Frostburg mining journal. [volume] (Frostburg, Md.) 1871-1913, 1872-08-17

mistaken, or if it should happen tha,
you are only an accomplicc, tell us al
you know truthfully, and you may gel
off much easier. have my own opin
ion about the valise," he added, "bu
tell me truly, how did you come into
possession of the watch?n
told him all He smiled significant
ly, and when had finished, said
;, Well, you may be innocent, but
suppose you are aware that the young
man who was found with his throat cut i.
the same who pledged you that watch
and whose diamond studs, which YOU
must have remarked that night. have
been found in your valise,o that of your
friend, as you call it. Now, why did you
not make it known that you had the
watch, when you must have guessed il
belonged to Mariette Gaudoin, the former
mistress of the murdered man. to whom
he had made it a present, but who re.
turned it?n
told him had thought of doing so ;
but had seen by the papers that she
had been arrest as an accomplice, and
! had no particular wish to get myself
mixed up in the affair.
The truth now flashed across nv mind.
The man who had left the vail sought
to shift the murder on my shoulders :;
and he was the murderer.
!shuddered
The agent now told me he had sent
after the other man, and that he would
no doubt be arrested before morning. |
asked him how he would find out where
the carriage went to. He replied "Why
you see it is frosty night; my agent
will get on a horse follow the tracks of
the carriage, and will probably overtake
it before two hours, if he has left the
town, as there is but one road leading
to Rouen, and no trains leave here be-
fore s o'clock tomorrow morning, at
which hour you and | will start for
Paris; so if you have an inclination to
sleep you con do So"
slept but little that night. The next
morning we left for Paris. was allowed
the privilege Of a newspaper, and could
not help smiling as | looked over the
news, rumors and facts Of the great MUIR
der, which editors had hashed up for
their morning readers. After reading |
slept most of the way, dreaming of dia-
mond studs, prisons, hotels, valises,
and agent de police, and wondered at the
the reality when | awoke only to find
the gray eyes of the agent fixed upon
me-those eyes that looked so bright,
though they had not closed in sleep for
perhaps two nights before he had ar
rested me.
We arrived in Paris at last, and was
at once conveyed to prison.
The very day young lady came into
my cell, accompanied by an agent dc
police, in whom | recognized the one
with the golden hair, whom | had seen
in the gambling saloon in the Rue
Neuve dies Petite Champs.
The agent said, pointing to me: " Do
you recognize that man ~ She replied,
without hesitation, that she did
"Well, we are ready to take your de-
position, mademoisellc," and the agent
added: q" Henri, come and witness this"
a turnkey entered. The young lady
commenced in a silver voice as follows
" first saw this man in a maiSon de jeu
in the Rue des Petits Champs; he was
playing at the same table as the muir
dered man, whom | have also recog-
nized the morgue. Sometimes they
would leave the table and take their re-
freshments together in the saloon.
They drank in company several times,
and had some private conversation.
The prisoner left the house before the
murdered man, who did not leave until
two hours LATER and had not won much
that night"
This deposition she signed with her
name, Eugene Dumont.
Here the interview ended, and | was
left alone to reflect.
| heard next day from one of the
keepers, that the friend who had left
his valise with me had been captured
at La Forge, near Rouen, where he had
made desperate resistance, but had
been overpowered.
spoke to the tall agent, and asked
him to recommend me good lawyer.
II did so, and | sent for him. In the
meantime the agent said the other pris-
oner was very like me, with the excep.
ton that he wore a mustache, while
had a beard. | remarked He had a
beard too when | saw him last" "Oh,
we know all that." said the agent.
When we entered the hotel he saw
that his game was up, so he put his
valise in your room, cut Off his beard,
trimmed his mustache, went straight
W otti SftiilaSS, NhlCl was Wtieilss, anu
told the driver coolly to drive him to
another hotel, then paid and discharged
him. OF course the driver never sus-
pected anything, as he thought the
murderer was one in my party. But
the coolest part of the business was,
that he came on as far as Rouen on the
same train with ourselves, at least so he
himself says. In his room at the hotel
we found large clasp-knife, with the
blood dried in the instertices; also the
hair he had cut Off"
The agent then told me the prisoner
had confessed; and in his confession
had stated that he had followed me
from Rouen to Dieppe, to shift the mur,
der on me, as | looked so much like
him, and as he had seen me leave the
gambling house, while he lay in wait for
the murdered man, and as he knew the
detectives were on his track.
! What a singular stroke of luck it
would have been in his favor, the fact
of my having the watch, had chance
not fixed it otherwise
Next day, through the kindness of
the agent and the efforts of my lawyer,
| was released on bail. | appeared at
the trial, which was very long, and was
called several times to the stand.
The clue the detectives discovered the
murderer by was the fact that they had
found two letters on the murdered man
from Mariette Gaudoin to Claude Belin.
lxr n I AZ ,.~tt-