him. 
 
 I was more apprehensive than ever concerning my 
 own safety. I felt that so far I had been favored 
 with remarkably good fortune in the matter of having 
 left any clues which might be observed by Detective 
 Gray. But I had an alarming feeling that I would 
 find it much harder work concealing my knowledge 
 from Inspector Malcome Steele. 
 
 Bob Manning came to me again about nine o'clock. 
 
 " George," he declared, after making certain that 
 we were alone, " you've got to take that knife out of 
 the fireplace ! " 
 
 " But I've told you that I can't do it," I said firmly.
 
 BEHIND RED CURTAINS 133 
 
 " You'll have to do it ! You heard what Mr. Cope- 
 land said to-day. Inspector Steele will be here to- 
 morrow. Once he has come, it will be too late to 
 attempt anything of that kind. You must take that 
 knife away to-night! " 
 
 " No, Bob ! " I repeated. " It isn't right." 
 
 " Then if you won't do it, I will." 
 
 " No, no, I can't let you ! " I exclaimed. " I can't 
 let you hinder justice to save me! That knife must 
 be left where it is. That's as far as I'll go against 
 the law." 
 
 Manning spent a few minutes longer in an effort to 
 induce me to do what he wished, but I steadily refused 
 to make any change in my plans. He soon saw that 
 it was hopeless to try to dissuade me, and we parted. 
 I was very tired, and I retired early. 
 
 But, exhausted as I was, I could not sleep. Per- 
 haps it was because I realized that the body of Harri- 
 son Kirke was still lying just behind that padlocked 
 door. The thought gave me a horrible feeling that I 
 could not dispel. I would have asked Mr. Copeland 
 if it would be possible for me to change my room, if 
 I had not felt that I had caused trouble enough for 
 him already. 
 
 It may have been that I was also haunted by a dread
 
 i 3 4 BEHIND RED CURTAINS 
 
 of what might happen the next morning, when Inspec- 
 tor Steele came to investigate the unaccountable tragedy 
 which was baffling us all. Or it may have been that 
 I was still trying to decide whether or not I had slain 
 Harrison Kirke. I only know that the long hours 
 passed, and I remained awake. 
 
 It must have been at some time well past midnight 
 that I had a sudden, startling feeling that something 
 was wrong in the room. It was simply one of those 
 feelings that one can never explain. In an instant 
 I was wider awake than ever. 
 
 The night was cloudy, and the room was very dark. 
 But as I peered nervously around, I was quite certain 
 that there was a rectangular patch on the wall in 
 front of me which was a shade lighter than the rest of 
 the darkness. The longer I stared at it, the more 
 certain I became that it was there. 
 
 Now, that light patch could mean only one thing. 
 The hall door must be partly open. I had carefully 
 closed and latched that door before retiring, yet I 
 was now quite certain that it had been opened. With- 
 out doubt, it had been a slight breath of air from 
 that direction, which had given me my uneasy feeling. 
 
 But why had the door been opened ? And who had 
 done it? There was scarcely any wind, and even if
 
 BEHIND RED CURTAINS 135 
 
 there had been, it could not have turned the knob. 
 
 I was certain that I had been wide awake every 
 instant since I had gone to bed. Yet I was equally 
 certain that I had not heard the slightest sound from 
 the doorway. Whoever had opened the door without 
 my knowledge, had done it with unbelievable skill. I 
 gazed steadily at that light rectangular patch, but I 
 could see no other form there. 
 
 Then, with a start of genuine terror, I discovered 
 that the person who had opened the door so silently 
 had already entered, and that he was now at the 
 opposite end of the room. 
 
 The very faint light from the window was just 
 enough to cast a hazy patch across the floor between 
 the fireplace and the table at the end of the room. And 
 in that spot I saw the crouching form of a man. 
 
 I felt my hair rise on end as I thought of the super- 
 human skill that the unknown intruder must have 
 used. He had turned the knob of the door, opened it, 
 crossed the room, and accomplished something at the 
 end where he was, all without causing as much as the 
 slightest rustling to warn me of his presence. I was 
 stunned by the realization that such a feat could have 
 been carried out within four feet of where I lay. 
 
 I suddenly became aware that the dark form was
 
 136 BEHIND RED CURTAINS 
 
 returning. I could not tell whether it was moving 
 toward the door, or toward the bed where I was 
 lying. It was moving ever so slowly, but it was 
 drawing nearer. Gradually, silently, stealthily, it 
 came. A shadow could not have approached my bed 
 with any slower, more noiseless, more terrifying mo- 
 tion. 
 
 What was the meaning of this midnight visit ? Why 
 was this phantomlike intruder coming toward my bed ? 
 
 I suddenly thought of how Harrison Kirke would 
 have felt, an instant before he had met his death, if 
 he could have seen some such shadowy form drawing 
 close to him if he could perhaps have made out 
 the knife in the murderer's hand. 
 
 With a shiver of horror I sat bolt upright, and 
 stared at the thing which was coming across the room. 
 The hazy light from the window was enough to 
 show me the very picture which had just formed in 
 .. my brain. I saw dimly the head, the shoulders, and 
 the arms of the man who was advancing. And then 
 I saw his right 'hand. 
 
 The window light shone for a half second on a blade 
 of steel. 
 
 With a shuddering gasp I shrank back, and tried
 
 BEHIND RED CURTAINS 137 
 
 to cry out. But my throat would make no sound. 
 So I sat there rigid with horror, and merely stared, 
 while the silent form came nearer, nearer to the bed.
 
 CHAPTER VII 
 
 I stared in horror while the dark form drew closer. 
 But when it reached the foot of my bed, it stopped. I 
 thought I could catch the sound of a whispered sylla- 
 ble. 
 
 Whoever it was, he had evidently discovered that 
 I was sitting up in bed. Again I heard a soft whisper, 
 and this time there was no question about the word 
 which was spoken. It was unmistakably " George.'' 
 
 " Bob ! " I exclaimed, in sudden recognition. 
 
 " I hoped you would be asleep," he said. 
 
 " But what were you doing ? " I demanded. " And 
 how did you get in ? " 
 
 He came closer. He was dressed, and in his stock- 
 ing feet. I had a better view of the knife in his hand. 
 
 " I've come to take away this knife ! " he answered. 
 
 " You mustn't ! " I protested. " You promised me 
 you wouldn't ! " 
 
 " I didn't promise anything ! " he returned. " And 
 I am going to put this where it will never convict you 
 of a crime you didn't do ! " 
 
 138
 
 BEHIND RED CURTAINS 139 
 
 I was still shaking from my fright, and he noticed 
 it. 
 
 " What's happened to you? " he asked quickly. 
 
 "I I don't know ! " I answered, with a shudder. 
 " It it gave me a terrible fright to see you creeping 
 over here, just like just like a shadow. I I'd 
 been thinking of things, and of Kirke, and I thought 
 for a minute that it was Kirke's murderer, coming 
 after me! " 
 
 I gave a nervous laugh in spite of my efforts. In 
 my relief from that terrible minute, I thought that I 
 would have to cry out. 
 
 Bob Manning did not laugh. He seized my arm, 
 and silenced me. 
 
 " Be quiet," he commanded. " If you wake any one 
 before I dispose of this thing, we'll both regret it!" 
 
 " But you must tell me ! " I exclaimed. " How 
 how did you do it ? How did you get in ? " 
 
 " How did I get in? " he repeated, puzzled. " Why, 
 I crept in, and over to the fireplace." 
 
 " But I've been wide awake every instant," I de- 
 clared. " I don't see how you ever opened that door, 
 and crossed this room, without making some sound! 
 I never knew of anything like it! " 
 
 "Oh, that!" Bob laughed slightly. "It's an old
 
 I 4 o BEHIND RED CURTAINS 
 
 hunting trick of mine. I learned it stalking game in 
 the woods ; you must have seen me do it in Africa. 
 But I can't wait here any longer. I am going to get 
 rid of this knife!" 
 
 " Bob, please don't ! " I begged him again. 
 
 " I must ! " he answered. " We can't let Steele come 
 while it is hidden in your room." 
 
 " But he won't be suspicious of me," I told him. 
 " I used to know him fairly well, a few years ago." 
 
 Manning had evidently not known this. 
 
 " Do you know him? " I asked. 
 
 " No, I've never met him," he answered. " Don't 
 worry about to-morrow, George. And leave this knife 
 affair to me." 
 
 He turned, and crept away into the darkness as 
 silently as he had come. Without a sound, the hall 
 door closed behind him. 
 
 I heard nothing more of him until morning. When 
 we assembled for breakfast, a reassuring glance from 
 his eyes told me that he had been successful in dispos- 
 ing of the knife. 
 
 Detective Gray came just as we finished breakfast. 
 He had not been in the house ten minutes, when the 
 door-bell rang. I had an instinctive feeling that In- 
 spector Steele had come, and I walked out through
 
 BEHIND RED CURTAINS 141 
 
 the living-room in order to glance into the hall. 
 
 I had guessed correctly. The Inspector was there, 
 talking with Henry Copeland. 
 
 No one who had seen Steele once could fail to 
 recognize him again. He was tall and powerfully 
 built. His face would command attention anywhere. 
 His eyes were gray, and they were the kind of eyes 
 which see things on all sides, without apparently look- 
 ing at anything. They were the kind which seem to 
 gaze through another person's eyes, rather than into 
 them, and when they glanced into a face, they seldom 
 failed to discover what lay behind it. 
 
 I had never been able to make any accurate estimate 
 of Inspector Steele's age. At ordinary times he was 
 deliberate in speech, and slow in action. I had often 
 thought that he must be at least forty. But once or 
 twice I had caught a glimpse of Steele at work on 
 secret service cases. I had thought upon those occa- 
 sions that he could not have passed thirty, for I had 
 heard his voice when it had been hard and sharp, and 
 I had seen his movements when they had been quick 
 as chain lightning. 
 
 Steele saw me almost as soon as I appeared in the 
 living-room doorway. To my surprise, he recognized 
 me instantly.
 
 i 4 2 BEHIND RED CURTAINS 
 
 " Clayton, I'm glad to see you ! " he told me, as he 
 came forward and shook hands. His eyes met mine 
 squarely, as they had in the past. But this time, 
 mine were not quite so ready to meet his. 
 
 " I'm certainly glad to find you here," Steele de- 
 clared. " Mr. Copeland has just given me some idea 
 of what has happened here, and I feel sure you'll 
 be able to help me, too." 
 
 I promised to try, but I was afraid I did not make 
 my promise seem very sincere. 
 
 " I suppose, Mr. Steele," Henry Copeland said, 
 " that you would like, first of all, to have as detailed 
 an account of this occurrence as we can give you." 
 
 " I think, if you don't mind, Mr. Copeland," In- 
 spector Steele replied, " that the first thing that I 
 would like to do is to meet the other members of your 
 party." 
 
 Mr. Copeland was surprised. 
 
 " Before you have even heard the circumstances of 
 the crime? " he asked. 
 
 " If you don't object," answered the Inspector. 
 
 "Why, certainly, if you prefer. The the guests 
 were here, you understand, for the wedding of my 
 daughter, Grace. It was to have taken place last eve- 
 ning. I'll ask them to step in here at once."
 
 BEHIND RED CURTAINS 143 
 
 " Would it be too much trouble if you didn't do 
 that?" asked Steele quickly. "If possible, I should 
 like to be able to see them before they have been told 
 of my presence." 
 
 " Oh ! " Henry Copeland was beginning to under- 
 stand the Inspector's wish. " Oh, well ! Then I be- 
 lieve we shall find them all in the dining-room now, 
 Mr. Steele." 
 
 He led the way down the hall. Inspector Steele 
 followed with me. When we reached the dining-room, 
 I had a good opportunity to observe Steele as he 
 entered the room. 
 
 The others were still seated around the table, al- 
 though Mr. Copeland and his son had left with me 
 when Detective Gray had come. They glanced up in 
 sudden surprise when we entered. 
 
 It was in that first second of astonishment that 
 Inspector Steele's eyes were busy. He did not appear 
 to be gazing at any one, but I saw him shoot quick 
 glances in and out among the people in the room. His 
 gaze travelled quickly down one side of the table, 
 paused for a fraction of a second upon the face of Nor- 
 ton Osgood, and passed on. As he glanced at the 
 other side, he saw Ellen Aldridge before she was aware 
 of our presence. His eyes rested upon her a fraction
 
 i 4 4 BEHIND RED CURTAINS 
 
 of a second longer than upon any of the others as 
 they passed along the row of faces. 
 
 Mr. Copeland at once proceeded to introduce his 
 guests. Most of them seemed quite astonished, and 
 almost bewildered, at the suddenness of Steele's arrival. 
 Norton Osgood at first did not recognize the Inspec- 
 tor at all, and he was quite surprised when he learned 
 who the newcomer was. 
 
 I remembered that Bob Manning had expressed a 
 wish to know Steele, and I gave him a special intro- 
 duction a few minutes later. Steele was quite pleased 
 when he learned that my friend had more or less 
 ability in detective work. We had a pleasant talk 
 together for several minutes before Steele started 
 upstairs. When Bob at length left us, the Inspector's 
 gaze followed him. 
 
 " Manning, you said his name was? " he asked me. 
 
 " Yes," I replied. " Dr. Robert Manning, of New 
 York." 
 
 " I like him," was Inspector Steele's comment, as he 
 turned toward the living-room. 
 
 I had expected that he would immediately go up 
 to the scene of the tragedy, and I was curious to learn 
 what had taken him to the living-room. I followed,
 
 BEHIND RED CURTAINS 145 
 
 and found him in conversation with Norton Osgood. 
 
 " I wonder, Mr. Osgood," the Inspector was say- 
 ing, " if you would object, if I should ask you a rather 
 peculiar question. I have very unaccountable feelings 
 concerning people sometimes, and there has been a 
 vague idea at the back of my head ever since I first 
 saw you in the dining-room." 
 
 " Why, I'm sure it's very strange," replied Osgood, 
 with a smile. " I hadn't realized that there was any- 
 thing at all distinctive in my appearance. What 
 would you like to ask me?" 
 
 Steele gave a little laugh. 
 
 " It is rather a hobby of mine to classify people's 
 eyes," he said. " I often form very accurate conclu- 
 sions in that way. Tell me, Mr. Osgood. Are you 
 are you a magician ? " 
 
 " A magician ! " exclaimed Norton Osgood, in aston- 
 ishment. 
 
 " I mean a man who practises conjuring, stage 
 illusions and tricks," Steele explained. " Have you 
 ever done that, in a private way?" 
 
 " Why, no ! " replied Osgood. 
 
 " Then I have miscalculated, this time. But I am 
 still confident that I was not altogether wrong in my 
 guess. Are you have you ever been an actor ? "
 
 146 BEHIND RED CURTAINS 
 
 Norton Osgood laughed. 
 
 " Not at all," he answered. " But I can see where 
 your questions will invariably lead. And let me tell 
 you, Mr. Steele, that this has been the most remark- 
 able piece of character-reading that I have ever seen! '' 
 
 " You have been something of that kind, then," 
 Steele remarked, with a smile. 
 
 " It isn't sleight of hand, or acting," Osgood replied. 
 " It's hypnotism." 
 
 " Oh ! " It was Steele's turn to be surprised. 
 " Y.ou've done it privately, I suppose." 
 
 " Privately, and otherwise," answered Norton Os- 
 good. 
 
 I had such a wonderful idea of the Inspector's keen- 
 ness that I almost expected him to connect hypnotism 
 with the crime at once, in spite of the fact that abso- 
 lutely nothing had occurred to warrant such a suspi- 
 cion. But Steele apparently did not give any further 
 thought to the subject. He soon made his way up- 
 stairs to the scene of the tragedy. Being a former 
 friend of his, I found that I was now a privileged 
 character ; he invited me to accompany him to Kirke's 
 room. I certainly had no desire to enter the place, 
 but I knew that it would hardly do for me to decline. 
 We went in together.
 
 BEHIND RED CURTAINS 147 
 
 Steele did not spend any time gazing at the remains. 
 He shook hands with Gray, and glanced around the 
 room for an instant. His gaze fell upon the door to 
 my room. He was on the point of asking a question 
 about this door, when I informed him where it led. 
 
 His examination of Kirke's body was very brief. 
 He evidently felt that Detective Gray had long since 
 discovered all that there was to be learned in this 
 manner. 
 
 " You said his name was Harrison Kirke," he ad- 
 dressed Mr. Copeland, at length. 
 
 " Yes," replied the banker. " He lived in New 
 York." 
 
 " There isn't much to be learned here," Steele re- 
 marked. " I have some more questions concerning 
 Kirke, Mr. Copeland. I will ask them later." 
 
 He spent an instant examining the knife wound in 
 the dead man's side. We were all silent, watching him. 
 
 " Whoever he was, the murderer knew his business," 
 the Inspector remarked finally. " The knife was 
 driven straight through the heart, with wicked force. 
 He probably died without the least sound." 
 
 " You spoke of the murderer as ' he/ " remarked 
 Gray, slowly. 
 
 Steele glanced at him quickly.
 
 148 BEHIND RED CURTAINS 
 
 " Have you had any reason to believe that I should 
 not have said ' he ' ? " 
 
 " No, not at all ! " answered Gray. " I was merely 
 remarking upon your evident conclusion." 
 
 Steele did not spend any further time examining 
 the body, but ordered it removed from the house at 
 once. He then went downstairs and requested a talk 
 with Mr. Henry Copeland. As before, he showed 
 his confidence in me by asking me to remain and supply 
 whatever information I could. He also said that he 
 would be glad if Bob Manning would join us. So 
 we four gathered together in the room where the guests 
 had first discussed hypnotism. 
 
 Steele had been quick to observe that Harrison Kirke 
 was not at all the kind of guest that Henry Copeland 
 would be likely to have in his home. His questions 
 were designed to discover the explanation of this. 
 When Mr. Copeland at last reluctantly made known 
 the true facts, one at a time, the revelation came as 
 a complete surprise to me as well as to the Inspector. 
 
 Harrison Kirke had been a blackmailer in every 
 sense of the word. Not an occasional blackmailer, 
 but a methodical, consistent extortioner of hush money. 
 He had made a comfortable living for years by the 
 judicious use of information which he knew others
 
 BEHIND RED CURTAINS 149 
 
 would pay well to have concealed. It had been his 
 business to collect such bits of information, and he 
 had always been diabolically clever in doing it. And 
 he had done it all, moreover, with such skill that not 
 a single lawyer in the country, not even David Endi- 
 cott, had been able to catch him with evidence which 
 would convict him of blackmail. 
 
 It was this same business that had brought Kirke 
 to the home of Henry Copeland. The explanation 
 of this part was a longer story, and Mr. Copeland 
 plainly showed his aversion to making it known. 
 Among the men whom Kirke had been blackmailing 
 for years, was a certain John Wolcott. This Wol- 
 cott had formerly been Henry Copeland's partner in 
 business, and had been one of the banker's best friends 
 for years after their partnership had ended. Wolcott 
 had not been careful in his business dealings, and 
 had got himself tangled up in a questionable affair. 
 Unfortunately for him, Harrison Kirke managed to 
 learn of this. The gambler had been extracting money 
 from Wolcott for over four years. When the latter's 
 funds had failed him, Kirke had come to Henry Cope- 
 land, for he had been sure that the banker would 
 pay well to shield his old friend. He had made three 
 such visits to Copeland, and the banker had upon
 
 150 BEHIND RED CURTAINS 
 
 each occasion cheerfully conceded his demands. The 
 visit which he had just made had been his fourth, 
 but this time his demands had been so great that 
 Henry Copeland had refused to agree to them. Kirke 
 had been insistent and threatening. Mr. Copeland 
 had put off his decision for a day or two, and had 
 hastily summoned his friend the lawyer, David Endi- 
 cott, to help him adjust the affair with Kirke. 
 
 Inspector Steele listened to the explanation in silence. 
 I expected him to ask more questions when the banker 
 had finished, but he evidently thought that Cope- 
 land's account had been very complete. Instead of 
 saying anything further upon the subject of Kirke's 
 affairs, he requested that he be allowed to ask a few 
 questions of Miss Ellen Aldridge. 
 
