The Carolina Spartan. [volume] (Spartanburg, S.C.) 1852-1896, 1857-04-02


where he had laid him. without un,yinp
him. Picaud remained silent, but he wri,h
ed SO as nearly TO break the cords which
bound him. Allut, without a word, walked
up to him, passed round his loins wide
and thick iron belt, and fixed it by three
chains TO three massive rings driven into
the wall. This done, he sat down to his
supper Of chicken in sayory jelly, cold
veal, and Is Bayonne ham, an Erles sausage.
loaf of the whites. bread, a piece OF Gruy-
ere cheese, and a large flask of Chambertin.
which. when the cork was drawn, perfumed
the cavern.
Alut went on leisure,y eating; and as
Picaud found that he offered him nothing
from tho Widespread table
Il am hungry" said Pcaud.
"WlIat wilt thou pay for the bread and
water that shall give thee!'
IL have no money"
Thou hast sixteen millions"
Thou dreamesl," cried Picaud, with a
shudder.
And thou-dream that thou eatcst."
Allut quietly finished his supper. He
then rose and departed, nor did he return
all night. About Z o'clock in the morning
he again entered, and prepared most ap.
petzing breakfast.
The sight and smell of the TODD redoulled
in Picaud the fortunes Of hunger. Give me
something 10 eat" cried he.
"What wilt thou pay me for the bread
and water that | shall give thee!"
Nothing"
"Very well! We shall see who will be
tired first"
Allut sat down aud deliberately finished
his breakfast. He then rose and went out.
At three in the afternoon he returned.
Eight. .and.twenty hours had now passed
since Picaud had taken any nouri,hmeut.
lie implored his goaler for mercy, and of.
iered hlm twenty sous for a pound Of bread.
"Listeu,' said Allut, these are my con-
dIions. will give thee two meals dav,
and ;hou shalt pay me for each five-and.
twenty thousand francs"
Iicaud howIcd and wrilhed upon his
mattress; the other remained impossible.
That is my last word. Choose-take
thy time. Thou hadst no mercy for thy
friends; and i, is my will to have no pity
for thee" And again he sat at meat; aud
again, when lie had finished, he rose aud
left the cavern.
The wretched prisoner passed the rest Of
the day and The following night in the ago.
nie' of hunger and despair. His moral au-
guiSh was complete; in his heart WAS hell.
HIS "v"toi and ply >ivai sutirriu.s, 80 ors 20
overwhelming that lie WAS seized by tetonus
IN ITS most spasmodic form. Soon afterwards
hIs reason WAS affected; and the ray of in
ielIect that animated his brain WA. all but
quenched under the tide OF extreme and
cnnlendIng passions and bodily suttrrin =.
Human organization can only support a
certain amouat of torture; aud the pitiless
AlIu', when he returned on the following
morning soon discovered that lie had push
ed his turmentS beyond The power ot mans
endurance. The form that lay before him
had become an inert machine. still sensible,
indeed, OF bodily pain, but incapable of re.
siStIng or even OF aYerIing II. lie saw at
once that Picaud WAS too far gone for him
to hope 10 extract u reasonable word from
The exhausted sufferer
Despair now seized Allut in his turn.
Plcaud would die without atfordinp any
mea.> 10y which his goaler could appropr
ate the immense fortune of his victim.
SIung TO the very soul, Allut lost al self
command. His breast and head resoundrd
with the repeated blows Of his own clench
ed hand. aud IN his agony hc WAS on the
point OF daShing his skull against The rug
ged Sides Of the cavern, when he perceived,
or thought lie perceived, a diaboIca smile
on the IivId face Of Pcaud, and Il glance at
once malignant and triumphant darliug
from his glazing eve. Turning his rage on
his prisoner, lie rushed on him like wild
beast, nor quilted his prey TIL lie left
what had been q man, but was now life.
less manglcd mass.
The murderer then went forth into the
murky night.
Not long afterwards he passed into Eng.
lard. There he lived in ob>curily and power
~, and here mortal sickness seized him in
1928. He felt that the hand of death was
upon him, and sent for Roman Catholic
priest Awakened by the exhortalions of
his spiritual adviser 10 ~ sense Of h, condi.
ton, he confessed to the horror.strcken &C.
ceSiaslic his dreadful crimes. the detail, of
which he dictated; aud when the frighifuI
history was written, signed it at the foot OF
each page, and died recouciled with God,
according to the rites ofhis religion. After
hls death, the Able P forwarded to
Paris the document wherein the facts mar.
rated were recorded, accompanied 10y the
following letter
MONSIEUR LIE PREFEr: have the honor
to send you the narrative of great but re.
pentant criminal. He ;hought, and
agreed with him in that thought, that it
might be useful to you TO know the series
OF abominable acts Of which this wrelchel
man was cognisant. and in many OF which
he was both agent and patient. BY fol
lowing the indications furnished by the an.
nexed plan, the sublerrarenn cavern where
the remains Of the miserable and guilty Pi.
caud lie moulderiug may be found.
God pardons. Men in their pride and
hatred pardon not: they seek vengeance,
and vengeance crushes them.