OU_214051 UNIVERSA - Osmania University

THE LODGER
The only sound in the room was the faint, intermittent squeak
of the knife paring the potatoes, and now and again the thud of
a potato dropped into the pail.
" It must be nice to travel about the world," said Madame Baron
pensively. " I've never had no time to travel, and never shall have,
I suppose."
Elie saw Antoinette look up sharply, and noticed that her face
was pale. Her eyes were fixed on him. She was trying to convey
something to him, and pushing the newspaper in his direction.
" It's in one's young days one should travel," Madame Baron
continued. She had noticed nothing. Elie took his time before
reaching for the newspaper.
A big heading splashed across three columns announced that
eleven miners had been trapped by a fire-damp explosion in the
Seraing coal-mine. Beside it was a caption in smaller type: The
Paris Express Murder.
" You don't often read the papers," Madame Baron observed,
without looking up. " But I don't suppose our Belgian papers
interest you much."
" This morning a Brussels bank received by post from its local
branch at Gand three of the banknotes stolen from M. Van der
Cruyssen, who, as our readers will remember, was murdered in the
Paris express.
" The police were notified at once, and we understand that
enquiries are on foot at Gand to trace the origin of these notes.
" In connexion with this case our esteemed contemporary, Le
Journal, points out that a curious result will ensue from the
difference between French and Belgian law.
" It seems that if the crime was committed before the train crossed
the frontier, in Belgian territory, the murderer will be liable only
to penal servitude for life, capital punishment being to all intents
and purposes obsolete in Relgium.
" However, the Customs officials are positive that M. Van der
Cruyssen, whom they knew by sight, was still alive when the train
crossed the frontier. It follows that the murderer will be tried in
France, under French law, and his head may fall under the
guillotine."
Conscious of Antoinette's eyes fixed on him, Elie struggled his
hardest to assume an air of stoical indifference. But it was more
than he could manage. His hands were so clammy that, when he
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