 Mr. Copeland was quite surprised by the request. 
 He asked if Fred Aldridge would not do, instead, 
 but Steele replied that only Fred's sister could give 
 him the information which he wished with the accurate 
 detail that he felt would be necessary. 
 
 I asked if he would like me to leave, but he replied 
 that he would prefer to have all three of us remain. 
 
 Ellen Aldridge was plainly nervous when she came 
 in. Most people would be, if they were summoned by
 
 BEHIND RED CURTAINS 151 
 
 Inspector Steele to give information in connection 
 with a murder. 
 
 Steele did not waste any time in preliminaries. I 
 saw that he had evidently met Miss Aldridge at the 
 time when he had caused the arrest of her father, 
 but he did not make any reference to that occasion. 
 
 " Did you know Mr. Harrison Kirke, Miss Ald- 
 ridge? " he began. 
 
 " He was certainly not one of my friends," she an- 
 swered. 
 
 " But I didn't ask that," the Inspector objected. 
 " I merely asked if you knew Harrison Kirke." 
 
 "I why, I knew who he was," she told him. 
 
 " Did your brother ever have any dealings with 
 him?" 
 
 " Fred ? Why no. Why should he ? " 
 
 " I'm sure I don't know. Did you yourself? " 
 
 " Of course not! " She was indignant. 
 
 "You're very sure of that?" Steele asked. 
 
 "Why yes. Quite sure." 
 
 Steele was not looking at her face. She gave me 
 a quick glance, which was a mute appeal for silence. 
 
 " Why did you move to Detroit a few years ago ? " 
 the Inspector demanded.
 
 1 52 BEHIND RED CURTAINS 
 
 She caught her breath in quick surprise. 
 
 " I don't care to answer all these questions, Mr. 
 Steele," she answered quietly. 
 
 " Oh ! " The Inspector was mildly surprised. 
 " Suppose I should tell you that you will be compelled 
 to answer." 
 
 " You will not tell me that," she replied firmly, but 
 quietly. " It is not within your right. This is not 
 a court of law, Mr. Steele, and I am not required 
 to give any information which I would prefer not 
 to give." 
 
 " That is very true," Steele admitted. " You are 
 not. Since you decline to do this, it is now merely 
 a question of what we shall infer." 
 
 " There is no occasion for you to infer anything ! " 
 she declared with some spirit. " We had an entirely 
 personal reason for moving away from for moving 
 to Detroit, and I hardly consider such a reason to be 
 your affair." 
 
 " Doesn't it really seem that Miss Aldridge is 
 right? " Bob Manning asked the Inspector. 
 
 " That is true," Steele answered. " I will change 
 my style of questioning. I'll ask you now, Miss Ald- 
 ridge, to tell me who Mr. Norton Osgood is? " 
 
 " Why, I believe he does hypnotizing, profession-
 
 BEHIND RED CURTAINS 153 
 
 ally," Ellen Aldridge answered. " He lives in De- 
 troit. But other than that " 
 
 " Didn't he come here from Detroit with your 
 brother? " Steele questioned. 
 
 She admitted that he did. 
 
 " But I would suggest that you ask my brother for 
 such information," she added, a bit impatiently. 
 
 " But I don't care to ask your brother," the Inspec- 
 tor told her. " He would not give me the kind of 
 information that I need. I should like you to tell 
 me just why he came here with Mr. Frederick Ald- 
 ridge. Mr. Copeland has told me that he never met 
 him until he came with you, and it is quite plain that 
 your brother had some very special reason for bring- 
 ing him." 
 
 " You are right," Miss Aldridge admitted reluc- 
 tantly. " But I I don't feel that I can explain the 
 exact reason, now." 
 
 " Oh ! You mean that you would prefer that we 
 were alone ? " 
 
 Inspector Steele glanced slowly around at the three 
 other faces. 
 
 " Surely this feeling of constraint is not on account 
 of Mr. Copeland," he said. 
 
 " Certainly not," she declared.
 
 154 BEHIND RED CURTAINS 
 
 " Indeed ! " remarked Steele. " Undoubtedly, then, 
 it is because of Mr. Clayton. I " 
 
 "No, no! Of course it isn't!" she exclaimed 
 hastily. 
 
 Inspector Steele gave her a sudden glance, and I 
 almost thought I could detect a glint of satisfaction in 
 his eyes. 
 
 " We must certainly not assume that it is on account 
 of Dr. Manning," he said. " I take it, then, that 
 it is because of my presence that you are not willing 
 to tell us this." 
 
 " You are correct," she replied slowly. 
 
 " Then perhaps you might be interested to learn 
 that I think I have already guessed the answer, with- 
 out the help which I expected you to give me." 
 
 " It it wouldn't be very hard to guess, if you have 
 known much about Fred," she said slowly. 
 
 16 1 understand," was Steele's quiet answer. " And 
 I realize how hard it must be for you to have to think 
 of all this. If you don't feel that you can tell me 
 now, I'll wait until some other time." 
 
 She looked up in sudden surprise at the change in the 
 Inspector's tone. 
 
 " I'll be only too glad to tell you all I can," she said 
 quickly. " But the story begins away back, at the
 
 BEHIND RED CURTAINS 155 
 
 time when when you knew of us before, in New 
 York. Perhaps you know how Fred felt, after the 
 revelation that you made at that time. He he was 
 more affected by the knowledge than either of us." 
 
 " At least, he showed it more," the Inspector re- 
 marked. 
 
 " For a time," Ellen Aldridge went on, " we were 
 all very much afraid that he was in a very serious 
 mental condition. He seemed to grow worse and 
 worse, and the doctors began to say that his sanity 
 was in danger. We tried everything, but nothing 
 seemed to help him." 
 
 " So you finally tried having him treated by hypno- 
 tism ? " Steele asked. 
 
 " Yes," she answered. " Fred was helped by it 
 at once. At first, he had relapses every little while, 
 but these times grew less and less frequent. We 
 think now that he is altogether cured, but the doctor 
 says that for a year or more he should not be out 
 of reach of Mr. Osgood for any length of time. 
 That is why we have brought him with us." 
 
 This was evidently the information which Steele 
 had wished to obtain. He did not question Ellen 
 Aldridge any longer, but went upstairs again to confer 
 with Detective Gray upon the subject of finger-print
 
 156 BEHIND RED CURTAINS 
 
 evidence. When he returned after nearly two hours, 
 his face did not show that he had learned much of 
 value. 
 
 I was rather surprised when Steele asked for a talk 
 with me. There was no one in the living-room at the 
 time, and we went in there. 
 
 " I am not sure that you will be pleased by my ques- 
 tions," the Inspector said. 
 
 " Why, I'm sure I'll be glad to answer all I can," 
 I replied, wondering. I could not imagine what the 
 Inspector had learned concerning me while he was 
 upstairs. 
 
 " The truth is, Clayton," Steele went on, " that I 
 am rather fond of watching faces, and of forming 
 ideas by what I see upon them." 
 
 " And you think you have seen something on my 
 face? " I asked. 
 
 I was trying very hard to seem unconcerned, but I 
 must confess that I was not any too successful. I 
 was now quite sure that Steele must have found tell- 
 tale evidence somewhere upstairs. 
 
 " The particular point about which I'd like informa- 
 tion," the Inspector continued, " is this. I hope this 
 will not offend you, and I also hope that you will 
 be willing to tell me what I wish to know. Er *
 
 BEHIND RED CURTAINS 157 
 
 just what kind of secret have you and Miss Aldridge 
 together?" 
 
 I nearly started from my chair. I knew that Steele's 
 eyes were reading my thoughts. 
 
 " I observe from your surprise that I am not alto- 
 gether mistaken," he said. 
 
 " But I I don't see where you got this idea," I 
 stammered. 
 
 " I'll tell you that. Miss Aldridge showed it quite 
 clearly upon two occasions during our talk this morn- 
 ing. I am not certain that you are keeping a secret, 
 but I have an idea that you are. Perhaps two secrets." 
 
 There was something peculiar in the way in which 
 he said the last three words. 
 
 " I don't understand what you mean," I said quickly. 
 
 " Do you happen to know any of Miss Aldridge's 
 history ? " Steele asked. " I mean, in regard to events 
 of about three years ago, in New York." 
 
 " I understand what you are speaking of," I replied. 
 " Yes, I have learned of that." 
 
 " May I ask if you knew Miss Aldridge before that 
 time?" 
 
 " No," I answered. " I had not met her until I 
 came here a few days ago."
 
 158 BEHIND RED CURTAINS 
 
 " Indeed ! " exclaimed Inspector Steele, in astonish- 
 ment. " This is most surprising, Clayton ! " 
 
 " What is surprising? " I asked. 
 
 " The fact that you are keeping a secret together, 
 when you only met a few days ago," was the Inspec- 
 tor's reply. 
 
 " But you don't understand ! " I explained hastily. 
 " The the we haven't any secret ! " 
 
 " You say that you knew of the affair of Dr. Willard 
 Aldridge," Steele persisted quietly. " And yet you 
 have known her only a few days, and you have not 
 any secret. Perhaps it was Dr. Manning who told 
 you of that affair." 
 
 For an instant I hesitated. But only for an in- 
 stant. For Inspector Steele was not a man to whom 
 I cared to lie. 
 
 " No, Manning did not tell me," I replied. " What- 
 ever I know of Miss Aldridge's affairs, I learned by 
 by accident." 
 
 "So that's it!" the Inspector exclaimed. "That 
 is why she made that silent plea for you to keep quiet. 
 You needn't bother to tell me the rest ; it is quite plain. 
 She gave you that glance when I began to question her 
 about Kirke. At some time since you have been here, 
 probably during the afternoon or evening before the
 
 BEHIND RED CURTAINS 159 
 
 murder, you heard Miss Aldridge in some kind of 
 discussion with Harrison Kirke. That is the truth, 
 isn't it?" 
 
 "I I can't deny it," I said slowly. 
 
 " Why would you like to? " asked Inspector Steele. 
 
 "I never said that I would like to! " I declared. 
 
 " But it is quite plain that you would. You may 
 as well tell me all of this, Clayton." 
 
 " There isn't any more," I answered. 
 
 " Oh, but I know that there is," Steele objected 
 quietly. " You know something which you do not care 
 to tell me. It might be in connection with Miss Ald- 
 ridge, or it might be a suspicion as to the murderer 
 of Kirke. But I am certain that you are withholding 
 something." 
 
 I did not answer. 
 
 " Well, I'll try something less personal," Steele 
 said. " I suppose you would be willing to tell me some- 
 thing concerning your friend Dr. Manning." 
 
 " Of course," I replied. " But what is there to tell 
 about Manning? " 
 
 " I'd like very much to know how long he has been 
 engaged to Miss Aldridge." 
 
 I saw that he had not changed the original subject 
 at all, but had merely taken up a new angle of it.
 
 160 BEHIND RED CURTAINS 
 
 " I believe," I replied, " that it has been about a 
 year." 
 
 " Hrnm ! " Steele was looking at me again. " Not 
 so surprising, after all considering." 
 
 "What on earth are you driving at, Mr. Steele?" 
 I demanded. 
 
 " I am not driving at anything," he answered. 
 
 " But you are ! " I declared. " What do these ques- 
 tions mean ? " 
 
 " Nothing, I assure you," he replied. " I was 
 merely thinking." 
 
 "Thinking what? " I persisted. 
 
 " Oh ! " He gave a little laugh, and turned toward 
 the door. " Thinking that a year is a long, long 
 time." 
 
 I caught his arm. 
 
 " Mr. Steele," I said quietly, " it is clear that you 
 have in some way learned something, in regard to 
 me. Would you mind telling me how much you 
 know?" 
 
 " You really needn't worry, Clayton," he answered, 
 with a smile. " As far as anything that I might do 
 or say is concerned, I don't know anything at 
 all." 
 
 " That's very kind of you," I said. " But won't
 
 BEHIND RED CURTAINS 161 
 
 you please tell me just the same? What is it that 
 you know ? " 
 
 "I know Miss Aldridge," was Inspector Steele's 
 brief answer. 
 
 And that was all that I could get from him. 
 
 If any of the party had expected Steele to solve 
 the mystery at once, they were doomed to disappoint- 
 ment. He was apparently quite inactive during the 
 rest of the afternoon, and in the evening he did very 
 little except talk matters over with Detective Gray. 
 In the morning, he and Gray visited the upstairs rooms 
 together, and went over the collection of finger prints 
 which had been found. Shortly afterward, I saw 
 Inspector Steele in the living-room, in conversation 
 with Fred Aldridge and Norton Osgood. 
 
 I was vaguely uneasy during that afternoon. So 
 far, I had managed to keep Steele from suspecting that 
 I could have had any connection with the murder 
 myself. But I had an alarming feeling that serious 
 developments would come very soon. And on the 
 evening of Steele's second day at Copeland's home, 
 these developments came, though in a very different 
 manner from what I had expected. 
 
 It was just before eight o'clock when Inspector 
 Steele asked Mr. Copeland to summon all his guests fo 
 the living-room. The banker at once asked what had
 
 162 BEHIND RED CURTAINS 
 
 been discovered, but the Inspector would not give 
 any advance information. Mr. Copeland withdrew 
 to call the others, and within a few minutes they 
 were all gathered in the living-room. 
 
 " I have called you people together," Inspector Steele 
 began at once, " in order that it may be perfectly clear 
 to all of you just what I am here to accomplish. 
 There has been murder done by one of the inmates of 
 this house. That fact is certain. It is also every bit 
 as certain that the murderer of Harrison Kirke is 
 one of the people in this room now. I want you to 
 understand that it is my duty to discover and expose 
 this person. That is what Mr. Copeland wished done 
 when he sent for me, and that is what I intend to 
 do before I leave. 
 
 " I wish it to be understood, then, that whatever 
 may happen before I have finished here, whatever 
 I may be forced to do in solving this affair, which- 
 ever person I may finally expose as the murderer, 
 I am only doing what you all wished to have done, 
 when you and Mr. Copeland agreed that I should 
 take up this case." 
 
 Steele paused an instant, as if to give every one 
 time to realize the truth of what he had said. No one 
 spoke.
 
 BEHIND RED CURTAINS 163 
 
 " We come, then," Steele went on, " to certain facts 
 which may possibly account for the motive of this 
 crime." 
 
 I glanced quickly toward Norton Osgood, and no- 
 ticed that his face was a shade paler than usual. I 
 was afraid that mine was, also. 
 
 " Harrison Kirke was here in this house for the 
 purpose of blackmailing Mr. Henry Copeland," In- 
 spector Steele went on. " His grounds for doing this 
 need not be dealt with at present. It is sufficient that 
 he was a decidedly unwelcome visitor at the time when 
 he was murdered. Now, I ask, who was the one who 
 would be most anxious to have Kirke out of the way? " 
 
 There was no information volunteered. Every one 
 was tensely silent. 
 
 " Obviously," Steele said, in answer to his own ques- 
 tion, " some one who would be affected if Kirke's 
 knowledge should be made known. The knowledge 
 which Kirke possessed was not in connection with 
 Mr. Copeland himself, or with any of his family, but 
 with a former friend and business partner of Mr. 
 Copeland. It is hardly conceivable that any of you 
 people would do murder for no other reason than 
 to save a former business partner of Mr. Copeland, 
 unless some one of you might possibly have had some
 
 164 BEHIND RED CURTAINS 
 
 closer connection with this partner. Any such con- 
 nection as this I have been unable to find." 
 
 It was clear that the others did not foresee where 
 Steele's line of reasoning was leading. 
 
 " No ! " the Inspector declared suddenly. " I am 
 now quite convinced that the murder was not done 
 because of anything in connection with Kirke's black- 
 mailing of Mr. Copeland, and it will take a very forci- 
 ble argument to make me change this opinion. Har- 
 rison Kirke was not killed because of what he knew 
 concerning Henry Copeland's former partner! It is 
 my firm belief that he was killed because of information 
 which he possessed in regard to quite another person ! " 
 
 There was a start of astonishment from all. Nor- 
 ton Osgood was paler than before, and Ellen Aid- 
 ridge's face showed great agitation. 
 
 " Some one had a heated discussion with Harrison 
 Kirke during the evening of the night that he was 
 murdered ! " Inspector Steele continued mercilessly. 
 " Some one was at that time threatened by Kirke with 
 the exposure of certain facts which were not wanted 
 known, unless a certain sum were paid before the next 
 morning. Who is there in this party who has a secret 
 which would be worth money to Kirke? Who, aside 
 from Mr. Copeland and Mr. Endicott, has had previous
 
 BEHIND RED CURTAINS 165 
 
 dealings with Kirke ? Who was overheard in an argu- 
 ment with Kirke, by Mr. Clayton? " 
 
 As the Inspector had shot out this series of questions, 
 Bob Manning had been staring at Ellen Aldridge, as 
 though he were afraid that her expression might be- 
 tray her knowledge to Steele. When Steele astounded 
 the whole group by his last question, she gave a visi- 
 ble start. They all observed it. 
 
 " Miss Aldridge, what threat did Harrison Kirke 
 make to you on Thursday evening? " Inspector Steele 
 shot at her, before she could recover. " What did 
 he want you to pay him, and what did he say that 
 he would do if you did not pay him? Every one 
 in this party, with the possible exception of Mr. Endi- 
 cott, knows what that secret was. They know what 
 it is that Harrison Kirke knew. They know what 
 harm could be done if this knowledge were distrib- 
 uted broadcast among the other wedding guests who 
 were coming, as Kirke had undoubtedly threatened 
 to do. What did you reply to him?" 
 
 Ellen Aldridge was so bewildered and frightened 
 by Steele's rapid fire of questions that she was power- 
 less to make any answer. The others were startled 
 and horrified at the turn which the Inspector's inves- 
 tigation had taken.
 
 166 BEHIND RED CURTAINS 
 
 " Mr. Steele ! " exclaimed Bob Manning. " Don't 
 you think this questioning Miss Aldridge in this man- 
 ner is " 
 
 " I'm sorry, Dr. Manning," Steele cut in, " but I 
 have come here to learn the truth of this crime, no 
 matter what it may cost. Miss Aldridge, we can all 
 see the terrible position in which you were placed by 
 Kirke's demands. Not only your own welfare, but 
 that of your brother, also, was at stake. Harrison 
 Kirke had cleverly chosen you for his threatening, 
 rather than your brother, because he knew that you 
 would be much more likely to take steps to prevent 
 these facts being made known. But, rather unfor- 
 tunately for Mr. Harrison Kirke, he had made a 
 serious miscalculation upon the kind of action which 
 you would take ! " 
 
 I saw Henry Copeland give a start of horror, as he 
 realized the full extent of Steele's accusation. For 
 a moment I was so stunned that I completely forgot 
 my own part in the tragedy. 
 
 " What could you do when Kirke had declared that 
 he would make known these facts before your brother's 
 wedding ? What other course lay open to you, except 
 to comply with his demands ? What did you do ? " 
 
 The Inspector paused an instant. It had not oc-
 
 BEHIND RED CURTAINS 167 
 
 curred to me, in my excitement, that he might have 
 been working up this whole accusation in the hope 
 of getting a confession from the really guilty person. 
 But if that was his purpose, the results were hardly 
 what he had expected. 
 
 " I'll tell you what you did, Miss Aldridge ! " In- 
 spector Steele finished. " You got a knife from the 
 pantry, and " 
 
 " Inspector, you've no right to say that ! " 
 
 It was Fred Aldridge who had spoken. His face 
 was flushed with anger and indignation, and he met 
 Steele's gaze with real hatred in his eyes. He sprang 
 up from his chair, and came forward. 
 
 " You have no right to accuse my sister ! " he cried. 
 " And you will apologize for every word you've said, 
 or I'll " 
 
 " Fred ! Don't ! " exclaimed Ellen Aldridge. She 
 hurried to his side, and grasped his arm. 
 
