Clarksville weekly chronicle. (Clarksville, Tenn.) 1873-1890, 1874-07-25
AN OLD Lawyers STORY.

y
unmarried, I resided in certain eli
e of Pennsylvania, and enjoyed the rel
utation of being the cleverest lawyt
I ever known there. 1t is not for me [
u say the praise was merited, but Ger
!; tainly found myself able to discove
j loop-holes of escape for those whom
: defended, which surprised even my fel
low lawyers. / possessed by natur
those qualities which would have mad
: an excellent detective, and | was
thorough student of the law. Their
was no mystery about it, but anon
the more ignorant classes / had game,
a reputation for more than humal
f knowledge. Perhaps it was not polit
for them to say that the devil helped
but they did.
However, 1 began to tell you abou
Madame Matteau.
She was an old lady, who owned
little house in the suburbs of the city
She herself was of American birth
but her husband had been a French
man, and so the title Madame had beer
bestowed upon her. She was now {
widow. and her daughter Gabrielle anC
son Henri were her only living rela.
tives. Her income was but slender
and she eked it out by taking a few
boarders, generally steady old people
who had known her many years.
These respected and liked her; but
the city generally had q prejudice
against her. There had been two sud-
den deaths in her house Each time
the victim was stranger who came at
night, and was found dead in his bed
in the morning. Each time the jury
was devided-some believing that
strangulation was the cause of death,
some that the man had died in fit.
1t was terrible thing that two such
deaths should have occurred beneath
her roof. Madame's friend pitied her.
The rest of the little world hlnted
that these were strangers, and their
trunks, with no one knew what amount
of money and other valuable proper
ty, remained in Madame's possession.
No one said she was a murderess, but
every one said it was very strange" ="
in an odd tone, and no one since that
second death had visited Madame
Matteau.
| myself-perhaps because | had ad-
mired her a great deal, and her daugh-
ter much more-had always insisted
that it was merely coincidence, and
that in world in which apoplexy and
heart disease were so common, 1t was
no such marvel that two men should
have met sudden deaths in the same
house. But my faith in this theory
was shaken when the morning it was
published over the city that another
transient boarder had been found dead
in Madame Matteau's house, and that
she was arrested on suspicion of hay-
ing murdered him, his watch and chain
having been found in her possession.
Before [ had recovered from the
shock of this terrible piece of news,
message came to me from Madame
Matteau. She desired to see me. Of
course | went at once.
She had been taken to prison, and |
found her in a little room with bar
red window, and an insufficient fire on
the hearth. The logs had burnt in
two upon the andirons, and the white
ashes were scattered over the hearth.
Almost in them sat M&tteau, III her
widows dress of sombre black
She was chilly with grief and excite
ment, and had drawn her chair close to
the fire.
She shook violently from head to
foot, and her face was deadly pale as
she turned it toward me and held out
her hand.
20, thank Heaven, you have come !"
she said Il know you can save me.
Is it not horrible? How could l kill
a man? Why should [? Why do
people come to my house to die? To
die horribly, with black faces and star
ing eyes, as if some one had choked
them? Ughl and he was a pretty
young man the night before. Oh, good
Heaven, how horrible y
/ sat down beside her. l took her
hand.
Madame Matteau," 1 said, "be
calm; collect yourself. As your law
yer, [ must know all. Tell me, from
first to last, what was done. If you"
paused; her black eyes had flashed
upon me. [ could not ask her wheth-
er she had any confession to make. [
saw that she had not. Unless she was
the best actress who ever lived, Mad
anne Natteau was innocent of any
crime.
If you have any suspicious" | ad
ded, tell them all to me"
There is no one TO suspect, sobbed
the poor woman.
I'm the house were Gabrielle, my
daughter, whom you have seen; old
Hannah, the cook +; Mr.. and Mrs.
Beauchamp, friends of my poor, dear
husband in his boyhood-the best,
kindest people Mr.. Gray, very old
man, too feeble to leave the house;
poor, deformed Miss Norman, and the
librarian, Mr.. Bassford. None of
these would murder a mouse. See
how kind they are; they remain in my
house; they send me word that they
have no doubt of me- Oh, how can
anybody.
And this man who -" | began.
Yes" said Madame Matteau, Il
will tell you; he was fair, young,
handsomely dressed; he asked Mr..
Bassford at the depot if he knew of
any one who could accommodate him.
Mr.. Bassford brought him home. My
only empty room was the one in which
those other two strangers died. L
could not bear to put him there; but
Mr.. Bassford lauged at me. We had
supper afterward. He talked long
time to Gabrielle. 1t was late when
he retired-late for a quiet household.
Hannah had made his fire. She came
and told us that she had done so. He
said good night.
After he had gone we found that
he had left his watch on the table.
He wore it only with bunch of seals,
and he had been setting it by the
clock, and showing it to us as some
thing very handsome. | knocked at
the door to restore it to him. He had
not left us but fifteen minutes before
but he must have been asleep already,
| for he made no an answer. 80 l kept
it for the night, ard wore it down to
breakfast next morning. As | came
down | met gentleman in the hall.
He inquired for Mr.. Glenn. That was
the newcomers name. | sent Han
nah to wake him, She could not do
so, and grew alarmed. She had key
that would open the door, and used it.
The next thing | know we were all in
the room and the windows were all
wide open, and the doctor had been
sent for; and the young man who had
called was screaming that his brother
had been choked to death and then
there was the inquest, and they arrest
ed me. The brother said the first thing