The Louisiana Democrat. [volume] (Alexandria, La.) 1845-1918, 1871-12-20
accursed hangman.

great sorrow VIII some Day falt upO
fail concerned in MY death The rea
murderer is sure to he discovered
llsooher or later; and then I shall hay
fbeen a murdered man, and the just re
tribution Of heaven will pursue NJ
'murderers. Aid me to escape, rattle
THAN, risk q great stain upon your con
science. Stand upon this chair, 'whicl
II place upon tbe table, thus and then
iby mounting upon your shoulder,
can reach tile window, and drop frou
lit" q. 81 u fs aifa 's.' y
'""But the 'fiver bellows IS
'h"I swim like an otter; and, at an.
rate, it is better to be drowned thar
hanged!" '@''' e s'.''''.''' fl'',
Convinced of the Young mans limo
cencc, Father Allard consented to air
him in the escape. A moment suficet
to carry the plan into execution. Til,
prisoner gained the window, and dis
appeared. "'''''.
Parading in a struggling way outsid,
the building, went one of the mino
officers of justice--a stolid peasant
who had been placed there by way o
sentry, and who, at this moment, hap
pened to be looking toward the rive
wall Of the mill. His sight nearly LEFT
81 = 4 ?
him, as he afterward stated, when hi
saw a man drop from the g..ol window
strike on to a PLATFORM that protruded
from a doorway in the Sc ,ond story
and rehonnding from that, fall into tllt
water viii, a heavy plunge, re-appear.
ing .atsinteryals, until he was carried
into the rapids below.
The alarm was at once, given. Yell.
ing officials rushed to the prison door
when they found Father Allard alone
seated on the chair, pale, and as if just
recovering from the sight !of some su-
pernatural vision. To the question
put to him, he replied that, as lie was
administering the consolation of lis
holy Office. to hthe prisoner, a voice
sounded through the. apartment, ac-
companied by the shadow of d mighty
pair of wings, ON which the prisoner
mounted to the ceiling Of the apart
,,cnt aud wae NO pore seen by HIM
The volee, he added, proclaimed the
prisoner innocent, and that, the real
circumstances iof, the murder, would
soon bc made manifest. 10 ats
1t was a miracle; and the; good conn
try people, ever re,sdysto accept that
form at interposition, were easily per-
s,iaaedito do SO on the present occa-
sion. i 81 a.3af'iiftes
Meantime, Laroche, when he leapetl
from the window, had forgotten oil
about the platform. Al lie fell upon
il, he displaced a sack Of grain, which
spiasIIed into tile dark waters If the
river. appearing to the eyes Of the be-
wilslered sentry to be the body Of the
man WHO had dropped from the prison
window. Laroche hay npon the mar
row platform, stunned by his heavy
fall. Adj 81 iro HDi q l,is4 4etif ~
bSpiride, the .h,illet's daughter, saw
him fall. There was no one else fl the
militia the time. She drew him be.
Iiintl the sacks aud great heaps of,grain
on tie floor, and, having administered
to him suSN ,restdiatives "a Her young
experiences suggested, threw s 10 Z
loose sacks over Him, aud t6ld him to
l;e still. siii "a $3.50 elt d9ai ,saligeaf
That night spirids and her lover
Laroche and she had been iovers I'll
ab6nt SIX months honiyAmade rtliei,
way TO- where u boat lay rminoored he:
low The fifalls!! ana embarking III II,
were soon carried FAR hey ond pursuit
1t was snpposed Ly Vie affrishtei villa!
gees that spiride mnst have Gsen car!
ricdtffon the platforms when the bodJ
from Tie wihdowlab had been Seer
to strike upon sand as the whirlpool
below the torrent Had never beer
known to give up its dead, but listi.
search was made for her, and liel
friends resigned themselves to mourn
| lug for her awful fate!!o islases l'itsi =
TiEessfhaD ak months sitter this, Lam
dry was tried for the t6bsder or
brother keeper, and was convicted nnt
hanged accordingly Previous t.. hi
execution, however he made a clsa.
breast Of it, TO Father, Allard, iconfes
sing that he had murdered the -farme
for his money, killing him with tf'
stake cut from the hedge by youn,
Laroclle, Which, as he stated singular
ly enough. suggested to him the ide'
! ofcommitt,ngth crime.
Two yearseaapsed,a and Father Al
lard had beenipromoted to parrish a
a distances of sorns fif.y miles from tn
one which lie had hten epastor for 3
many years. .ssasa -
| Shortly after. his arrival there, hi
dnties led him to take, a,joprney y
horseback, scme miles into the. interim
! nf,tlle parish Of which he had charge
Part "a road travelled by him 1wOuu
4 through, q swampy forest region; AMI
after . ride Of several miles, is cam
70 q sluggish stream that had fprn,erl