 " I will ! " returned Fred Aldridge, who was still 
 facing the Inspector. " We've had enough of your 
 methods, Mr. Steele! If you say one word more 
 against my sister, I'll " 
 
 " Silence, Mr. Aldridge! " the Inspector's voice rang 
 out. He levelled his finger at the chair which Fred 
 had left. " You will go back to that chair, and you
 
 i68 BEHIND RED CURTAINS 
 
 will listen to the rest of this investigation without any 
 interruptions, or you will be placed under arrest for 
 interfering with the course of justice! " 
 
 For a long, tense moment, Fred Aldridge stared into 
 Steele's eyes. I was afraid that he would launch him- 
 self upon him. I saw Bob Manning leave his chair 
 and come forward to where the Inspector stood. Then 
 I suddenly awoke to my own duty, and I was at Steele's 
 side before my friend. 
 
 " Enough of this, Mr. Steele! " I said quietly. " I 
 don't intend to see Miss Aldridge made to suffer any 
 longer. You want the murderer! Take me! I'll 
 swear I'm not a criminal! But I killed Harrison 
 Kirke!"
 
 CHAPTER VIII 
 
 To say that my sudden admission of guilt created 
 a sensation in the little party in Henry Copeland's liv- 
 ing-room would be putting it very mildly. The others 
 sprang to their feet and crowded around us. Mr. 
 Copeland gave a startled gasp. Fred Aldridge was 
 fairly struck dumb with amazement. As for Inspec- 
 tor Steele, he merely stared at me in unbelieving 
 astonishment. 
 
 " Clayton ! " exclaimed Steele, at last. " You 
 killed Kirke?" 
 
 The words seemed to awaken Ellen Aldridge as 
 if from a dream. She gave a little choking exclama- 
 tion, and before either she or I realized what was 
 happening she had seized both my hands in hers. 
 
 " You didn't do it! " she cried. " You didn't! " 
 
 Needless to say, Mr. Copeland and his family were 
 astounded by her action. I saw Fred Aldridge give 
 a start. 
 
 "Ellen!" he gasped. 
 
 If there had been any doubt in my mind as to her 
 
 169
 
 170 BEHIND RED CURTAINS 
 
 purpose in talking to me as she had on Friday after- 
 noon, it was instantly dispelled by the open sincerity 
 of her anxiety in my behalf now. There could be no 
 doubt that she had been in earnest. 
 
 I realized that Inspector Steele was staring at us, 
 but I did not look up. I was afraid to raise my eyes, 
 lest they should meet those of Bob Manning. 
 
 I felt that he was standing near us, and I knew that 
 the time for his discovery of our secret could be post- 
 poned no longer. With all my heart I dreaded what 
 might follow. 
 
 But when I finally glanced up, I did not see what 
 I had expected. Manning was perhaps a little paler 
 than at ordinary times, but he was quite calm. There 
 was no anger in his eyes, only that indescribable 
 expression which I had seen there when he had held 
 off the African savages with a hunting knife. 
 
 It was Inspector Steele who put an end to the confu- 
 sion. 
 
 " Let us understand what you mean by this, Clay- 
 ton! " he commanded. " Are you giving us to under- 
 stand that you are the one who killed Harrison 
 Kirke?" 
 
 "I I think so ! " I answered. 
 
 " Think so ! " repeated the Inspector. " Nonsense,
 
 BEHIND RED CURTAINS 171 
 
 Clayton. If you have killed Kirke, you know it. I 
 want you to tell " 
 
 " But I'm not sure of it ! " I interrupted. "I 
 I only think I did. And and if I did, I'm not the 
 one to blame ! " 
 
 I had the satisfaction of seeing Norton Osgood turn 
 pale as I said this. My words had apparently no mean- 
 ing to Inspector Steele. 
 
 " I can't understand you at all, Clayton," he de- 
 clared. He turned to the others. " As you will ob- 
 serve, this is a totally unexpected turn of events. If 
 what Mr. Clayton says is true, then of course this in- 
 vestigation need go no further. I will make my report 
 to you when I have questioned Clayton more fully." 
 
 The others understood that their presence was not 
 required any longer, and returned to the other end 
 of the room, where they gathered in little excited 
 groups to discuss the affair. They were all watching 
 me now, and I could see distrust in their glances. 
 
 " Now, Clayton, we'll talk this over," Steele said. 
 "Where shall it be? In your own room upstairs? " 
 
 I agreed, and we went up. When we had entered, 
 Steele carefully closed the hall door, and seated himself 
 beside me. 
 
 " Now," he said quietly, " let's hear it."
 
 172 BEHIND RED CURTAINS 
 
 I had resolved to tell him my whole story from 
 start to finish, and I did. I began by telling him of 
 my trip from New York with Bob Manning, and I 
 supplied him with several bits of information which 
 he did not know concerning Harrison Kirke's life in 
 that city. I gave him a brief account of the conversa- 
 tion which had taken place in the room downstairs 
 when we had first discussed hypnotism. I told him 
 of the marvellous power which Norton Osgood had 
 displayed over me and over Mr. Endicott, when he 
 had forced us to obey his will in the living-room on 
 that same evening. 
 
 Steele was very much interested in these tests of 
 hypnotism, and asked me to repeat my account of them 
 several times. He then asked me to go back at once 
 and give him a much more detailed story of the con- 
 versation concerning hypnotism which had preceded 
 the tests in the living-room. 
 
 I touched only very lightly upon the scene which 
 I had overheard between Ellen Aldridge and Harrison 
 Kirke, and I omitted entirely the conversation which 
 I had overheard between Ellen Aldridge and Norton 
 Osgood shortly afterward. But I took pains to tell 
 him of Osgood's evident nervousness and terror when 
 he had hypnotized me the second time in the living-
 
 BEHIND RED CURTAINS 173 
 
 room. I informed him that Mr. Endicott had also 
 been hypnotized to do some unknown thing, which 
 had been suggested to Osgood by young Arthur Cope- 
 land. 
 
 " And who suggested the thing, whatever it was, 
 which Osgood was to make you do?" Steele inter- 
 posed at this point. 
 
 " Miss Aldridge did," I reluctantly admitted. " I 
 don't know what it could have been, but I am certain 
 that it was something quite innocent." 
 
 " Very well," Steele said. " Go on." 
 
 I gave him a vivid, terrifying picture of the fright- 
 ful nightmare which I had had that night. I told him 
 of how the feeling first came, and of how I gradually 
 began to realize that my will was under some power 
 which was not my own. I told him of my walk across 
 the room in the darkness. I described my repeated 
 struggles to break away from the power which was 
 driving me onward, my three attempts to open the 
 door to Kirke's room, my horror when I discovered 
 that I was carrying a knife in my hand, and my attempt 
 to get rid of the evidence after I had committed the 
 crime. I told him of the horrible outcry which I 
 had made a short time afterward. I explained how 
 I knew in the morning that I had been out of bed
 
 174 BEHIND RED CURTAINS 
 
 in the night, and told about the changing of my 
 slippers, the black upon my fingers, and the missing 
 pill-box. So vivid was my narration of the whole 
 affair that Inspector Steele sat in silence, almost with- 
 out breathing, until I had finished. 
 
 " You think, then," he said finally, " that you 
 actually killed Harrison Kirke, but that you were 
 forced to do it by the hypnotic power of Norton 
 Osgood?" 
 
 " I don't know what else there is to think ! " I an- 
 swered. " Such a theory sounds impossible, I know; 
 I had hardly expected you to believe it for an instant. 
 But, on my honor, Mr. Steele, I'm not making up this 
 story to give an excuse for my own guilt! If I did 
 kill" 
 
 "Of course I know you're not, Clayton!" Inspec- 
 tor Steele broke in. " You just leave this matter to me 
 from now on, and I'll see that we soon discover who 
 was to blame for this. Now, I'd like to examine the 
 knife that you hid over here in the fireplace." 
 
 " Oh ! I " I paused awkwardly. " You see, Mr. 
 Steele, I I felt that I hadn't been the one to blame 
 for Kirke's murder, even though I had done it, and I 
 made up my mind that I'd do all in my power to keep
 
 BEHIND RED CURTAINS 175 
 
 myself from being suspected. So we the knife was 
 taken away the other night, and hidden." 
 
 " Taken away? " Steele repeated. " Who took it? " 
 
 " Bob Manning did, for fear it would be found and 
 would incriminate me," I answered. 
 
 " Then we'll have to ask him to let us examine it," 
 the Inspector decided. 
 
 " Of course," I agreed. " There would be no object 
 in withholding it now." 
 
 We went downstairs in the hope that we might find 
 Manning there. It was still only half-past nine, and 
 it was not at all likely that he had retired. He was 
 not with the others in the living-room, but Mr. Cope- 
 land thought he was with his son and Fred Aldridge in 
 the room at the other end of the hall. We were on the 
 point of going there in search of him, when there was 
 an astonishing interruption. 
 
 " Listen ! " Henry Copeland suddenly exclaimed. 
 
 From somewhere in the hallway upstairs came the 
 sound of a man's voice singing. It was a clear tenor 
 voice, and as the sound came nearer I was able to hear 
 the words. The singing kept on, over and over again, 
 as the man came slowly down the stairs, while the 
 whole party hurried out into the hall and stared upward
 
 176 BEHIND RED CURTAINS 
 
 in wonder. I saw Arthur Copeland and Fred Aldridge 
 hastening out from the room at the end of the hall. 
 Bob Manning followed them. 
 
 And still the man's voice kept on, again and again. 
 He was singing " The Watch on the Rhine." 
 
 Then the singer came in view upon the landing. 
 There was a general start of amazement. 
 
 Before our astonished gaze there appeared the short 
 form of a man in bathrobe and slippers, walking down 
 the stairway with a slow, regular step. In his right 
 hand he carried an old sword which had hung in the 
 upper hallway. Upon his left arm was an ancient 
 shield, a relic of the Middle Ages. On his head he 
 wore what was unmistakably a German soldier's hel- 
 met. And still his clear tenor voice kept on, singing 
 the same chorus : 
 
 "Dear Fatherland, no danger thine! 
 
 Dear Fatherland, no danger thine! 
 
 Firm stand thy sons, to watch, to watch the Rhine ! 
 
 Firm stand thy sons, to watch, to watch the Rhine! " 
 
 " By George ! " cried Henry Copeland, aghast. 
 "It's David Endicott! He left us suddenly about 
 twenty minutes ago, and said he was going to bed! 
 David! David, what on earth are you doing? "
 
 BEHIND RED CURTAINS 177 
 
 But the lawyer merely kept on advancing, still sing- 
 ing, while his eyes stared straight in front of him. 
 
 "Goodness!" exclaimed Grace Copeland. "He 
 has the German helmet that Ted Thornton brought 
 home from France! Arthur, it was in your room! 
 What is he doing? " 
 
 " By Jove! " cried Arthur Copeland, in sudden com- 
 prehension. " I had forgotten the whole thing ! 
 That's what I told Mr. Osgood to make him do ! " 
 
 The sound of the exclamation aroused the lawyer. 
 He gave a violent start, dropped the sword from his 
 hand, and stared around at the others in confusion. 
 Gradually his astonished gaze travelled down to the 
 heavy shield upon his arm, and to the bathrobe and 
 slippers. 
 
 " What's this ? " he demanded, blinking stupidly. 
 
 " He's been hypnotized ! " cried Henry Copeland. 
 
 " Why, yes! " said Mrs. Copeland. " We had for- 
 gotten the whole affair, since the the murder. As 
 I remember it now, Mr. Clayton was to have done 
 something, also." 
 
 " That's right ! " exclaimed Arthur Copeland. " I 
 suggested this for Mr. Endicott, and Miss Aldridge 
 thought up something for Mr. Clayton. Tell us, Mr. 
 Osgood. Has Mr. Clayton done his thing, too ? "
 
 178 BEHIND RED CURTAINS 
 
 They all turned eagerly to Norton Osgood. I could 
 see that he was trying to appear natural, but he was a 
 trifle pale. 
 
 " Why, I I really don't know," he replied. 
 
 " But I thought you always knew as soon as your 
 commands had been executed," Arthur Copeland ob- 
 jected. 
 
 " Well, I I do, usually," Osgood evaded. " And 
 I er I imagine Mr. Clayton has done what I 
 what Miss Aldridge wished him to do." 
 
 The way in which he emphasized the last clause 
 was unmistakable. 
 
 " Ellen, do tell us what it was ! " Grace Copeland 
 begged her. 
 
 " Oh, I couldn't ! " Again I noticed that Ellen Aid- 
 ridge's laugh was forced. " You wouldn't want me to 
 spoil it altogether ! " 
 
 " Well," the lawyer remarked, as he slowly removed 
 the German helmet from his head, " I only hope, Mr. 
 Clayton, that it will be something as ludicrous as I 
 have just done! " 
 
 They laughed, and the little group separated. I 
 touched Inspector Steele's arm, and drew him aside for 
 an instant.
 
 BEHIND RED CURTAINS 179 
 
 " You see ! " I said. " That is a sample of what Os- 
 good's power can do ! " 
 
 " I saw it," he replied. 
 
 " Don't you think that a man who could make Mr. 
 Endicott do that, could have made me do any- 
 thing?" I asked. 
 
 " Perhaps," Steele answered. " According to Mr. 
 Endicott's theory, though, in a case where crime is in- 
 volved, the so-called ' hypnotic limit ' would pre- 
 vent" 
 
 " There is no hypnotic limit ! " I declared. " I be- 
 lieve he made me do it ! " 
 
 " We'll ask Dr. Manning about the knife," the In- 
 spector said. 
 
 We found Manning alone. I was still almost afraid 
 to speak to him, but to my surprise he acted just as if 
 nothing had occurred between us. 
 
 " The Inspector has learned how you tried to save 
 me by taking the knife away from the fireplace," I told 
 my friend. 
 
 " You'd like to examine it, Mr. Steele? " he asked, 
 without any surprise. He had evidently expected that 
 this would follow the admission which I had made to 
 Steele. 
 
 " If you please," the Inspector said. " Of course, I
 
 i8o BEHIND RED CURTAINS 
 
 realize that you were only proving your loyalty to Clay- 
 ton when you took it away. But I think we'll have to 
 see it." 
 
 Manning did not waste any more words, but went 
 out at once to a vacant space at the end of Mr. Cope- 
 land's garden and unearthed the weapon. It had cer- 
 tainly been cleverly hidden, for I should never have 
 suspected that anything had been buried there. 
 
 The Inspector examined the thing. He scrutinized 
 the bloodstains, and announced his intention of hav- 
 ing Gray go over it immediately for ringer prints. We 
 saw nothing more of Steele until morning. 
 
 Directly after breakfast the following day, how- 
 ever, the Inspector called Bob Manning and me again 
 to my room. When we entered and closed the door, we 
 saw that he had the knife upon the table. 
 
 " This thing has been of very little value," he said. 
 " Gray has found the ringer prints of only two people 
 upon it. One is Clayton, and the other is Dr. Man- 
 ning.'*. 
 
 " That would certainly show that I must have 
 handled the thing that night, anyway," I declared. 
 
 " Not necessarily," Manning objected. " When we 
 found it in the fireplace there, we both handled it.
 
 BEHIND RED CURTAINS 181 
 
 And I handled it later, when I took it out and buried 
 it." 
 
 " What do you think about it, Mr. Steele? " I asked. 
 
 " It's very hard to say," the Inspector replied, slowly. 
 " It is Gray's belief that the criminal wore gloves in 
 committing the murder. One of two things must cer- 
 tainly be true, Clayton. Either he did wear gloves, 
 or you must have actually handled the knife when Kirke 
 was killed." 
 
 " Which means that I am the murderer," I said. 
 
 " It means no such thing," Manning declared. 
 "If you were compelled to do it, then you are certainly 
 no murderer." 
 
 " Do tell me, Mr. Steele! " I begged. "Did I kill 
 Kirke?" 
 
 " I can't tell you," was Steele's reply. 
 
 He hesitated an instant. We were both silent. 
 
 " The affair is entirely too complicated at present/' 
 he said. " I don't know whether you actually stabbed 
 Kirke or not." 
 
 He arose, and turned to the door. 
 
 "But I'll be able to tell you by this evening," he 
 promised, as he left the room. 
 
 After luncheon, he called me upstairs again. He
 
 182 BEHIND RED CURTAINS 
 
 announced his intention of questioning me exceedingly 
 closely, and asked me to make all my answers correct 
 to the minutest detail. I gave my word that I would 
 do my best. 
 
 He wanted to know more about what I did after I 
 entered my room to retire on the night of the murder. 
 I told him of my attempt to lock the door leading to 
 Kirke's room, and also of placing my pill-box on the 
 table just before getting into bed. 
 
 Steele then requested me to go over my whole ac- 
 count again, telling him everything that I could remem- 
 ber. I began, and he interrupted me with questions 
 from time to time. 
 
 When I told him that it had been a long time before 
 I could sleep at all, he wanted to know the reason for 
 my wakefulness. I hardly wanted to tell him about 
 the thoughts which I had had concerning Ellen Aid- 
 ridge, so I put him off with a mention of my state of 
 nervous uneasiness and the effect of the rain beating 
 against the window. 
 
 He questioned me most concerning the walk which 
 I had dreamed of taking across the room toward 
 Kirke's door. He asked me how I had found my way 
 in the dark, and I told him that I had done it by sense 
 of feeling more than anything else.
 
 BEHIND RED CURTAINS 183 
 
 " You say that you pushed on that door three sepa- 
 rate times? " he asked. 
 
 " Yes," I answered. " It stuck twice, and the third 
 time it opened without sticking at all." 
 
 " Quite strange. You say that you made a super- 
 human resistance to this power at that point. When, 
 in your opinion, was the moment at which you made 
 your greatest resistance? " 
 
 " Why," I answered, slowly, " I'm not certain " 
 
 " Think, please. Was it just before you made your 
 third attempt to push open the door the time when 
 the door opened very easily? " 
 
 " Yes ! " I exclaimed, in sudden recollection. " It 
 was then! But the power seemed to conquer me 
 again." 
 
 " Hmm," said Steele. " Seemed to. Well, go on. 
 Can't you possibly remember when you first felt the 
 knife in your hand? " 
 
 "I I think it must have been there from the in- 
 stant I got out of bed," I replied. 
 
 '* And you are certain that you not only felt it, but 
 saw it, in Kirke's room? " 
 
 " I saw it as soon as I got inside his door," I replied. 
 " I could still feel the handle, and I could see the blade 
 shining in the moonlight from the window."
 
 184 BEHIND RED CURTAINS 
 
 Inspector Steele arose suddenly, and crossed to the 
 door leading to the room which Kirke had occupied. 
 
 " Your finger prints were found upon this side of the 
 door," he said. " That seems to substantiate your 
 dream, so far. But as I remember it, it is not so upon 
 the other side." 
 
 He swung the door open into my room, and peered 
 for an instant at the other side. Suddenly, a light 
 seemed to break over his face. 
 
 " I've been crazy ! " he declared. " That settles it, 
 then." 
 
 " Settles what ? " I demanded. 
 
 " I think it settles whether or not you stabbed 
 Kirke," he answered. " But I have a few more ques- 
 tions." 
 
 He wanted to hear again what I had done after I 
 had dreamed of driving the knife into Kirke. He was 
 much interested in the clattering sound which I thought 
 I had heard immediately after I had made my loud 
 scream. He was also greatly interested in the appar- 
 ently inexplicable conditions which I had found upon 
 waking in the morning, and especially in the disappear- 
 ance of my pill-box. He asked for a close description 
 of this box. 
 
 When I had finished, he arose at once, and asked
 
 BEHIND RED CURTAINS 185 
 
 me to follow him down to the living-room. Here he 
 informed Mr. Copeland that he was ready to make an- 
 other report to the guests. 
 
 The word that Steele was ready to make another dis- 
 closure was quickly spread through the house, and soon 
 all the members of the party were gathered in the liv- 
 ing-room. Bob Manning had in some way managed to 
 put an end to their suspicions of me, and I was aston- 
 ished to find that most of them no longer looked upon 
 me as a guilty man. 
 
 " You were all very much startled by the statement 
 which Mr. Clayton made here yesterday, to the effect 
 that he had killed Harrison Kirke," the Inspector be- 
 gan. " I doubt if many of you were able to under- 
 stand his rather unusual statement that he was not mor- 
 ally guilty of the crime, although he might have stabbed 
 Kirke. It is my intention to make these matters clear 
 to you now." 
 
