The mountain Democrat., 1864-06-04

merely asked permission to return homet
va order to fetch d0c1UNSNts which would
! estShlieN ~" ;a--..ttsA "0ne moment
said the general, and Darius was forth
with brought in. A slight embarrass-
ment Of manner betrayed the counts un-
easiness at the turn things were taking,
and when he began to load Darius with
abuse, the general became convinced that
the convict was right. Cutting short the
warm dialogue which had begun, he or
dered an officer to accompany the count
to his house, and not to lose sight Of him
for moment. When the house was
reached, the officer left his two gendarmes
in the courtyard; and, thrown off his
guard by his prisoner vino had had time
to regain all his audacity, he was impru.
dent enough to let him visit alone a room
in which he said his papers were kept
lie went out with the same footman who,
short while before, had thrust out Da.
rius; in few minutes he had quilted the
house, passing unquestioned by the gen.
darmes, who merely observed a man in
livery leave the house. The officer, who
had served in Spain, soon found topic
on which to carry on conversation with
the pretty countess,in in whose company he
had been left but thinking, at last, that
1t was high time the count had found his
papers, he opened the door of the room
into which he had gone-It was empty
! here's your MASTERY he asked of the
only servant he could find. He went
out an hour ago, was the answer, and is
now far enough Off 1t was too true, and
II was only some weeks afterwards that he
was arrested in the company of some no.
toriOus scOundrrls to whom he had fed.
! Was he really the Comte de Points de
Sainte Helene, the noble exile who had
won back by his sword position lost in
trou6l0us times, or was he the escaped
convict that Darius asserted him to be ?
The question Of his identity was quite set
at rest by overwhelming proofs which
were brought before the Court Of Assizcs
Of the Seine, and Coignard, together with
Rosa Marcen, the ex countess, and six
accomplceS, including his brother, the
footman who had elected Darius, were
brought to trial.
An investigation Of very many months
had brought to light the past life of TINS
extraordinary scoundrcl. lie was the son
Of a vine dresser, and was himself brought
up as halter, a trade which he had
abandoned to enter the army of the Con-
vention as a Grenadier. His military CO.
reer was, however, cut short by the dis
covery Of several burSlarics in which he
had been engaged, aud for which he was
in 1900 sentenced to fourteen years hard
labor. Two years only Of this time had
passed when, in spite Of every precaution,
he managed to escape from Toulon. On
the night following his escape he con.
trived to embark on vessel bound to a
| Spanish port. lie was set on shore, and
at town near the coast fell in with his
future companion. This was girl who
had been in the service Of the Count de
Sainte Helene, the last of an ancient and
noble family, who had left France at an
early stage Of the revolution and had en-
tered the Spanish service, in which he
had afterwards gone to South America.
Here he greatly distinguished himself by
his courage and thorough uprightness
but his health gave way, and he returned
TO Spain, which he reached only to die
far from his country and friends, and be-
r,ft of nearly all save his name and his
sword ; uncared for except by a single fe-
male servant who watched him in his last
moments. To this girl the dying count
left, in gratitude, the little he still pos
sessed. Slender enough were the means
Of existence "f the girl thus left alonc-
One by one she sold the objects which
made up the counts legacy, and at the
time Coignard frl! in with her all bad
gone except, little box of old parch.
ments, which the count had often told
her in his last illness were the most pre-.
cious things he had Discussing the
means Of raising money, the pair found
that nothing remained to them but this
casket, which Jew had long wanted to
buy Of the girl. Before selling it, Coign.
ard thought it would be as well to look at
the contents. They were the dead counts
patents of nobility, and certificates of his
having served honorably in Spain and
America. The next day the pair left that
part OF Spain, assuming the names of the
Count and Countess de Sainte- Helene,
and Coignard, as an exile with no de-
pcndcnce but his sword, soon found mill.
iiary employment in country where a
title possesses sort of charm,
We know in part what was the Subse.
quent life Of this man, and have seen how
he VAS in fair way to reach the highest
honors, when the revelations of an old
fcllowconvict toppled him down; but
the most singular part, perhaps, Of his
career remains to be noticed. AS far as
could be learned, his conduct for period
of ten years after his escape from prison
had been free from crime, except of course
as regards the assumption Of borrowed
title; but it was in Paris that his old
course Of guilt he'd been run, and on his
return to Paris he renewed his acquaint.
ance with his former associates. His in
tcligence and boldncss, and the high so.
cial position he occupied, placed him nat
urally at the head of an organized band,
of which, next TO himself his countess
and his brother were the most diStin.
guiShed members. Coignard, accompa.
";," r1'nap, uy us lauy, would pay
visit to some great man. and would take
advantage ofa momentary absence OF his
entertainer to get an impression Of the
locks of drawers in which he had reason
to suspect the vnluables. were kept 4
plan would then be arranged by the
band the absence of the master of the
house would be known to Coignard. and
by him notified to his associates, who in
twinkling would carry off all the plate
in the house. On the mo- row Coignard
would call, sympathize, and offer his ser.
vices in tracing the robbers. After a
while he would declare to the police that
he had made discoveries, and. having
put them on the wrong scent, would be
at liberty to plan a fresh enterprise
Others, again. had bitter reason to recol-
lect visits from the countess, during