The new terror

form ... rising between us at the moment when our fingers were pressing the triggers....” T he N ew T error By GASTON LEROUX AUTHOR OF “THE PHANTOM CLUE,” “WOLVES OF THE SEA,” “MISSING MEN,” ETC. FRONTISPIECE BY GEORGE W. GAGE NEW YORK THE MACAULAY COMPANY Published in England under the title THE BURGLED HEART Copyright, 1926, by The Macaulay Company Printed in the United States of America CONTENTS PAGE I My Betrothal to Cordélia 9 II The Portrait 12 III Vascoeuil and Hennequeville 20 IV The Wedding 29 V An Unexpected Present 39 VI Patrick 47 VII After the Wedding 72 VIII Dr. Thurel 77 IX I Discover a Change in Cordélia 92 X The Second Night 98 XI The Golden Chamber 111 XII The Thief 120 XIII Happiness Consists in Realities not in Dreams 128 XIV Happy Days 138 XV In Which My Anxiety About Cordélia’s Polygon is Revived 141 XVI The Appointment 146 XVII The Duel 164 XVIII And Now ... 178 XIX The Last Visit— 185 A Terrible Tale 189 The Gold Axe 229 THE NEW TERROR MY BETROTHAL TO CORDÉLIA OUR parents as good as betrothed us from our earliest infancy. When I was twelve and she was eight, our friends used to remark that we made a charming couple, and our mothers were lost in admiration of us. We would gladly have been married at once we were so fond of one another. We were first cousins, and were often brought together at holiday time. At that period Cordélia had already given me her heart, the budding heart of a little maid of eight. I was a tall, sturdy boy for my age with a fair, almost reddish-brown complexion, passionately devoted to every form of sport, but idle in the school-room. Life in the open air was the one thing that attracted me. Cordélia, who possessed an inclination for reading and the arts, acquired her taste for outdoor life from me. Her mother was Italian. My uncle had married her during a business trip to Turin. When Cordélia was eight years old she was a talented musician, but she surprised us still more by the facility with which she drew or painted anything which interested her or struck her fancy. As for myself, whatever came from her hands seemed to me in the nature of a marvel. I loved her all the more for…