 He paused an instant, and glanced around the circle 
 of tense faces. Norton Osgood was quite pale. 
 
 " Mr. Clayton spoke the truth yesterday," Steele said 
 quietly. " He was driven by an agency not his own, to 
 the point of entering Harrison Kirke's room, and of 
 taking his life! "
 
 1 86 BEHIND RED CURTAINS 
 
 There was a start of horror from nearly every one 
 present. 
 
 " When we remember certain events which have 
 taken place in this house very recently," Steele went on, 
 steadily, " it will not be difficult for us to see the source 
 from which this mysterious agency must have come to 
 Clayton! It is not difficult for us to imagine that he 
 could have been driven to do the nefarious bidding of 
 another man! Friends, need I explain further?" 
 
 "No!" said Norton Osgood, calmly. "That is 
 quite unnecessary ! I caused George Clayton to do the 
 murder of Harrison Kirke! / am the guilty man, 
 but Clayton did the murder for me ! " 
 
 Henry Copeland sprang up and drew back in horror, 
 as he saw the full significance of the thing which had 
 been done. 
 
 " Then you admit, Mr. Osgood," Inspector Steele 
 shot at him, " that you deliberately made use of your 
 hypnotic power to cause Mr. Clayton to kill Kirke, be- 
 cause of reasons which you yourself had for wishing 
 the murder done ! " 
 
 " I do not ! " Norton Osgood returned instantly. " I 
 had no reason in the world for wanting to kill Mr. 
 Kirke!"
 
 BEHIND RED CURTAINS 187 
 
 "And yet you admit that you forced Clayton to 
 kill him? " demanded Steele. 
 
 " I did! " replied Osgood. " At the request of an- 
 other!" 
 
 There was a general start. In a flash, I saw what 
 Norton Osgood was trying to do. 
 
 " Just what do you mean by that ? " demanded 
 Steele. " Do you mean for us to infer that this was 
 not only an indirect murder, but a doubly indirect mur- 
 der that you forced Clayton to kill Kirke because 
 some one else had urged you to do that? " 
 
 " That is the truth ! " declared Osgood. 
 
 " Then who was it ? " 
 
 Osgood hesitated. For just a fraction of a second, 
 as though in spite of his efforts, he allowed his eyes to 
 rest upon Ellen Aldridge. Steele did not fail to ob- 
 serve it. 
 
 " I can't answer that question ! " Osgood replied. 
 
 " Very well," said Inspector Steele, " we shall leave 
 the question of the motive of this crime until after we 
 have cleared up the method by which it was done. 
 This, then, is what happened last Thursday night. 
 Mr. Osgood hypnotized Mr. Clayton to do the murder 
 of Harrison Kirke, because he saw that Clayton could
 
 1 88 BEHIND RED CURTAINS 
 
 be hypnotized the most easily of any of the guests. 
 Mr. Clayton went to his bed, destined to murder Kirke 
 during the night. 
 
 " At some time well past midnight, friends, he arose 
 from his bed under the influence of Mr. Osgood's 
 power, found a knife in his hand, crossed his room, 
 pushed on the door to Kirke's room three times until 
 it opened, and went in, after a final hopeless struggle 
 against the hypnotic power. All this Clayton dreamed 
 during his nightmare, and it has been my work to de- 
 cide whether or not his dream was real. He then 
 realized that he had a knife in his hand, because he saw 
 it reflecting the moonlight. He stabbed Kirke, and 
 hid the knife in his fireplace. The next morning he 
 found indisputable evidence that he had been out of 
 bed during the night, and he later found the knife in 
 the fireplace, where he had dreamed that he put it. 
 Clayton, then, actually killed Harrison Kirke, but Mr. 
 Osgood is morally guilty of his murder ! " 
 
 " No ! " cried Osgood. " I admit that I caused Clay- 
 ton to do it, but it was at the bidding of " 
 
 "And that is where you are absolutely wrong!" 
 Inspector Steele cut in. " Friends, there is but one 
 objection to the theory which I have just outlined for
 
 BEHIND RED CURTAINS 189 
 
 you. And that is the fact that George Clayton could 
 not, and did not, stab Harrison Kirke ! " 
 
 " What? " cried Osgood. The others gasped. 
 
 " Mr. Osgood," Steele went on, " you tried to make 
 Clayton murder Kirke last Thursday night ! But you 
 failed ! And you failed because your power does not 
 extend into the realms of crime! How far did Clay- 
 ton go in obeying your command last Thursday night ? 
 He went just as far as his sense of right would have 
 let him go, if he had been in possession of his own 
 mind. He went to the door of Kirke's room, and no 
 farther! His dream up to that time was real. The 
 changing of his slippers shows that he crossed the 
 room. And he took with him, not a knife, but his own 
 pill-box from his table a round box, like the handle 
 of a knife! Up to the point of actually entering 
 Kirke's room, you made him do your bidding! Be- 
 yond that, you failed! And you failed because there 
 was a ' hypnotic limit ' in this case, just as there is in 
 every case on record in which a crime has been at- 
 tempted by hypnotism ! " 
 
 " But my finger marks on the door ! " I cried. 
 
 " True enough ! " said Steele. " You made two at- 
 tempts to push the door open. But you failed."
 
 190 BEHIND RED CURTAINS 
 
 " But I made a third attempt, and succeeded ! " 
 
 " No, you did not ! " the Inspector said. " That was 
 the point at which the hypnotic power lost its hold upon 
 you. You dreamed that third attempt; you did not 
 make it ! " 
 
 " But I pushed again, and opened it! " I cried. 
 
 " You did not open it by pushing on it ! " returned 
 Inspector Steele. " That would be an absolute impos- 
 sibility, for the reason that the door opens into your 
 room, not out, as you dreamed it ! " 
 
 I gave a gasp of astonishment. 
 
 " Naturally enough, you failed twice when you tried 
 to push open a door that you should have pulled open ! 
 And your success on the third attempt could have been 
 nothing but a hallucination! And everything which 
 followed was a hallucination! You said you saw the 
 knife-blade gleaming in the moonlight from Kirke's 
 window. How could you have seen it, when you know 
 well that there was a heavy rain outside, and a cloudy 
 night? What became of your pill-box? You kept it 
 in your hand, while you dreamed that you were killing 
 Kirke, and then you hid it in the fireplace. There is 
 not a single one of your finger prints anywhere inside 
 the door of Kirke's room, for the simple reason that 
 you never passed that door ! "
 
 BEHIND RED CURTAINS 191 
 
 " But the knife which we found in the fireplace!" I 
 objected. " The real criminal couldn't possibly have 
 known my dream ! " 
 
 " You are wrong ! He could ! I asked Dr. Man- 
 ning about that this afternoon. When you told him 
 your dream, you told it in the little room with the red 
 curtains. Any one in the house might have been listen- 
 ing, and have overheard it. In fact, Dr. Manning re- 
 members now that he had a feeling during your account 
 that some one was near. The real criminal took out 
 your pill-box from where you had hidden it in the fire- 
 place, and put the knife in there, to make you feel cer- 
 tain that you were guilty." 
 
 " But, Mr. Steele ! " exclaimed Henry Copeland. 
 " This is unheard-of ! Mr. Osgood has just declared 
 that he used his hypnotic power to make Mr. Clayton 
 do the murder, and that he used it at the instigation 
 of a third party. It is our duty to locate that third 
 party ! " 
 
 " I'm afraid that you are mistaken, Mr. Copeland," 
 Inspector Steele answered. " It is quite true that Mr. 
 Osgood made use of his hypnotism last Thursday night 
 to cause Clayton to do the crime which he wanted done. 
 It may or may not be true that Mr. Osgood did this at 
 the instigation of a third person. But whatever his
 
 192 BEHIND RED CURTAINS 
 
 motive was, and whoever lay behind it, the question of 
 hypnotism has ceased to play the important part in this 
 case. Mr. Osgood wanted Clayton to kill Kirke, and 
 he did his best to make him do it. But he failed! 
 Strictly speaking, he is a murderer at heart. But I 
 have just proved beyond all possible doubt that neither 
 he nor his hypnotism was responsible for the death of 
 Kirke!" 
 
 " Then you mean," said Mrs. Copeland, " that this 
 crime was done by some entirely different person, with 
 an altogether different motive ! " 
 
 " I mean," answered Inspector Steele, as he glanced 
 slowly around the group of faces, " that the new line 
 of investigation which was started by Clayton's declara- 
 tion of his own guilt, has proved only a diversion from 
 the main line of reasoning which I was following out 
 yesterday. Mr. Osgood has tried murder by a dia- 
 bolical method. He has failed ! He is not the mur- 
 derer of Harrison Kirke! George Clayton is not the 
 murderer ! But someone else some one of the peo- 
 ple who are facing me now is! "
 
 CHAPTER IX 
 
 Inspector Steele stood before the party in the living- 
 room, where on the previous evening he had declared 
 that one of those present was a murderer, and let his 
 gaze travel slowly around the half circle of tense faces. 
 Not a single expression, not even the slightest catch of 
 a breath, escaped his eyes. He was searching again for 
 some sign which might reveal the guilty person, but 
 he did not find it. 
 
 Norton Osgood was standing by the Inspector's side, 
 and his face showed that this was a moment of great 
 importance in the solution of the mystery. But every 
 one of the other faces, without exception, portrayed 
 nothing but tense expectancy and the keenest excite- 
 ment. 
 
 " It is now quite clear," Steele said, at length, " that 
 Harrison Kirke was actually killed by the deliberate in- 
 tention of some person, unaided by any hypnotic influ- 
 ence, and because of a motive which was entirely that 
 person's own. It now remains to find out which one 
 of you has done this. By what method can this be 
 done?" 
 
 193
 
 194 BEHIND RED CURTAINS 
 
 He glanced once more at each of the other people, 
 and then went on : 
 
 " Detective Gray has made repeated attempts to 
 solve this affair by means of finger-print evidence, 
 and has failed. I have spent three days in the effort to 
 solve it by means of discovering the exact motive, and 
 I, also, have failed. Only one course remains, and, 
 under the circumstances, it is strange that I have not 
 thought of it before. I have asked Mr. Osgood to 
 help me in this matter." 
 
 The announcement came as a distinct surprise to 
 every one of us. 
 
 " I am informed that Mr. Osgood has more than 
 once helped in the detection of crimes by means of 
 hypnotism," the Inspector continued. " We have all 
 heard the admission which he made to us yesterday, 
 and we all realize that he, having attempted indirect 
 murder, is morally guilty of the death of Harrison 
 Kirke. I have now offered him this opportunity of 
 redeeming himself before us and before the world, by 
 aiding me to the best of his ability in learning who 
 actually did the crime which he himself was only too 
 willing to do." 
 
 " Then you mean that you can learn the truth by 
 hypnotism ? " demanded Mr. Copeland.
 
 BEHIND RED CURTAINS 195 
 
 "Such is Mr. Osgood's belief," replied Steele. 
 " And I have every reason to think that his confidence 
 is warranted." 
 
 " But but how ? " Fred Aldridge questioned. 
 
 " We intend to show you, at once," was the Inspec- 
 tor's answer. " Detective Gray is in the hall now. 
 As soon as he is ready, we shall proceed." 
 
 The detective soon entered, and was so astounded by 
 Steele's proposed method that it was hard for him 
 not to ridicule it openly. 
 
 " In my opinion," he declared, " we should arrest 
 this man who admitted he tried to make Mr. Clayton 
 do it." 
 
 " Which is exactly what the real criminal undoubt- 
 edly hopes we will do ! " returned Inspector Steele. 
 " We could do nothing more foolish, Mr. Gray. It 
 stands to reason that Mr. Osgood cannot possibly be 
 the one who stabbed Kirke. He was so confident of 
 his power to make Clayton do it, that it is incon- 
 ceivable that he should have handled the knife himself. 
 He would not have thought of it, when he expected an- 
 other man to do it for him. And there is no better 
 way in which he can atone for his murderous inten- 
 tions, than to assist me in bringing the real murderer 
 to justice."
 
 196 BEHIND RED CURTAINS 
 
 " What scheme do you propose to carry out? " asked 
 Gray. 
 
 " I'll explain our plan in detail, for all of you," re- 
 plied Steele. " I intend to have Mr. Osgood hypnotize 
 each one of you, in turn. Each of you will have your 
 mind in his power for several minutes. Now, Mr. Os- 
 good's theory is the following. Whatever thing is 
 uppermost in your minds at the time when he 
 hypnotizes you, will remain there during his experi- 
 ment. He can cause each of you to give a description 
 of whatever scene has made the greatest impression 
 upon you during the past few days. He can also com- 
 mand you to attempt to do that thing, whatever it is, 
 which has been uppermost in your mind, and you will 
 be forced to do it ! " 
 
 There was a sudden murmur of astonishment and 
 apprehension from the little party. 
 
 " You can all see what the result will be ! " In- 
 spector Steele went on. " To the person who killed 
 Harrison Kirke, there will be one great picture above 
 all others in his mind the instant of the murder ! 
 There can be only one thought uppermost in his mind 
 to conceal evidence ! The guilty person may de- 
 scribe the scene of the crime. He will certainly do his
 
 BEHIND RED CURTAINS 197 
 
 level best to conceal evidence! All that remains for 
 the rest of us, is to watch ! " 
 
 I glanced quickly at the faces of the others. Every 
 one was pale. There was clearly the one terrifying 
 thought in the mind of each : " What if I should act 
 in a suspicious manner?" 
 
 " We shall try the test with every single member of 
 this party ! " Steele declared. " No matter what your 
 personal feelings may be in regard to hypnotism, I 
 must insist upon that. Mr. Osgood will certainly not 
 do any injury to any of you. And there can be no ex- 
 ceptions made ! " 
 
 I wondered if these words were meant to include me, 
 also. I now shrank more than ever from again placing 
 my mind under the power of Norton Osgood. 
 
 Inspector Steele quietly placed two chairs in the cen- 
 ter of the room. I shuddered as I saw them. The 
 scene was exactly the same as on that Thursday night. 
 And yet how different ! 
 
 " It will not matter at all in what order you come," 
 Steele said. " You must all undergo the test, sooner 
 or later. Will er will some one kindly volunteer 
 to be the first ? " 
 
 He glanced around at the white faces. But no one
 
 198 BEHIND RED CURTAINS 
 
 spoke. They were all too terrified by the power which 
 Osgood had shown. Five long seconds passed, then 
 ten. 
 
 I made up my mind suddenly. I had just been ex- 
 onerated from all suspicion, and it was my place to 
 submit to the affair first of all. I took one step for- 
 ward. But Manning grasped my arm. 
 
 " Not you, George," he said. " You've had terrors 
 enough with this business already. I'll do it first." 
 
 " But you said you were afraid of hypnotism ! " I 
 declared. 
 
 " I am ! " he answered ; " but that doesn't matter. 
 Mr. Osgood, I'm ready." 
 
 " No, no, Bob ! " Fred Aldridge protested. " Mr. 
 Steele, don't let him! With the horror which he's 
 always had of hypnotism, it would be nothing less 
 than criminal to let him be tortured first ! " 
 
 " Fred's right, Bob, I'm sure ! " young Copeland 
 agreed. " It won't be half as hard after some one else 
 has tried it. Wait ! " 
 
 " I am quite willing to be the first," Mrs. Copeland 
 volunteered. 
 
 Manning returned to his chair. Mrs. Copeland came 
 forward and took her place in front of Norton Osgood.
 
 BEHIND RED CURTAINS 199 
 
 She, in contrast to the others, did not seem to have the 
 slightest dread of the proceeding. 
 
 Norton Osgood began just as he had on that fatal 
 Thursday evening. He asked for Mrs. Copeland's 
 undivided attention, and started the motion with his 
 hands which had become so familiar to me. He con- 
 tinued in the same manner for perhaps three minutes. 
 He then raised his right hand over his shoulder a 
 signal to Steele that Mrs. Copeland was within his 
 power. 
 
 " Get a description of the scene which has made the 
 greatest effect upon her within the last few days," was 
 the Inspector's command. 
 
 " You will describe what you see now ! " Osgood said 
 to Mrs. Copeland, in low tones. " You will describe 
 what you see now ! " 
 
 " I see a room," her voice replied, very slowly. 
 " A room, with a table, and people seated around it. 
 A room, and a table, and people." 
 
 " Are they all there ? " Norton Osgood demanded. 
 
 " No," she answered. " My son is not there. But 
 see! He is coming back now! He is running, and 
 his face is pale, and he is telling us that Mr. Kirke 
 has been murdered ! "
 
 20O 
 
 " She remembers that morning in the dining-room, 
 when Arthur discovered the crime," Henry Copeland 
 explained to Steele. 
 
 " Very well," the Inspector said. " Go ahead, Mr. 
 Osgood." 
 
 " You will do whatever is uppermost in your mind ! " 
 Osgood commanded. " You will do it now ! " 
 
 But Mrs. Copeland merely sat in silence in her chair. 
 
 " She's been so upset that she doesn't know what to 
 do ! " Grace Copeland exclaimed. 
 
 " That is sufficient," the Inspector said. " You may 
 release her." 
 
 Osgood did so. She arose, and declared that she 
 could remember quite clearly all that she had said. 
 We waited for another volunteer. 
 
 Lucy Aldridge was the next to offer herself. She 
 was plainly in dread of Osgood's power, but she was 
 making a great effort not to show her fear. 
 
 Osgood asked for her attention, and began the mo- 
 tion of his hands. But after about a minute, he sud- 
 denly paused. 
 
 " I'll have to ask for your entire attention," he said. 
 
 " But I have certainly been giving it," she replied. 
 " I have not thought of anything else since I took my 
 place here."
 
 BEHIND RED CURTAINS 201 
 
 Osgood said he would try again. But after another 
 two minutes of endeavor, he again shook his head. 
 
 " Have you experienced the least feeling which is 
 not ordinary, since I began? " he asked. 
 
 " No. I haven't noticed it." 
 
 " I'll try once more," said Osgood. 
 
 He spent nearly five minutes this time. But in the 
 end he gave it up with a hopeless gesture. He turned 
 to Steele. 
 
 " I am sorry," he said, " but Miss Lucy Aldridge is 
 apparently one of those people whose minds cannot be 
 influenced in any way by my power. It is not unusual 
 for me to find such people." 
 
 " Then we'll excuse Miss Lucy Aldridge from any 
 further test," the Inspector decided. " Is is some 
 one else ready now? Oh, very well, Miss Copeland. 
 Thank you." 
 
 Grace Copeland showed less fear than Lucy Ald- 
 ridge, though she was plainly quite nervous. Osgood 
 did not find any difficulty in hypnotizing her; within 
 two minutes after beginning, he signalled to Steele that 
 he was ready. 
 
 The results of the first part of the test with Grace 
 Copeland were precisely the same as in the case of her 
 mother. After a series of questions, she depicted the
 
 202 BEHIND RED CURTAINS 
 
 scene as it had been in the dining-room when Arthur 
 Copeland had announced his discovery of the tragedy 
 upstairs. When she was told to do whatever was 
 uppermost in her mind, she did not do anything. Os- 
 good was on the point of ending the test, when she 
 finally arose and crossed the room to Fred Aldridge. 
 She placed her arm on his shoulder. 
 
 " That will be sufficient," Inspector Steele said, 
 dryly. " We'll have another, if you please." 
 
 The next to volunteer was Mr. Henry Copeland. 
 He came forward calmly, and took his place in the 
 chair before Osgood. 
 
 But again the hypnotism failed. Norton Osgood 
 tried every means in his power for over ten minutes, 
 but he was unable to make the slightest impression upon 
 the banker's mind. He reluctantly told Steele that he 
 would have to admit his second failure of the evening. 
 
 The Inspector was a trifle more annoyed this time, 
 and asked Osgood if he thought such failures would be 
 likely to occur among the six people who had not yet 
 been tried. 
 
 " I trust not, Mr. Steele," was Osgood's sincere re- 
 ply. " It is most unfortunate that I should have 
 found two such people among these ten, and I'll cer- 
 tainly do my best to prevent its occurring again."
 
 BEHIND RED CURTAINS 203 
 
 This time it was Fred Aldridge who started forward 
 to the chair, but Ellen Aldridge was nearer, and arose 
 at the same instant. Norton Osgood chose her in pref- 
 erence to her brother. 
 
 Almost immediately, I saw that there was a notice- 
 able difference in his manner. With the other people, 
 he had merely been carrying out Steele's instructions. 
 But from the instant that Ellen Aldridge took her place 
 in the chair before him, I had an instinctive feeling that 
 Osgood was doing his best to cause her to say or do 
 something which might appear suspicious. As the 
 hypnotism went on, my feeling became a conviction, 
 and my dislike of Norton Osgood grew until it had be- 
 come almost a hatred. 
 
 My sudden start was very nearly one of guilt, when 
 I realized that she was describing the little room with 
 the red curtains the room where she had first shown 
 me that she no longer cared for Bob Manning as she 
 had before. 
 
 " It is a small room," she said slowly, in reply to 
 Osgood's questioning. " Very small, with a door into 
 the hall." 
 
 " How small? " demanded Osgood. " Isn't it large 
 enough to contain a bed? " 
 
 No ! " she answered, at once. " It is much too
 
 204 BEHIND RED CURTAINS 
 
 small, and there is not any bed. But there is a writing- 
 desk, and and a door into the hall." 
 
 "Yes, indeed; a door into the hall," said Norton 
 Osgood. " And perhaps another door, and a window 
 beyond ? " 
 
 " No," persisted Ellen Aldridge. " No other door, 
 and no window except the one near the hall door. 
 But but at the other end of the room " 
 
 " Yes, yes ! What is at the other end? " 
 
 " Something red," she replied, very slowly. 
 
 " Something red ! " repeated Norton Osgood. " A 
 bed ! Something on it that has once been a man ! " 
 
 " There is no bed," she repeated calmly, shaking 
 her head. With her mind under Osgood's power as it 
 was, she seemed unable to grasp the significance of 
 what he was trying to make her say. " But at the 
 other end something red." 
 
 " Something red ! " exclaimed Norton Osgood again. 
 "Red what? Red blood?" 
 
 There were horrified exclamations from the others. 
 Ellen Aldridge awakened at last to what Osgood was 
 trying to do. 
 
 " No ! No ! " she cried, in terror. 
 
 "Then what is it that is red?" he demanded.
 
 205 
 
 " What is it that you don't dare to tell us? It's blood ! 
 Red blood!" 
 
 " It isn't blood ! " she answered. " It is red cloth ! 
 Red curtains ! " 
 
 " It's blood ! " cried Osgood, as she drew away from 
 him in fear. " It's red blood that you see, and there is 
 a bed and in your hand " 
 
 " Enough of that ! " Inspector Steele cut in, as Nor- 
 ton Osgood continued his attack upon the helpless girl. 
 " Miss Aldridge is describing the writing-room next 
 to this room the little place with the red curtains. 
 Release her at once, and we'll go on ! " 
 
 Osgood obeyed, reluctantly enough. She arose in a 
 dazed manner, still pale from the horror of his accusa- 
 tion. 
 
 " You didn't have her do whatever is uppermost in 
 her mind," the methodical David Endicott reminded 
 Steele. 
 
 " That is quite unnecessary, in this case," the In- 
 spector replied. " Mr. Aldridge, you were willing to 
 be the next." 
 
 " Certainly," answered Fred Aldridge. He took his 
 place in the chair. He had submitted to Osgood's 
 treatment so often that he had no fear of hypnotism.
 
 206 BEHIND RED CURTAINS 
 
 Fred Aldridge gave exactly the same description 
 that Mrs. Copeland and her daughter had given, and 
 told of Arthur Copeland's startling discovery of Kirke's 
 murder. Osgood did not make the slightest attempt to 
 cause him to say anything more. 
 
 " Now give him the rest of the test," the Inspector 
 commanded. 
 
 " You will do whatever is uppermost in your mind ! " 
 said Norton Osgood. " Do it now ! " 
 
 Fred Aldridge arose instantly. He stood irresolute 
 for an instant, and then went slowly to the little table 
 at the end of the room. Here he carefully searched 
 through three piles of books and magazines, and looked 
 among several papers which were lying there. The 
 others watched him in astonishment. 
 
 He then walked slowly around the room, staring 
 straight in front of him as he passed the open spaces, 
 and peering carefully into all the corners. He fol- 
 lowed this by a systematic search of the floor under the 
 chairs, and finally lifted the edges of two rugs and 
 peered underneath. At length he apparently gave up 
 his search in the living-room, and turned toward the 
 hall door. 
 
 " Ask him what he is looking for," Steele put in 
 quickly.
 
 BEHIND RED CURTAINS 207 
 
 "What is it that you want? " demanded Osgood. 
 
 Fred Aldridge paused on the threshold. 
 
 " A letter," he answered. 
 
 "What letter?" 
 
 " My own letter," was his reply. " I lost it some- 
 where." 
 
 " Release him," Steele ordered. 
 
 When Osgood had obeyed, the Inspector addressed 
 Aldridge. 
 
 " You were conscious that you were searching the 
 room for a letter? " he asked. 
 
 " Yes," replied Fred. " It was in my mind before 
 I was hypnotized, that I must find it. It was an impor- 
 tant letter from my business firm, which I must have 
 dropped somewhere this morning." 
 
 " Very well," the Inspector said. " Who will be the 
 next?" 
 
 " I will," Mr. Endicott answered. 
 
 We all half expected that David Endicott's actions 
 might be more or less laughable, but we were certainly 
 not prepared for the astounding events which fol- 
 lowed. 
 
 Before Mr. Endicott had progressed far in picturing 
 the scene which was in his mind, I saw puzzled glances 
 between the Copelands. It was plain that none of them
 
 2o8 BEHIND RED CURTAINS 
 
 recognized the place which he was describing. Nor- 
 ton Osgood, too, was perplexed, and questioned the 
 lawyer repeatedly. 
 
 " I see a very small room," Mr. Endicott answered. 
 " A very small, plain room, with shelves all around." 
 
 " Shelves! " exclaimed Henry Copeland. 
 
 " What is on the shelves ? " asked Osgood. 
 
 " On some of them dishes," was the surprising an- 
 swer. " And on others pies, and and good 
 things." 
 
 " The pantry ! " exclaimed Mrs. Copeland, in aston- 
 ishment. 
 
 " Will you be kind enough to tell me what emo- 
 tional instant any person could pass through in the 
 pantry? " the Inspector demanded, in open amaze- 
 ment. 
 
 " And what has he been doing there ? " Detective 
 Gray questioned. 
 
 " Ask the cook if she has missed any pies! " Arthur 
 Copeland suggested. 
 
 We all laughed heartily all except Inspector 
 Steele. He was plainly impatient at the nonsensical 
 turn which his investigation was taking. 
 
 " Give him the other part of the test," he ordered 
 Osgood.
 
 BEHIND RED CURTAINS 209 
 
 Norton Osgood repeated the command which he had 
 given to the others. 
 
 Without an instant of hesitation, David Endicott 
 arose and walked straight out into the hall. Detective 
 Gray followed him. The other people started for- 
 ward, also, but Steele waved them back. 
 
 " Make him come back here when he has done 
 whatever he has started to do," he told Osgood. 
 
 We waited in silence for perhaps two minutes. 
 Then Mr. Endicott returned. When the others saw 
 what he was carrying, there was a murmur of amaze- 
 ment. 
 
 David Endicott had brought in a white soap-dish, 
 with a piece of sand-soap! 
 
 It was Henry Copeland who first saw what it was 
 all about. 
 
 " Oh ! " he exclaimed, turning to the Inspector. " I 
 know what he was thinking about. The other day, 
 when he put on that old shield, he got some greasy rust 
 all over his hand, and he's been trying to get the stain 
 off with sand-soap ever since ! " 
 
 In spite of his disgust at the waste of time and ef- 
 fort, Steele was forced to laugh with the rest. 
 
 The Inspector was about to order Endicott released, 
 when the lawyer startled us all by speaking.
 
 2io BEHIND RED CURTAINS 
 
 " What am I to do with this? " he asked, slowly. 
 
 Norton Osgood caught his breath, as though he had 
 received a sudden inspiration. 
 
 " Give it," he commanded, in a quiet tone, " to the 
 one who can use it best ! " 
 
 The lawyer stood irresolute, and Osgood repeated 
 his command. 
 
 " Give it to the one who can use it best ! " 
 
 And David Endicott turned slowly toward the group 
 of men beside Steele. 
 
 They all drew back instinctively. They did not un- 
 derstand the meaning of Osgood's strange command, 
 and, not understanding, they were afraid. 
 
 The lawyer, staring straight in front of him, fas- 
 tened his gaze upon Arthur Copeland, and started 
 slowly toward him, holding the soap-dish at arm's 
 length, and extending it toward the banker's son. But 
 Arthur Copeland side-stepped adroitly, and eluded 
 Endicott's advance. 
 
 Baffled in his first attempt to carry out his command, 
 the obedient Mr. Endicott turned his attention to the 
 elder Copeland, and made his way toward him with 
 the soap-dish. But Henry Copeland was no more 
 anxious to take the thing than his son had been. His 
 nerves had been strained almost to the breaking-point
 
 BEHIND RED CURTAINS 211 
 
 by the days of mystery which he had passed through, 
 and by the fascinating terror of Norton Osgood's 
 power. He stared at the white soap-dish as though he 
 thought it contained a hypnotic charm of dread signifi- 
 cance, and hastily drew back out of the lawyer's reach. 
 
 But David Endicott refused to stop until he had 
 obeyed Osgood's command. Turning suddenly, he 
 caught sight of Fred Aldridge, who had drawn back 
 until he was in one corner of the room. Even the 
 temporarily dazed brain of the lawyer was able to ob- 
 serve that Fred had put himself in such a position in 
 the corner that escape was quite impossible. With 
 something very much like an exclamation of relief, 
 Endicott advanced upon Fred Aldridge. 
 
 But Bob Manning had been anticipating just that 
 thing. He had seen the nameless terror upon Fred's 
 face when the lawyer started toward him with that 
 awe-inspiring stare in his eyes, and he knew that his 
 friend was in mortal fear as the hypnotic victim ap- 
 proached. Manning stepped forward rapidly, clutched 
 the lawyer's arm, and held him back from Fred Ald- 
 ridge. 
 
 Mr. Endicott was not in the least offended. He 
 turned with a sigh of satisfaction, and pushed the 
 soap-dish into Bob Manning's hands. There was a
 
 212 BEHIND RED CURTAINS 
 
 general laugh, and the lawyer awoke to his surround- 
 ings. 
 
 My friend stood for a moment in surprised silence, 
 gazing at the object which had been placed in his 
 hand. He smiled. 
 
 " Am I to assume that there is any particular 
 significance in this ? " he asked. 
 
 " We can't conceive of any," was the Inspector's 
 reply. " We'll have the next one, please." 
 
 I was the nearest to Osgood at the time, and I of- 
 fered myself. My sensations were exactly the same 
 as they had been during the hypnotism on that Thurs- 
 day evening. For a minute, I could hear Norton 
 Osgood's voice, and could see the motion of his hands. 
 Then the room began to fade from my sight, and I 
 lost consciousness of what was going on. Suddenly, 
 from a distance, I heard Osgood's voice. 
 
 " You will describe what you see now ! " it said. 
 
 At the same instant, I realized that some picture was 
 taking shape before me. At first it was vague and in- 
 distinct, but soon I was able to make out the outlines 
 of a room. I heard Osgood repeat his command. 
 Then, with a start of horror, I recognized my own 
 room, just as it had been when I had dreamed of mur- 
 dering Harrison Kirke.
 
 BEHIND RED CURTAINS 213 
 
 " I see a room," my own voice said, from somewhere 
 in the distance. " A room of medium size, with a 
 bed, and a fireplace, and and two doors." 
 
 " Where do the doors lead ? " I heard Osgood ask. 
 
 " One leads to the hallway," was my answer. " The 
 other the other leads to Kirke's room ! " 
 
 I felt a shiver of horror as I said the words. At 
 that instant, all my terror of Norton Osgood returned. 
 I felt again the torture of my nightmare. My only 
 thought was to cry aloud for help. 
 
 " You will do whatever is uppermost in your mind ! " 
 Osgood's voice commanded. " Do it now ! " 
 
 And I did it. I took one long breath and 
 screamed. It was just such a scream as I had made on 
 the night of Kirke's murder high, long-drawn, ter- 
 rifying. And as its echoes resounded through the liv- 
 ing-room, I myself started at the sound, and awoke to 
 my surroundings. 
 
 I was just in time to see the effect that my terrible 
 cry had produced. 
 
 The nerves of Henry Copeland's family and friends 
 had already stood more than they could be expected to 
 stand. My scream was echoed by another from Grace 
 Copeland. She sprang to her feet in terror, and her 
 mother and father were quick to follow. Arthur
 
 214 BEHIND RED CURTAINS 
 
 Copeland gave a choking gasp, and David Endicott 
 started back as if some one had poked a needle into 
 his side. Fred Aldridge sprang up and staggered back, 
 but tripped over his own chair, and fell. Even Bob 
 Manning was completely unnerved. He gave a start, 
 and dropped the soap-dish. It clattered to the floor, 
 and broke into three pieces. He sprang forward, and 
 gripped my arm until it hurt. 
 
 " For heaven's sake, George, don't cry out that 
 way ! " His voice was hoarse with real fear. 
 " What's the matter? What did he do to you? " 
 
 I was dazed, and I did not even answer him. 
 
 " Mr. Steele, we must be more reasonable ! " ex- 
 claimed Henry Copeland, who was just recovering 
 from his fright. " We can't let these people be tor- 
 tured this way, for no reason at all ! " 
 
 " Mr. Copeland, we must complete this test ! " In- 
 spector Steele insisted. " Whatever frightened Mr. 
 Clayton was the result of his own mental condition. I 
 will ask you all to calm yourselves, so that we can 
 proceed." 
 
 " But why need you have tested Mr. Clayton at 
 all? " demanded Ellen Aldridge. " You already knew 
 that he was innocent."
 
 BEHIND RED CURTAINS 215 
 
 " Very true," replied the Inspector. " It was 
 merely through fairness to the others; I had said that 
 I must include every one. If we are ready now, we 
 shall continue with the two who remain." 
 
 Bob Manning and Arthur Copeland were the two in 
 question. The former came forward to the chair. 
 
 Manning had plainly showed his fear of hypnotism, 
 but his calm manner now was such that no one could 
 have suspected it. He faced Norton Osgood without 
 a word, and allowed him to begin. 
 
 I had half imagined that my friend would prove to 
 be a third party who could not be affected by Osgood's 
 power, but I presently saw my mistake. After work- 
 ing for perhaps seven or eight minutes, Norton Os- 
 good signalled to the Inspector that the young doctor 
 had been hypnotized. 
 
 I was a trifle surprised at this, but I was more sur- 
 prised when Bob Manning began his description. 
 Astounded, and almost unable to believe what I was 
 hearing, I listened. As Manning described, step by 
 step, the room which was in his mind, I began to realize 
 that there could be no mistake as to what place he was 
 picturing. It was unquestionably the little room with 
 the red curtains.
 
 216 BEHIND RED CURTAINS 
 
 For a moment I was as much puzzled as the others. 
 Then, I suddenly remembered. I turned quickly to 
 the Inspector. 
 
 " I know what he is thinking of," I told him. " That 
 was where I first told him that I believed I had stabbed 
 Kirke." 
 
 Steele nodded. 
 
 " You will do whatever is uppermost in your mind ! " 
 Osgood commanded. 
 
 Bob Manning arose, and walked across the room. 
 He paused at the place where he had just dropped the 
 white soap-dish, and stared down at the fragments. 
 Then he stooped, as though he felt in duty bound to 
 remove the object which he had let fall there. But his 
 fingers did not touch the soap-dish. He drew away, 
 with a gasp of horror. 
 
 We looked on in astonishment. Norton Osgood re- 
 sumed the tactics which he had tried upon David Endi- 
 cott. 
 
 " Pick it up ! " commanded Osgood. " Pick it up ! " 
 
 Again Bob Manning bent over the object on the floor. 
 But again he drew away. 
 
 " Pick it up ! " repeated Norton Osgood. 
 
 " I can't ! " said Manning. 
 
 A third time he put out his hand. But again he
 
 BEHIND RED CURTAINS 217 
 
 drew back. We could see that his face was white with 
 terror, as he stared down at the thing which lay before 
 him. 
 
 " Why can't you pick it up? " demanded Osgood. 
 
 "That is enough!" Steele interrupted suddenly. 
 " There is such a thing as carrying this horror too far. 
 Release him." 
 
 When Manning saw that it was only the broken 
 soap-dish which lay at his feet, he did not speak. For 
 a second he merely stared down at it in silence. Then 
 he turned quickly to me. 
 
 " George ! " he cried. " Do you know what it was? 
 Do you know what I saw there? " 
 
 " What? " I demanded. " Tell me ! " 
 
 " It was a snake! " he answered. " A deadly snake 
 the kind we used to see in Africa! I could see it 
 coiled there, ready to strike ! " 
 
 " Upon my word, Mr. Steele," exclaimed Henry 
 Copeland, " it's time for us to put an end to this affair ! 
 I can't sit here and see my friends terrified with such 
 visions as that, and still think we are doing it in behalf 
 of justice! " 
 
 " I quite agree with you, Mr. Copeland! " Inspector 
 Steele said, gravely. He turned to face Norton Os- 
 good.
 
 218 BEHIND RED CURTAINS 
 
 " Did you make Dr. Manning see that snake, with 
 the deliberate intention of frightening him?" he 
 demanded. 
 
 " Of course I didn't ! " returned Osgood. " On my 
 honor, I didn't! Why, I couldn't have known, until 
 just now, that he had ever been in Africa! " 
 
 Steele gave him a searching glance, as though he 
 were not at all certain that the man was not lying. 
 Then he turned to Arthur Copeland. 
 
 " You are the last," he said. "If you will be kind 
 enough to take your place here, we'll finish this 
 testing." 
 
 Osgood did not find any difficulty in hypnotizing 
 young Copeland. But the description which the 
 banker's son gave was a distinct shock to every one. 
 
 " It is a room of medium size," he said, in reply to 
 Osgood's questions. " There is a window, and a bed. 
 There is a door, from the hall. There is another door, 
 leading to the room where Mr. Clayton sleeps. And 
 on the bed " 
 
 He stopped, and Osgood could not make him go on. 
 
 " Kirke's room ! " Mr. Endicott whispered. 
 
 "Why not?" asked Henry Copeland, turning to 
 Steele. " He was the one who discovered the body, 
 and he remembers the sight."
 
 BEHIND RED CURTAINS 219 
 
 " Very well," the Inspector said. " Tell him to do 
 what is in his mind." 
 
 Osgood did as he was told. But he was hardly pre- 
 pared for what followed. 
 
 Arthur Copeland arose, and stood facing him. A 
 half minute passed in silence. 
 
 " Do whatever is uppermost in your mind ! " Os- 
 good repeated. 
 
 For answer, Arthur levelled his finger into Osgood's 
 face. 
 
 " Did you stab Kirke yourself? " he demanded. 
 
 There was a start from every one. Osgood sprang 
 up from his chair. In his anger he forgot to retain his 
 control over Copeland, and the young man awoke to 
 his surroundings. 
 
 " What what did I say ? " Arthur Copeland stam- 
 mered. 
 
 Inspector Steele told him, and he became apologetic 
 at once. 
 
 " I don't know what on earth could have made me 
 say such a thing, Mr. Osgood ! " he declared. 
 
 " The thought was previously in your mind, or you 
 wouldn't have said it," Osgood returned. 
 
 That ended the testing. Inspector Steele informed 
 the others that their presence was no longer required,
 
 220 BEHIND RED CURTAINS 
 
 and most of them left the room. Detective Gray lin- 
 gered long enough to remind Steele that his prediction 
 had been correct, since the Inspector had obviously 
 gained nothing whatsoever from the experiment; then 
 he took his departure, after declaring that he had prac- 
 tically decided to drop the case entirely, and to report 
 to headquarters that the affair could never be solved. 
 
 Norton Osgood was evidently of the same opinion. 
 
 " I have carried out your instructions to the best of 
 my ability, Mr. Steele," he said, when only the In- 
 spector and I remained in the room. " But, as you 
 can quite readily see, my effort was entirely without 
 success. I am more convinced than ever that this mur- 
 der was done by a person too clever to be caught." 
 
 " May I inquire what you mean when you say that 
 your efforts were entirely without success?" Steele 
 asked, slowly. 
 
 " I mean," replied Osgood, " that I failed to discover 
 anything at all which could have the slightest bearing 
 upon Kirke's murder. The words and actions of some 
 of these ten people were nothing less than ridiculous, 
 and not one of them showed even the least connection 
 with this crime." 
 
 " Apparently not," was Steele's quiet remark. 
 
 " Why do you say ' apparently ' ? " Osgood ques-
 
 BEHIND RED CURTAINS 221 
 
 tioned. " I certainly did not observe anything. It is 
 hardly possible that you did." 
 
 " It would not be very surprising, if I had," the In- 
 spector informed him. " Our training has been quite 
 different, Mr. Osgood. You have been trained to rule 
 people's thoughts ; I have been trained to read them." 
 
 " You don't mean that you did see something! " 
 Norton Osgood exclaimed. 
 
 " I repeat," Steele replied, " that such a thing is not 
 altogether impossible." 
 
 " But Mr. Steele ! " Osgood stared at him in amaze- 
 ment. " Certainly you don't know who killed Kirke ! " 
 
 The Inspector's eyes searched his face for an instant, 
 as if they would read how much he really knew. 
 
 " There is where you are quite mistaken, Mr. Os- 
 good ! " returned Inspector Steele. " I do! "
 
 CHAPTER X 
 
 The Inspector's declaration that he knew who had 
 murdered Harrison Kirke, was a complete shock to me. 
 For a moment, I could hardly credit what he had said. 
 According to his statement, he had observed something 
 in the hypnotic tests which we had just seen some- 
 thing which had given him a clue concerning the guilty 
 person. But what could it have been? I was now 
 quite certain that I had not committed the crime my- 
 self, and I was equally certain that I had observed 
 everything that had taken place during the hypnotism 
 of the other nine people. What incriminating incident 
 could Steel possibly have seen in these ludicrous per- 
 formances ? 
 
 At my very first opportunity to talk with the In- 
 spector alone, I hurried to him and asked what he had 
 observed. He seemed a bit surprised that I did not 
 know, also. 
 
 " I assumed, from your expression at the time, that 
 you had seen it," he told me. 
 
 222
 
 BEHIND RED CURTAINS 223 
 
 " I certainly didn't see anything! " I replied. " Are 
 you sure that you know who did it? " 
 
 " I am quite certain," he answered quietly. 
 
 " Then you're ready to have an arrest made?'' 
 
 " No," he answered. " I haven't any proof, at all. 
 I merely know who did it. I may find great difficulty 
 in getting proof." 
 
 " But tell me what it was that you saw ! " I ex- 
 claimed. 
 
 The Inspector hesitated an instant. 
 
 " I hardly like to mention this person's name to 
 you, until I can prove the truth," he said. " But, if 
 you like, I'll show you where I got my knowledge." 
 
 To my great surprise, he led me upstairs into the 
 upper hall. He made his way to the doorway of 
 Kirke's room, and then went a few steps farther down 
 the hall, until he came to the point where the two 
 passages branched off at right angles. Here he turned 
 to the hallway at the left, and paused. 
 
 " This is something which was evidently overlooked 
 by Gray and by all the others," he said. " I discovered 
 it by accident yesterday." 
 
 He pointed down at the long, narrow rug which 
 extended the length of the hallway. I came nearer, 
 and was able to make out a deep red stain, about as
 
 224 BEHIND RED CURTAINS 
 
 large as a silver dollar. There was a much smaller 
 one, close beside it. In the dim passage, they were 
 scarcely noticeable. 
 
 " Blood ! " I exclaimed. 
 
 " Yes," he replied. " Harrison Kirke's blood." 
 
 " But how did it happen to be dropped here, instead 
 of in Kirke's room? " 
 
 " That is the peculiar part of it," was Steele's reply. 
 " Suppose we rehearse once more the important events 
 of your dream on the night of the crime. You re- 
 member that you got out of bed, under Osgood's power, 
 and went as far as the door of Kirke's room. There 
 you tried twice to push the door open, and naturally 
 failed. All that you dreamed of doing inside Kirke's 
 room, all that happened after your second failure to 
 open the door, was nothing but a wild hallucination." 
 
 " Of course," I agreed. " I understand that, 
 but " 
 
 " Then I wish you would bear it very carefully in 
 mind, for an instant. After depositing your harmless 
 pill-box in the fireplace, you returned to your bed, freed 
 from Osgood's influence. I have not the least idea 
 how long you remained there, in mental torture over 
 what you thought you had done, before you gave your 
 scream. But I do know this. During that interval,
 
 BEHIND RED CURTAINS 225 
 
 the real murderer entered Kirke's room from the hall- 
 way, and committed his crime ! " 
 
 He paused an instant, but I did not speak. 
 
 " The murderer was a person of great skill," he went 
 on. " A pair of gloves provided against any finger- 
 prints. The knife was driven into Kirke's heart with 
 such force and accuracy that the victim could not have 
 made a sound. And then the murderer left the room 
 in silence, and started down the hallway." 
 
 " But how was he, or she, so careless as to let the 
 knife drip blood here?" I asked. "That isn't 
 logical!" 
 
 "No; it certainly isn't," Steele answered. "But 
 what were you doing at that time? " 
 
 " Why," I replied, "I I must have made my 
 scream about that time." 
 
 " Yes," the Inspector said. " You did. Perhaps 
 you can imagine what the criminal's feelings were. If 
 you had committed a silent murder, and were in the 
 act of returning to safety, how would you like to hear a 
 horrible cry issuing apparently from the room of the 
 slain man? " 
 
 " But but I don't understand ! " I said. "If the 
 murderer had already left Kirke's room when I 
 screamed, how can you account for the clattering sound
 
 226 BEHIND RED CURTAINS 
 
 which I am sure I heard just as I was awakening?" 
 
 Inspector Steele did not answer. He merely looked 
 at me. 
 
 "And what do we gain from this bloodstain?" I 
 questioned. 
 
 " What do we gain? " Steele repeated. " We gain 
 the knowledge that the murderer came from this pas- 
 sage to the left, and not from that other hallway." 
 
 " Oh ! " I exclaimed. " Why, that would eliminate 
 all the ladies in the party, and also " I hesitated. 
 I was not absolutely certain that I remembered exactly 
 whose rooms were in the other hallway. 
 
 "That is correct," the Inspector said. "All the 
 ladies would be eliminated right away and also one 
 other. That leaves us only the men in this hallway. 
 The criminal knew that, and did not relish the fact 
 that he had left this tell-tale bloodmark." 
 
 " But there are five men whose rooms open from this 
 hall," I said. " I don't see how you can possibly tell 
 which one is guilty." 
 
 " We can't from the help which this stain gives 
 us," Steele replied. " There are, as you say, five men 
 Mr. Arthur Copeland, Dr. Manning, Mr. Osgood, 
 Mr. Fred Aldridge, and Mr. Endicott. Of these, only
 
 BEHIND RED CURTAINS 227 
 
 one has shown himself to be of such a character that 
 we would naturally be willing to suspect him. With 
 any one of the other four, the idea is distinctly revolt- 
 ing. But we must remember that although a murder 
 was done, it was done to a man who deserved his fate. 
 Such a murder as this, you will agree, would not be too 
 base a crime for any of these five men." 
 
 " But you haven't any means of telling which one," I 
 reminded him. 
 
 " You are mistaken," he answered. " I have, now. 
 It came in just the manner that I had expected from 
 the hypnotic tests." 
 
 For a moment I gave him a blank stare. Then I 
 began to wonder, and my brain travelled back over the 
 events of the hypnotism that had taken place in the 
 living-room. A sudden memory came, and I caught 
 my breath. 
 
 " Mr. Steele, you can't you can't mean " I 
 hesitated. " Why, you couldn't mean him! He's 
 one of the kindliest, most good-natured men I ever 
 met ! You can't mean that ! " 
 
 " If you've known him a good while," Steele began, 
 " you ought to know " 
 
 " But I haven't ! " I declared. " Why, I never saw
 
 228 BEHIND RED CURTAINS 
 
 the man until I came Mr. Steele, I can't believe he 
 ever did it! I couldn't believe it of any of these 
 men!" 
 
 " It's very hard, I admit," the Inspector said. " I'll 
 tell you frankly that I never received such a shock in 
 my life, as when I learned who had killed Kirke. But 
 a murder is a murder, and we must find the proof that 
 we need. Now, I'll have to ask you to promise not to 
 mention what I have just said, to any one. No one 
 else in this house must know that I have learned who 
 the criminal is, until I can get proof enough to expose 
 him." 
 
 I gave him my word, and we went downstairs to- 
 gether. 
 
 It was not until evening that I learned of any fur- 
 ther activity on the part of Steele. About seven 
 o'clock I found him examining the stairway and the 
 floor of the lower hall with a powerful magnifying 
 glass. 
 
 " You don't expect to find anything now, after all 
 these days ! " I exclaimed. 
 
 " I'm afraid not," was his reply. " I was looking 
 for something which has been done much more recently, 
 but it seems that it is not to be found." 
 
 He walked slowly to the end of the hall, and stood
 
 BEHIND RED CURTAINS 229 
 
 for an instant before the group of overcoats and hats 
 which were hanging in one corner. 
 
 " Those coats have interested me ever since I came 
 here," he announced at length. " I have already ex- 
 amined the gloves in the pockets a number of times, but 
 I believe I'll try one of them again." 
 
 He stepped forward and thrust his hand into a 
 pocket of one of the overcoats. Then, with a look of 
 surprise, he withdrew it quickly, and tried the pocket 
 on the other side of the coat. A little exclamation, 
 half of surprise and half of satisfaction, told me that 
 he had learned something of importance. 
 
 " Clayton, you haven't heard of any of the party 
 being allowed to go out of the house yesterday or to- 
 day ? " he questioned. 
 
 " No, indeed," I replied at once. " Mr. Gray has 
 been unusually careful in regard to that." 
 
 " Nevertheless," Steele said, " this gentleman has 
 had occasion to remove his gloves from his overcoat 
 pockets since day before yesterday. I wonder why? " 
 
 I would have given anything to know who was the 
 owner of that coat. But it was rather dark in the hall- 
 way, and there were five overcoats upon that rack, and 
 although there seemed something vaguely familiar 
 about the garment which the Inspector was examining,
 
 2 3 o BEHIND RED CURTAINS 
 
 I could not form the slightest conjecture as to who had 
 taken such pains to remove his gloves. Steele did not 
 choose to enlighten me upon the matter, and I knew 
 better than to question him. 
 
 " We'll leave the gloves, for the present," he said. 
 " It is quite possible that we may not need to find them. 
 I am going to call the party together again. Wait a 
 minute, though ! What's this ? " 
 
 He stooped quickly, and picked up a white object 
 from beneath the coat-rack. After examining it for a 
 moment, he nodded and placed it in his pocket. I could 
 not see very well in the dim light, but I felt certain 
 that the thing he had found on the floor was an ad- 
 dressed business envelope. I was hardly imaginative 
 enough to attempt to connect this envelope with the 
 murder of Kirke, and I doubted that the Inspector 
 himself could have had any such idea. 
 
 Our friends were all nervous when they gathered in 
 the living-room at Steele's request, for they could see 
 that the Inspector's manner had changed. Every one 
 noticed it, and they all felt that the case was very near 
 its end. 
 
 " I shall leave for New York to-morrow morning," 
 Steele announced abruptly, when all were seated. 
 
 We were indeed startled, but no one spoke.
 
 BEHIND RED CURTAINS 231 
 
 " I promised Mr. Copeland when I came here," 
 Steele said, " that I would not leave until this matter 
 had been solved. I have kept my word. I have 
 learned who stabbed Harrison Kirke on Thursday eve- 
 ning of last week, and I am prepared to give evidence 
 which will prove my assertion." 
 
 He paused, and glanced at the faces of the men. I 
 did likewise. Mr. Copeland and his son seemed horri- 
 fied that the end of the mystery had come so unexpect- 
 edly. Mr. Endicott was in such suspense that he 
 scarcely breathed. Fred Aldridge was casting appre- 
 hensive glances at first one and then another of the 
 men, as though trying to read in advance which one 
 was guilty. Bob Manning was merely waiting in 
 silence. Osgood was openly incredulous, and I 
 thought for a moment that he was laughing quietly at 
 Steele. 
 
 The Inspector's hand went slowly into his coat 
 pocket. And every eye followed it. 
 
 " The evidence which I have found," he said, " is 
 here." 
 
 But before he withdrew his hand, Henry Copeland 
 arose from his chair. 
 
 " Mr. Steele," he said slowly, " would you be willing 
 to wait a moment ? "
 
 232 BEHIND RED CURTAINS 
 
 The Inspector was very much surprised. Copeland 
 continued. 
 
 " Do I understand that you are on the point of ex- 
 posing the murderer of Kirke? " he asked. 
 
 " That is what I was about to do, Mr. Copeland." 
 It was said with decision. 
 
 " Then, as a favor to me, would you wait five min- 
 utes ? I must see you alone, before you make this dis- 
 closure." 
 
 " I am willing," was Steele's reply. " We'll go to 
 another room. The others will please wait here." 
 
 He started toward the door with Mr. Copeland. 
 But Mr. Endicott arose, and came forward. 
 
 " I'm going with you, too," he announced quietly. 
 
 Copeland was somewhat taken aback. He hesitated. 
 
 " I'm not sure that you'd better, David," he man- 
 aged to say, at length. " I'd rather speak to Mr. Steele 
 alone." 
 
 " No. I'm going with you." It was clear that 
 David Endicott had resolved upon something, and 
 could not be turned from his purpose. 
 
 " Very well," said the elder Copeland. " Come." 
 
 But Fred Aldridge interrupted. His face was white 
 and drawn again, as it had been during the first few 
 days of the investigation.
 
 BEHIND RED CURTAINS 233 
 
 " Mr. Steele, won't you let me go also? " he asked. 
 " I think it would be better for every one." 
 
 For a moment Steele was undecided. A sudden 
 thought had entered my head. Could this be a trap 
 set by some person, in the desperate hope of over- 
 powering the Inspector in another room and destroying 
 the evidence which he had found? Possibly the same 
 idea occurred to Steele at the same instant, for he gave 
 me a glance as he answered Aldridge's request. 
 
 " Very well, Mr. Aldriclge, you may come," he said. 
 And then he added, " And Clayton also." 
 
 I thought I understood his reason for asking me. If 
 a trap were being set for him by some one, he did not 
 care to be caught without any one upon whom he could 
 rely. 
 
 We went into the familiar little room at the end of 
 the hall, where we had held our first discussion with 
 Norton Osgood. The Inspector closed the door, and 
 latched it. 
 
 " Now, Mr. Copeland," he said. 
 
 " The matter I wanted to speak about," the banker 
 replied, " is one that I would greatly prefer to discuss 
 with you alone." 
 
 " These other two gentlemen have come at their own 
 request," Steele answered. " As for Mr. Clayton, he
 
 234 BEHIND RED CURTAINS 
 
 is helping me on this case. Whatever you have to say 
 will be safe with him." 
 
 " Of course," Mr. Copeland said. " I'm afraid you 
 don't quite get my meaning. This subject is one which 
 I should particularly like to avoid mentioning in the 
 presence of in the presence of these other gentlemen. 
 I fear it will affect one of them." 
 
 I was almost certain that for a tiny fraction of a 
 second his eyes turned in the direction of the other two. 
 But if my life had depended upon it, I could not have 
 told whether his half glance was at Mr. Endicott or at 
 Fred Aldridge. 
 
 " You needn't hesitate to speak before me," Mr. 
 Endicott said calmly. 
 
 " But, David, you don't understand. I know you 
 don't!" 
 
 " No matter what it is," the lawyer persisted. " No 
 matter if you are going to tell him your whole story, 
 I want to be here." 
 
 " And I want to be here, too," declared Fred Ald- 
 ridge. 
 
 Mr. Copeland had to be satisfied with this. He 
 turned again to Steele. 
 
 " I am going to make a very unusual request," he 
 told us. " It is a request which I can scarcely hope you
 
 BEHIND RED CURTAINS 235 
 
 will be inclined to grant me. In view of the time and 
 pains that you have taken in your investigation here, 
 it is almost a preposterous thing that I am going to 
 ask of you. But I hope you will at least listen to my 
 plea." 
 
 " I shall certainly be willing to do anything within 
 reason for you," the Inspector answered. 
 
 " I'm afraid you will not consider this within 
 reason," the banker said, with a smile. " I was going 
 to ask if you could let this affair remain a mystery." 
 
 I was greatly startled. But I noticed that Mr. Endi- 
 cott and Fred Aldridge were not very much surprised. 
 Nor was Inspector Steele, to all appearances. 
 
 " By that, Mr. Copeland, you mean " Steele began. 
 
 " I mean simply this. Detective Gray is hopelessly 
 at sea. Would you be willing to leave this case forever 
 unsolved ? " 
 
 Steele was silent for some time. I fancied that his 
 eyes were upon Endicott and Aldridge, but I could 
 not be certain. 
 
 " Do you realize, Mr. Copeland," he asked finally, 
 " that I am now in possession of evidence which will 
 convict the guilty party ? " 
 
 Mr. Endicott started to speak, but the banker was 
 ahead of him.
 
 236 BEHIND RED CURTAINS 
 
 " I do realize that," replied Henry Copeland. 
 " That is why I have made my request at this time." 
 
 " Another question," Steele said. " Why do you 
 feel obliged to request such a thing? " 
 
 Mr. Copeland glanced at Endicott, but the lawyer 
 did not speak. Fred Aldridge was silently watching 
 both. 
 
 " I can't answer that," said Henry Copeland. 
 
 " It would be well for you to reconsider," the In- 
 spector told him. " Remember that I have evidence 
 which will convict a man a man who apparently 
 means quite a lot to you. If you do not want me to use 
 this evidence, you must tell me why." 
 
 " You have guessed the reason," the banker an- 
 swered, nodding. " I, as well as you, know who did 
 the crime." 
 
 " And you prefer that these other gentlemen should 
 not be told, for the present ? " 
 
 Steele's eyes again searched the faces of Endicott 
 and Aldridge. Copeland did not look up from the 
 table before him. When he answered, his voice was 
 low. 
 
 " One of them does not need to be told." 
 
 Each was startled, and each stared at Henry Cope-
 
 BEHIND RED CURTAINS 237 
 
 land. He seemed to feel the tension without looking 
 up, for he added quickly: 
 
 " Perhaps both." 
 
 Mr. Endicott was astounded. He stared first at the 
 banker, and then at Steele. Fred Aldridge stared, too 
 not at them, but at me. Steele broke the silence. 
 
 "What, in your opinion, should I do?" he asked, 
 speaking to all of us. " Do you believe your friends 
 want this affair to remain a mystery? Do you think 
 they would desire to go on through life, seeing each 
 other often, as friends do, and realizing that one of 
 their number had done murder, and still not knowing 
 which one? " 
 
 " I don't believe they would," said David Endicott. 
 
 " It would be far better that they should never 
 know," declared Henry Copeland. 
 
 Fred did not offer any opinion. Steele turned to 
 me. 
 
 " Clayton, what do you say ? " 
 
 I thought carefully. I considered the matter in all 
 its phases. And I saw that the future was more im- 
 portant than the present. 
 
 " I must agree with Mr. Endicott," I answered. 
 " We should find the murderer of Kirke." 
 
 If my words were the ones which decided the mat-
 
 238 BEHIND RED CURTAINS 
 
 ter in Steele's mind, I shall regret them all my life. 
 
 " We must go on with the case," he said firmly. 
 
 Copeland started to speak again, but saw how use- 
 less it would be. Fred's thoughts seemed far away. 
 To Mr. Endicott, the decision did not seem such a 
 blow. He took it more as something which must in- 
 evitably be faced. 
 
 " Are you willing to tell us what your new evidence 
 is ? " he asked Steele. 
 
 " Certainly. I have it here." 
 
 Again Steele's hand went into his pocket. When it 
 came out this time, I saw a cylindrical wooden object. 
 As he placed it carefully on the table before us, holding 
 it gingerly by its extreme edges, I recognized my long- 
 sought pill-box. 
 
 " This was the * weapon ' which Mr. Clayton used 
 when he dreamed of killing Kirke," the Inspector said 
 calmly. " He remembers that he dropped it behind the 
 bricks in the fireplace. Later, the real murderer re- 
 moved it, and substituted his knife, in the hope of con- 
 vincing Clayton that he himself had done the crime. 
 The guilty party then threw this pill-box away, in a 
 place where it could never in the world be found, even 
 if any one should want to look for it. So thought the 
 man who murdered Kirke ! "
 
 BEHIND RED CURTAINS 239 
 
 A gasp from some one made me look up. I was 
 just too late to see who had made it. Endicott sprang 
 to his feet. 
 
 " Then on that pill-box," he cried, " you have the 
 finger-prints of " 
 
 "Of the man who murdered Harrison Kirke! " de- 
 clared Inspector Steele. " The man whose gloved 
 hand drove the knife, but who did not deem it neces- 
 sary to use gloves when he threw away this box ! " 
 
 There could be no reply to this. Not a loophole re- 
 mained through which the guilty party could escape, 
 and we all knew it. 
 
 " I intend to have these prints developed at once," 
 said Steele. 
 
 " What ? " cried Endicott. " Haven't you done 
 that already?" 
 
 Steele shook his head. 
 
 " I didn't need to," he answered. " I have known 
 for some time who killed Kirke. But I shall attend 
 to these at once." 
 
 Endicott started to say something more. But there 
 was an unexpected interruption. 
 
 Something clattered sharply against the window- 
 pane at the other end of the room. We all started. 
 The night was dark outside, and nothing could be seen.
 
 2 4 o BEHIND RED CURTAINS 
 
 * Some one is interested in our discussion ! " declared 
 Henry Copeland. 
 
 Mr. Endicott sprang to the window, and peered out. 
 The banker was at his side in an instant. 
 
 " What can you see? " I demanded, eagerly. 
 
 " Nothing," answered Copeland. " It is very dark 
 outside. It may be that some one is still watching us. 
 I'll pull down the shade." 
 
 "Wait!" exclaimed the Inspector, suddenly. "If 
 any person were trying to observe what we are doing in 
 here, how could he be so careless as to make a loud rap 
 upon the glass ? " 
 
 " I'm sure I heard it," Fred declared. 
 
 I hurried to the window before Copeland pulled 
 down the shade. But nothing was visible. 
 
 " There can be no question that something struck 
 the window," declared David Endicott. " It was al- 
 most as though some object had been thrown against 
 the glass, from some point a little distance away." 
 
 An exclamation from Steele startled us. 
 
 " Clayton ! " he called. " What is that by your 
 foot?" 
 
 I looked. On the rug lay a short wooden pencil, 
 about two inches long. I picked it up, and saw that
 
 BEHIND RED CURTAINS 241 
 
 the lead was broken. Steele ran to my side, and 
 glanced at it. 
 
 " What does that mean ? " demanded Henry Cope- 
 land. 
 
 Steele did not reply. Fred Aldridge had started 
 toward us, but the Inspector whirled upon him so sud- 
 denly that he stopped. 
 
 " Did you see where this came from, Mr. Ald- 
 ridge ? " he demanded. 
 
 Fred stared at him. 
 
 " Came from ? " he repeated. 
 
 " Yes. This bit of pencil is the object which struck 
 the window. It was thrown from within the room ! " 
 
 " From from within the room ! " cried Henry 
 Copeland. " Mr. Steele, what on earth " 
 
 " Wait a minute! " the lawyer broke in, and his tone 
 was so strange that we all turned upon him. " Look, 
 Mr. Steele ! Look at the table ! " 
 
 He pointed, and we all stared. The wooden pill-box 
 had disappeared ! 
 
 I gasped, and Copeland cried out. Inspector Steele 
 did neither. Instead, he walked calmly to the door, 
 locked it, and placed the key in his pocket. Then he 
 returned to where we stood.
 
 242 BEHIND RED CURTAINS 
 
 " I will ask the gentleman who has taken that pill- 
 box to surrender it," he said quietly. 
 
 For a moment, there was no reply. We were too 
 stunned. . 
 
 " Please explain what you mean ! " Mr. Copeland de- 
 manded. 
 
 " Just this," was Steele's answer. " Some one in 
 this room threw this piece of pencil against the window- 
 pane, realizing that it would sound as though some one 
 were outside. Then, while my attention was turned 
 toward the window, he removed the round box, with 
 its convincing finger-marks, from the table. Which 
 one of you has done this, and why? I want to know, 
 and now." 
 
 " I can't believe your statements, Mr. Steele," said 
 Henry Copeland. 
 
 " You will have to believe them. Nothing else is 
 possible. This broken lead shows that the pencil was 
 the object which struck the window. It is obvious that 
 it could not have been thrown through the glass from 
 outside. It remains that one of you gentlemen has 
 thrown it from within." 
 
 " Incredible ! " declared Copeland. 
 
 " Von have not the slightest idea who did it, Mr. 
 Copeland? "
 
 BEHIND RED CURTAINS 243 
 
 "Certainly not! I can't believe any of us did it! " 
 
 " Very well," said Inspector Steele. " Mr. Endi- 
 cott, did you do this ? " 
 
 "Of course I didn't!" exclaimed the lawyer. 
 " This is preposterous ! " 
 
 " Then, Clayton. You didn't ? " 
 
 " I did not," I replied. 
 
 "And Mr. Aldridge? Did you?" 
 
 " No," Fred answered. " I didn't." 
 
 Steele was silent a moment, looking at each one. 
 
 " Am I expected to assume that this box was not 
 taken by any of you ? " he asked finally. 
 
 " That is what you will have to assume," answered 
 Mr. Endicott. 
 
 " I don't understand," said Steele. 
 
 " What I mean is that the box was not taken by any 
 of us," the lawyer told him. 
 
 " Are you sure of that? " 
 
 " No. But such a thing is quite possible." 
 
 " Possible ! " exclaimed Inspector Steele. " Do you 
 ask me to believe that any one else could have entered 
 this room and have taken that box, before the eyes of 
 all of us?" 
 
 " I believe that is what happened," returned David 
 Endicott.
 
 244 BEHIND RED CURTAINS 
 
 " Indeed ! Then who threw this pencil at the win- 
 dow?" 
 
 " The same person who took the box," said Endicott. 
 
 The Inspector was almost exasperated. 
 
 " This is nonsense, Mr. Endicott ! " he declared. 
 " We can at least confine ourselves to reasonable 
 theories." 
 
 " My theory is quite reasonable," was Endicott's 
 unruffled response. 
 
 " Then will you be so kind as to tell me where this 
 mysterious person stood when he threw that pencil ? " 
 
 " I cannot be certain of that," answered the lawyer. 
 " It is my belief that he stood just outside the door." 
 
 The Inspector stared at him as though he suspected 
 that the suspense had affected his reason. 
 
 " Mr. Endicott," Steele said finally, " when I en- 
 tered this room with you and the others, I was quite 
 careful to latch the door. When I went over there 
 and locked it just a moment ago, it was still latched 
 and as I left it." 
 
 " But I think it had been opened and closed in the 
 meanwhile," Mr. Endicott stated. " Mr. Steele, I am 
 not attempting to throw you off the track. I am tell- 
 ing you this because I don't believe it is possible that 
 any one of us could have done this."
 
 BEHIND RED CURTAINS 245 
 
 " It is quite impossible that any one else could have 
 done it," the Inspector answered. 
 
 " I don't believe that," Endicott contradicted. 
 " Will you think over the events for a moment ? 
 When we heard that sound at the window, we were 
 all looking at you. No one of us could have thrown 
 anything without being observed by the others. I 
 ran at once to this window, and stood peering out. 
 Mr. Copeland came with me. Mr. Clayton followed 
 an instant later. We were all looking intently at this 
 end of the room. The thief had only to step inside 
 the door, creep to the table, and retreat again. I 
 firmly believe that this is what happened." 
 
 " It is hardly possible," Copeland declared. 
 
 " I can't even consider it," said Malcome Steele. 
 " It is beyond belief that any person could unlatch 
 that door, advance to the table, retreat, and latch the 
 door again, without being seen or heard ! I must look 
 for that pill-box among you four gentlemen." 
 
 " I'm afraid you'll have to," said Copeland. 
 
 " I will give the one who took it one more oppor- 
 tunity to return it," Steele told us. 
 
 There was no response. 
 
 " Very well," said the Inspector. " I shall leave it 
 in the possession of whoever has it."
 
 246 BEHIND RED CURTAINS 
 
 We all started in astonishment. 
 
 " When I learn which of you that was, I shall regard 
 him as involved in an attempt to thwart justice. Your 
 act will not make the slightest difference in the com- 
 pletion of this case. I have known for some time 
 who the murderer is, and I shall arrest the guilty per- 
 son to-night ! " 
 
 He strode to the door, unlocked and opened it, and 
 stepped back. 
 
 " You are at liberty, gentlemen," he said. 
 
 Endicott grasped the Inspector's arm as we went out 
 into the hall. 
 
 " Won't you give my theory this much of a test, 
 Mr. Steele? " he asked. " Just go to the living-room 
 and see if one of the party there has not found some 
 excuse for leaving the room." 
 
 Steele considered the suggestion a good one, and 
 acted upon it. When he returned to us, his face 
 showed disgust and wrath. 
 
 " The other members of the party have paid abso- 
 lutely no attention to the request I made," he an- 
 nounced. His tone indicated impatience and annoy- 
 ance. " They have left the living-room, and are sepa- 
 rated in all parts of the house." 
 
 " I am exceedingly sorry, Mr. Steele ! " exclaimed
 
 247 
 
 the banker. His tone was sincere enough, yet I could 
 not help feeling that he was secretly glad that the 
 others had separated. " Shall I call them together 
 again ? " 
 
 " Not at present," the Inspector said, shortly. 
 
 I sought him out as soon as he was alone. 
 
 " Are you going to postpone the disclosure until 
 to-morrow?" I asked. 
 
 " Possibly," he said. " But you may depend upon 
 it that I shall not listen to any request that I leave 
 this case unsolved. It is one thing for members of 
 the party to request such a thing; it is quite a different 
 matter when they begin taking steps to prevent my 
 finishing this case. I have a feeling that more than 
 one of the party are doing that, and I don't intend 
 that it shall be repeated." 
 
 "Who has that pill-box?" I demanded. 
 
 " I don't know," he admitted. " But I know who 
 I think has it." 
 
 " Endicott's theory is tommy-rot!" I declared. 
 " Such a thing as he describes could not be done. 
 You may rest assured that the box was taken by one 
 of the men in that room ! " 
 
 " Yes," Steele said slowly, as if in thought. " That 
 particular gentleman thought he was placing an insur-
 
 248 BEHIND RED CURTAINS 
 
 mountable obstacle in my way when he so cleverly 
 took that pill-box and obliterated the finger-prints on 
 it" 
 
 He gave a dry little laugh, and then sat silent in 
 thought for quite a time. 
 
 " Poor chap," he said, finally. " If he had only 
 known." 
 
 " Known what ? " I demanded, all interest in a flash. 
 
 The Inspector arose leisurely, and went to the door. 
 Then he paused upon the threshold. 
 
 " You see, Clayton," he replied, " that particular 
 pill-box was a duplicate which I obtained from your 
 description of it. I never hope to find the old one. 
 The only finger-marks on this box are the ones the 
 druggist made when he sold it to me ! " 
 
 I did not imagine that anything more would be 
 accomplished that evening. It was not yet nine 
 o'clock, but I went upstairs to my room, for I felt 
 rather worn out, and I wanted a chance to think mat- 
 ters over alone. I closed the door, and sat down on 
 the side of my bed. 
 
 I was astounded by the manner in which Steele had 
 tricked the entire crowd with his duplicate pill-box. 
 Its loss had been a real advantage to him, for he
 
 BEHIND RED CURTAINS 249 
 
 unquestionably had formed some idea as to who had 
 taken it. 
 
 I was wondering what his next step would be, when 
 there was a quiet, firm knocking at my door. I sprang 
 up, and found the Inspector in the hall. 
 
 " Come downstairs, Clayton," he commanded, in a 
 low tone. " The end of the case has come."
 
 CHAPTER XI 
 i 
 
 "What?" I exclaimed. "Has the murderer con- 
 fessed?" 
 
 " Sh ! Be quiet ! " Inspector Steele commanded. 
 " No, he has not confessed. But he is going to, within 
 fifteen minutes." 
 
 " How do you know? " I demanded. 
 
 " Come downstairs, and you'll see." 
 
 I followed him down, without asking any more 
 questions. He took me to the room with the red 
 curtains. 
 
 " Wait here, about three minutes," he said. " I 
 am going to look up Mr. Copeland." 
 
 I sat down in the little room, alone. Scarcely a 
 minute had passed when I became aware that some 
 one was standing in the dark hallway, looking into the 
 room. I could see the form of a man. I arose at 
 once, and went to see who it was, but he then walked 
 quietly down the hallway, and entered the living- 
 room. My curiosity and suspense were too much for 
 me, and I quietly followed. 
 
 250
 
 BEHIND RED CURTAINS 251 
 
 When I was able to get a view of the living-room, 
 I saw that the man who had just entered was Norton 
 Osgood. Ellen Aldridge was already in the room, 
 alone, and apparently waiting for some one. 
 
 " Miss Aldridge," said Osgood, in a quiet tone, 
 " I owe you a very great apology." 
 
 She sprang to her feet with indignation. 
 
 " Don't you speak to me again, Mr. Osgood ! " 
 she commanded. " I'll not allow you to speak to 
 me! I trusted you as Fred's friend, and as a friend 
 of our family. I was foolish enough to entrust you 
 with a secret I would never have told any one, except 
 my brother. And what did you do? You accused 
 me of doing murder to save yourself ! " 
 
 " I never accused you ! " he exclaimed. 
 
 " No ! You didn't dare say it, in those words ! 
 You didn't tell Mr. Steele you thought I killed Kirke ! 
 But you made every possible insinuation that you could 
 think of. You made use of your power over my 
 mind in the test last night, and tried to make me admit 
 that I had done it. And you did this because you 
 were afraid to face the charge yourself ! " 
 
 Osgood was too ashamed to answer her. And then, 
 from the other door, Inspector Steele walked in upon 
 them.
 
 252 BEHIND RED CURTAINS 
 
 " Mr. Steele," said Norton Osgood, " I have a con- 
 fession to make. I'll make it now before you, and 
 I'll do it later before all the others. On the evening 
 before the crime was done, I tried to make Clayton 
 murder Kirke." 
 
 " I know that," said Steele. 
 
 I stepped across the threshold and walked in with 
 the others. 
 
 " I have led you to think that I used my power 
 over Clayton for that purpose at Miss Aldridge's 
 request," Osgood continued. 
 
 " That is what we would have supposed, from your 
 words and actions since that night." 
 
 " She did not request any such thing," Osgood said. 
 " What she asked was something quite different, and 
 I have been holding it over her. As far as I know, 
 she never even desired Kirke's death." 
 
 " I know that, also," Steele said. 
 
 " I have insinuated these things because I was afraid 
 to take the blame myself. Kirke swindled my brother 
 five years ago robbed him of shares worth over 
 ten thousand. There's nothing I'd rather have done 
 than killed the man ! " 
 
 He paused, and glanced at all of us before he went 
 on.
 
 BEHIND RED CURTAINS 253 
 
 " But I I would never have had the nerve to kill 
 a man myself," he said, slowly. " I tried to make 
 Clayton do it for me. More than one of the party 
 that night knew what I was doing, too. But, on my 
 honor, Mr. Steele, I didn't do it deliberately. It was 
 a great temptation to do murder and not be blamed 
 for it but I didn't think of it until after I had dis- 
 cussed hypnotic murders with the other gentlemen, 
 and then I didn't dare try it. When I sat down in 
 that chair to hypnotize Clayton, I was determined that 
 I would never attempt such a thing. But Miss Aid- 
 ridge had another request one that I hardly liked 
 to grant and it took my mind away from my own 
 determination not to try crime. Mr. Steele, it's the 
 truth I am telling you now! I didn't plan to make 
 him do murder! But once his mind was under my 
 power I did it in spite of myself ! " 
 
 " I understand," was Steele's comment. 
 
 " You all remember my horror when I realized what 
 I had just done! I would have given the world to 
 have been able to undo it. But that was impossible ! 
 I lived that night in terror, in the thought of what 
 Clayton was going to do!" He stopped suddenly, 
 and looked at us again. "I I don't know what 
 happened then," he finished. " Mr. Endicott and the
 
 254 BEHIND RED CURTAINS 
 
 scientists will tell you why Clayton didn't do it." 
 
 " And then you killed him yourself ? " I cried. 
 
 He turned upon me, with his dark eyes wide with 
 terror. 
 
 " Killed him never ! " he choked. " It was 
 enough that I had told you to do it ! Mr. Steele, this 
 isn't true! I never dreamed Clayton hadn't killed 
 him, until you told us ! " 
 
 " Very well," replied Steele. " I know you didn't 
 kill him. Now come with me, Mr. Osgood, into the 
 other room." 
 
 He led him out into the hall, and into the little room 
 that I had left. I was on the point of following him, 
 but Ellen Aldridge laid her hand upon my arm. 
 
 " George, I have been to blame for all of this." 
 
 I turned quickly. 
 
 " Of course you haven't ! " I declared. 
 
 " But I have," she said, slowly. " If I hadn't been 
 so silly and unreasoning that night, you would never 
 have even been suspected of that crime, and all this 
 would never have happened. I can see it all now, 
 and I know ! " 
 
 " You don't know who killed him ! " I exclaimed. 
 You "
 
 BEHIND RED CURTAINS 255 
 
 She silenced me with a gesture. 
 
 " Please don't ask me that," she begged, in a low 
 tone. 
 
 " But, Ellen, won't you tell me just this? What did 
 you ask Mr. Osgood to make me do ? " 
 
 " You don't want me to tell you that ! " 
 
 "I do," I said. 
 
 " But it was something that I shouldn't have done. 
 It it was wrong." 
 
 " I don't believe that, Ellen. You have never done 
 anything wrong. Won't you tell me ? " 
 
 She gave me a little smile half ashamed and half 
 afraid. 
 
 "I I asked him if he couldn't make you care 
 for me," she answered. 
 
 I took her in my arms, and kissed her. And when 
 Henry Copeland hastened into the room in response 
 to Steele's summons, he was astounded, though not 
 in the way he had expected to be. 
 
 I hurried to the room where Steele had taken Nor- 
 ton Osgood. When I entered, the Inspector was just 
 finishing some rather complicated instructions which 
 he had been giving. He motioned for me to take a 
 chair.
 
 256 BEHIND RED CURTAINS 
 
 " Clayton," he said, " I have decided that it would 
 be wise to tell you of my scheme. I am apparently 
 going to have a second hypnotic test." 
 
 " The same as the one we had last night? " I ques- 
 tioned. 
 
 " No. Not at all like that one. The idea is quite 
 different, but it is one which cannot fail to bring a 
 confession. Mr. Osgood is apparently going to hyp- 
 notize the entire party, in quick succession, without 
 releasing each in turn, until all ten are within his power 
 at the same time." 
 
 " You said ' apparently,' " I remarked. 
 
 " Yes. That is the secret of my plan. With nine 
 of those ten people, he is merely going to pretend to 
 hypnotize them. The only one who will actually be 
 hypnotized, will be the murderer of Kirke! " 
 
 " But how do you expect me to tell which one that 
 is ? " demanded Norton Osgood. 
 
 " I know which one, and I will tell you," was Steele's 
 answer. " Do you see what the effect of this plan 
 will be? The entire party will think they are under 
 his power. I will announce that Mr. Osgood declares 
 he has power to make the guilty person reveal himself. 
 Mr. Osgood will then use his power upon the only 
 one whom he has hypnotized. This person will feel
 
 BEHIND RED CURTAINS 257 
 
 himself drawn forth from the others by a power not 
 his own. His only thought will be that he has be- 
 trayed everything. What can he do but confess?" 
 
 " That is an excellent idea," I told him. " I don't 
 think it can fail." 
 
 " I know it can't," Steele said. " A man who thinks 
 he has been singled out from among ten people by a 
 mysterious power, will confess. We'll summon them 
 all to the living-room." 
 
 " But wait ! " exclaimed Osgood. " You haven't 
 told me the name of the person." 
 
 " Oh ! " Steele gave a little laugh. " I certainly 
 mustn't forget that." He gave me a quick glance, 
 and then said to Osgood, " I'll write it." 
 
 He took a rectangular piece of paper from his 
 pocket, and a pencil. I thought for a moment that 
 the paper was an envelope, but the light in the room 
 was not very bright, and I could not be certain without 
 actually coming nearer in order to see. Steele was 
 apparently on the point of writing, but he paused, 
 with an odd smile and something very much like a 
 shudder. 
 
 " I have almost a superstitious dread of doing this," 
 he explained. " Those red curtains there are dis- 
 quieting. I was never any nearer death in my life,
 
 258 BEHIND RED CURTAINS 
 
 than one night several years ago, when I attempted 
 to write out a murderer's name within the hearing of 
 the criminal." 
 
 I sprang up in horror. 
 
 " Then don't write it ! " I cried. " Don't write it ! " 
 
 Inspector Steele turned quietly, and drew back the 
 red curtains. A narrow, dimly lighted passage was 
 visible. But there was no one there. 
 
 " I shouldn't have felt that way, anyway," he said. 
 " The man who stabbed Kirke doesn't kill to save him- 
 self." 
 
 I saw his pencil moving as he bent over the paper. 
 It may have been nothing more than an idiotic notion, 
 but I could not get rid of the idea that he was only 
 pretending to write. He straightened up, and handed 
 the paper to Osgood. 
 
 " You will hypnotize this gentleman, and no one 
 else," was his command. " That is the name! " 
 
 Norton Osgood gave a gasp of stunned horror. 
 
 " It can't be true, Mr. Steele ! " he protested. " Are 
 you sure ? " 
 
 " There is not the slightest doubt," replied Inspec- 
 tor Steele. " He killed Harrison Kirke. Kirke de- 
 served it, I know, but we must go on just the same. 
 I want a confession from that man to-night ! "
 
 BEHIND RED CURTAINS 259 
 
 " Very well," said Norton Osgood. " I'll see that 
 you get it." 
 
 " We'll summon all the others, Clayton," Steele told 
 me. " Perhaps you would call the ones who are up- 
 stairs." 
 
 The news spread quickly through the house. Every 
 one had been expecting it. Five minutes later, when 
 the nerve-racked party came together in the living- 
 room for the last time, all knew in their hearts that 
 the end had come. 
 
 The Copelands grouped themselves together at one 
 end of the room. Mr. Endkott stood near the banker. 
 At the other side, the three Aldridges were gathered. 
 Lucy was white with terror, and Bob Manning sat 
 down beside her on the sofa. My chair was apart 
 from the others, midway between the two groups. 
 Inspector Steele and Norton Osgood occupied the 
 center of the room. 
 
 To my surprise, I observed that they had carried 
 in a couch from the next room. Steele and Osgood 
 placed it in the center of the circle. At one end, 
 near the hall door, the Inspector placed a chair. He 
 then unwrapped an object which he had been carry- 
 ing, and laid it in full view upon the chair. It was 
 the knife which had killed Kirke.
 
 26o BEHIND RED CURTAINS 
 
 " Friends," Steele said, " Mr. Osgood has told me 
 that the end of the case is at hand: He is ready to 
 single out the guilty party ! " 
 
 Not a sound greeted this announcement. 
 
 " In accomplishing this, he will again make use of 
 hypnotism. From the test which he carried out last 
 night, he obtained a few facts which were significant. 
 By the use of hypnotism, he is now going to cause the 
 murderer of Harrison Kirke to betray his guilt." 
 
 " Must the horror of last night be repeated? " asked 
 Mrs. Copeland. 
 
 " Certainly not," replied Steele. " Mr. Osgood's 
 method this evening will be very different. He has 
 informed me that he will have all the members of the 
 party within his hypnotic power at the same time." 
 
 " I don't believe that is possible," David Endicott 
 objected. 
 
 " I will prove to you that it is," said Norton Osgood. 
 " I can at any time retain as many persons as I wish 
 under my power." 
 
 There was quite a stir in the room. 
 
 " Do you see what that will mean ? " demanded 
 Inspector Steele. " Mr. Osgood will have ten people 
 within his power. Every one of these ten must do
 
 BEHIND RED CURTAINS 261 
 
 as Mr. Osgood wishes. And the one who is guilty 
 will be literally forced to betray himself!" 
 
 " That isn't logical ! " exclaimed young Copeland. 
 "I don't" 
 
 " Whether logical or not, it will be done ! " the In- 
 spector cut in. " Can every one see that chair ? Upon 
 it, is the knife which stabbed Harrison Kirke. Upon 
 this couch, we are going to imagine that Mr. Kirke 
 is lying! " 
 
 There was an involuntary gasp of terror from Grace 
 Copeland. Her brother silenced her. 
 
 " Mr. Steele ! " exclaimed the girl's father. " Is this 
 necessary? " 
 
 " Positively," answered Steele. " I will tell you 
 what is going to happen. Nine of the people who 
 will be hypnotized by Mr. Osgood will merely imagine 
 that Kirke is upon this couch. One of them the 
 one who killed him will see Kirke here ! " 
 
 There was another cry of horror, this time from 
 Mrs. Copeland. 
 
 " There can be no escape for the murderer of Harri- 
 son Kirke ! " Inspector Steele shot out. " I am going 
 to leave the knife on this chair. . It is the knife which 
 the guilty person knows only too well. He cannot
 
 262 BEHIND RED CURTAINS 
 
 escape Mr. Osgood's power ! He is going to see Har- 
 rison Kirke upon this couch, and he is going to take 
 this knife and commit his crime again!" 
 
 Endicott shrank back against the wall in real terror. 
 
 " Mr. Osgood, you will now hypnotize each one of 
 these people." 
 
 I glanced at Steele, and he nodded. I arose, and 
 offered myself as the first. 
 
 Osgood's counterfeit hypnotism was clever. Had I 
 not been through the real thing three times, I could 
 never have suspected the difference. But when he 
 raised his hand and signalled that I was in his power, 
 I knew that my mind was no more under his influence 
 than it had been before he began. 
 
 The others followed without protest. I was in 
 such excitement and suspense that I have never been 
 able to remember the order in which they came. I 
 know that Arthur Copeland followed me, and that 
 Mr. Endicott and Fred Aldridge were the last two. 
 When all ten had finished, Steele saw to it that each 
 one returned to the exact place which he or she had 
 occupied before. As Osgood arose after the last one, 
 Steele surveyed the two groups in silence for several 
 seconds. 
 
 " One moment," Mr. Endicott said. " My brain
 
 BEHIND RED CURTAINS 263 
 
 is perfectly clear. It was not this way upon the 
 other occasions." 
 
 " If it is clear," replied Osgood, quickly, " it is be- 
 cause I wish it to remain so for the present." 
 
 " Mr. Steele," said Henry Copeland, " I am quite 
 positive that I am not under hypnotic influence." 
 
 " I think you will find yourself mistaken," Osgood 
 contradicted. 
 
 " But, remember, Mr. Osgood, you were unable to 
 influence me last evening." 
 
 " You will find that I have been more successful 
 to-night," Osgood answered. " I am ready, Mr. 
 Steele." 
 
 " Then we'll watch," announced Steele, as he gazed 
 steadily at the others. " The murderer of Harrison 
 Kirke will now repeat his crime ! " 
 
 As he spoke, his right hand felt behind him. There 
 was a snap, and the lights in the room went out. It 
 was a total surprise to every one, and there were 
 exclamations. 
 
 The room was not perfectly dark. There was a 
 very dim light shining in from somewhere in the 
 hall. I was barely able to make out the objects at 
 the other end of the room, while things near my end 
 were invisible. I could see the outline of the chair
 
 264 BEHIND RED CURTAINS 
 
 on which the knife was lying. Nearer the center, 
 a long, dark blur told me the position of the couch. 
 I sensed, rather than saw, the shadowy forms of the 
 people in the two groups. Steele and Osgood had 
 disappeared altogether in the darkness. 
 
 There was not the slightest sound, except tense 
 breathing. The suspense was ghastly. 
 
 "Mr. Osgood!" 
 
 It was Steele's voice, from somewhere in the dark. 
 
 "I am ready!" the voice of Norton Osgood an- 
 swered. 
 
 " Then order the murderer of Harrison Kirke to 
 repeat his crime ! " 
 
 Osgood's command was not given in words. Some 
 one took a long breath, and my nerves were so un- 
 strung that I wanted to laugh at the sound. Then 
 silence, and darkness, and more silence. 
 
 "You'll do it! You'll do it! You'll do it!" 
 
 As I heard again the fateful command which had 
 driven me from my bed and across my room to Kirke's 
 door on that frightful Thursday night, I felt a shiver 
 of horror. Some one else felt it, too, for I heard a 
 gasp. 
 
 But no one had moved.
 
 BEHIND RED CURTAINS 265 
 
 At least, I could not see that any one had. I was 
 straining my eyes every instant. To my left, near 
 the wall, was a dim shape. That should be David 
 Endicott. The taller form beside his should be Henry 
 Copeland. Beyond them I saw what I thought was 
 another head, and I remembered that young Cope- 
 land had been standing there. I peered to the right, 
 and saw more dim forms. The one standing just 
 outside the hazy area I felt certain was Fred Aldridge. 
 There seemed to be a taller one beside him, and I 
 imagined that this must be either Osgood or Steele. 
 I could not see Lucy Aldridge and Ellen on the sofa, 
 but I felt their presence. 
 
 "You'll do it! You'll do it! You'll do it!" 
 
 That was the second cry which I had heard when I 
 paused at Kirke's door, after I had carried out the 
 first part of the command. What could it mean 
 now? Surely no one had moved, or had done any- 
 thing. That second command should have been given 
 after one thing had been accomplished. Was Norton 
 Osgood going to fail in the supreme test? 
 
 Then there was a cry, and a terrifying one. It 
 startled me so that I could not tell from which side 
 it had come. It was a girl's voice, and I thought it
 
 266 BEHIND RED CURTAINS 
 
 was Lucy Aldridge's. But what had caused it? Cer- 
 tainly no one had done anything. No one had moved 
 or 
 
 I gave a violent start. In my excitement, I had 
 not been watching the little chair where the knife was 
 lying. It was the most distinct object in the room. 
 And beside it, the form of a man was crouching! 
 
 How he had reached that chair without my seeing 
 him was incomprehensible. But he was there. 
 
 I saw him reach out, and take the knife in his 
 hand. Then, for a long time, he seemed to remain 
 in the same position, while we all waited, breath- 
 less. It was not for some time that I realized his 
 position was changing. Then I awoke to the fact that 
 he was slowly, carefully coming in our direction 
 straight toward the couch where he imagined Harrison 
 Kirke was lying. 
 
 There was never a sound. There could not have 
 been a more silent, terrifying advance. Gradually, 
 noiselessly, stealthily, he came. And every step 
 brought him nearer, nearer to the couch. 
 
 Before I could realize it, he was there. I saw his 
 arm drawn back. And then, with lightning, deadly 
 force, his knife tore through the mattress of the couch. 
 
 I was on my feet, for I could not stand any more.
 
 BEHIND RED CURTAINS 267 
 
 My cry was echoed three times among the others as 
 they fought their way back into the corners away 
 from that couch and its terrifying secret. Then 
 Henry Copeland's voice rang out. 
 
 "The lights! The lights!" 
 
 Some one sprang to the switch. There were others 
 running. Endicott gave a hoarse cry. Then 
 
 " Stop him ! There he goes ! The door ! " cried 
 Arthur Copeland. 
 
 Steele's hand snapped on the light. The scene 
 blazed out, distinct and horrifying. It burned itself 
 into my brain so deeply that I shall see it forever. 
 Endicott in the middle of the room, ghastly, wringing 
 his hands. Fred Aldridge in wild flight toward the 
 door. And Steele in the doorway, barring his escape. 
 
 It was all over in an instant. Aldridge flung him- 
 self into the Inspector's arms, and clung there in mortal 
 dread. Then he cast one shuddering glance over his 
 shoulder, and we saw that it was only fear, not guilt, 
 which his face revealed. 
 
 "No! I'm not going!" said Bob Manning, as he 
 arose from the couch, with the shining knife still 
 clutched in his right hand. " I killed Kirke, and I'm 
 not sorry! If I'm the only one you want, then take 
 me!"
 
 268 BEHIND RED CURTAINS 
 
 In the little room at the end of the hall, thirty min- 
 utes later, Inspector Steele asked him why he had 
 done it. His tone was not that of a secret service 
 chief to his prisoner, but of one man to another. I 
 was there, with Henry Copeland and Mr. Endicott. 
 
 " Because he deserved it ! " was Bob Manning's an- 
 swer. " And because if I hadn't killed him, another 
 would have \ " 
 
 " Do you mean Clayton ? " demanded Steele. 
 
 " Yes ! " said Manning. " I mean Clayton, and I 
 mean Ellen Aldridge! I knew something was wrong 
 when Osgood hypnotized George the second time. I 
 saw Ellen's manner when she asked Osgood to make 
 George do something. I saw Osgood's horror when 
 he realized that George was going to do what he 
 had commanded." 
 
 " And you were afraid " 
 
 " I was afraid for them both ! " answered Manning. 
 " I was afraid for Ellen, with her quick, impulsive 
 nature, when I knew she had given Osgood some 
 secret command for Clayton. I was afraid for George, 
 with his own longing to wring that viper's neck." 
 
 " But how did you know of Clayton's hatred for 
 him?" 
 
 " He wouldn't have been a man if he hadn't hated
 
 BEHIND RED CURTAINS 269 
 
 him ! " he returned. " I stood behind the curtains 
 in that little room, and heard Kirke say things to 
 Ellen Aldridge that no man on earth could say before 
 me, and live. I heard Clayton dash in there, and 
 threaten him. And when I saw Osgood's agitation 
 in the hypnotism, I was afraid for them both ! 
 
 " I went upstairs that night, and listened. I had 
 seen how nervous George was. In the middle of the 
 night, I heard the floor creak in his room. I know 
 now that he was going toward Kirke's door. Before 
 he got there, I was in Kirke's room, and I stayed there 
 until I heard him get back into bed. But I felt that 
 he would try again. In my mind I could see him 
 throttling Kirke, and I could see both George and 
 Ellen arrested for murder." 
 
 " And, to save them both," Steele said, " you " 
 
 " Yes, and to save Ellen's secret," Bob replied. " I 
 went downstairs and got a knife from the pantry, and 
 he died the death he ought to have died ten years 
 ago! And I made up my mind that I'd make Gray 
 fight to get me ! " 
 
 "But who put the knife in Clayton's fireplace?" 
 questioned the Inspector. 
 
 " I did," Manning admitted, in a low tone. " George 
 came down and told me his plight that morning, and
 
 270 BEHIND RED CURTAINS 
 
 I went up to do my best to clear him. And when I 
 came back, I I heard him " 
 
 " On my honor, Bob," I cried, " that wasn't my 
 fault!" 
 
 " I know that, now ! " he answered. " I know now 
 that Ellen caused it all. But I was blind then, and 
 hurt, and enraged. For about an hour, I forgot that 
 a real friendship is something which can't be broken 
 that way. So I went back to your room, and put 
 the knife in the fireplace, and threw away your pill-box. 
 And when I realized what I had done to you, I would 
 have given my life to have been able to undo it! " 
 
 " Weren't you on the point of confessing once be- 
 fore ? " asked Steele. 
 
 " Yes," said Manning. " When you accused Ellen 
 in the living-room, when you first came. I came for- 
 ward to tell you everything, but before I could speak, 
 George declared that he had done it. So I waited, and 
 let you work out that theory, for I knew I could 
 clear George whenever I wanted. But I know the 
 point that beat me, Mr. Steele. Since the night it 
 happened, I knew it would sometime." 
 
 " The bloodstain on the carpet upstairs," Steele 
 said. 
 
 " That's it. I had just got out of Kirke's room,
 
 BEHIND RED CURTAINS 271 
 
 and left him with a knife wound through his heart, 
 when I heard George scream. In all my life I have 
 never heard such a sound. My nerves are good, Mr. 
 Steele. But I dropped the knife on the hall carpet." 
 
 "And last night in the hypnotic test? " 
 
 " Last night he made that scream again, while he 
 was hypnotized. I had a soap-dish in my hand, and 
 I dropped it, just as I had dropped the knife. When 
 it came my turn to be hypnotized, I remembered that 
 broken soap-dish. I felt myself drawn straight toward 
 it. But when I looked down at the floor, and tried 
 to pick it up I saw that bloodstain ! " 
 
 " That was the point," said Steele. 
 
 " I did my best to hide the truth. I turned to 
 George, and told him I had seen a snake. That satis- 
 fied them all, except you. I knew then that it was 
 settled. When I stole the pill-box this evening, I 
 knew it could only postpone it a little while." 
 
 "What! You took that pill-box?" Steele was 
 astounded. 
 
 " I took it," replied Manning. " I crept to the 
 door, and heard your conversation. So I unlatched 
 the door, and threw a piece of pencil at the window. 
 While you were all investigating that, I slipped in 
 and took the box."
 
 272 BEHIND RED CURTAINS 
 
 " I told you ! " exclaimed Endicott. 
 
 " Dr. Manning," cried Steele, " do you mean to say 
 that you unlatched that door, threw that pencil, and 
 then got over to the table and back again, with five 
 men in the room ? " 
 
 " It was easy," said Bob. " When I was hunting 
 in Africa, I learned a trick of moving noiselessly. 
 When necessary, I can move quickly, too. Not every 
 one can do it. George will tell you where I learned it. 
 
 " I am unquestionably the murderer of Harrison 
 Kirke, Mr. Steele. I didn't kill him for myself, for 
 I knew that sooner or later you would find it out. 
 I did it for the sake of Ellen Aldridge, and of George 
 Clayton and if I could give myself again for them, 
 I would be willing ! " 
 
 " And, if you'll let me, I'll handle your case at the 
 trial ! " said David Endicott. " I don't undertake the 
 defense in criminal cases. But I feel there's some- 
 thing that this jury should be told ! " 
 
 Inspector Steele packed his suit-case the next morn- 
 ing, and bade good-by to the party. Detective Gray 
 left a few hours later, and Bob Manning went with 
 him. But before Bob went, he came to Ellen and me. 
 
 " I'll say good-by," he said simply. 
 
 Ellen could not answer him at all, and I could
 
 BEHIND RED CURTAINS 273 
 
 hardly find words to express anything. I wanted to 
 know if I could see him again soon, but he shook his 
 head. 
 
 " Probably not again," he told me, and he smiled 
 a little as he said it. " Perhaps you'll remember 
 me, though. I played a coward's trick with you that 
 once, George. But I'm trying to make it up." 
 
 And then he turned to Ellen Aldridge. 
 
 " There isn't much I can say to you," he said simply. 
 " I loved you and a great deal more than you real- 
 ized. You didn't seem to know it then; perhaps you 
 do now." 
 
 He gave me his hand again, and was gone. Gray 
 took him, with another plainclothes man. The jury 
 gave him twenty years. They will probably free him 
 before that time. Until they do, he will not let me 
 write to him. It was his request that he should be 
 left out of our lives, and we have respected his wish. 
 
 But out of our hearts he can never go. 
 
 THE END
 
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