Macon beacon. [volume] (Macon, Miss.) 1859-1995, 1874-08-08
AN OLD LAWYERS STORY.

A great many years ago, while I was
comparatively young man, and still
unmarried, resided in certain CITY Of
PENNSYLVANIA, and enioyct the reputa.
tion Of being the clegerest lawyer ever
) known there. II is not for me TO say
the praise was merited, but I certainly
. found myself able to discover loon
holes Of escape for those whom I de.
tended, which surprised even my
fellow lawyers. | possessed by nature
those qualities which would have made
an excellent detective, and / was q
thorough student of the law. There
vas no mystery about it, but among
the more ignorant classes l had gained
a reputation for more than human
knowledge. Perhaps it was not polite
for them to say that the devil helped.
but they did
However, I began to tell you about
Nine. Mgtteau.
She was an old lady, who owned a
/ little house in the suburbs Of the city.
/ She herself was Of American birth, but
her husband had been q Franchman.
and so the title madame had been be-
slowed upOn her. She wgs now a
widow, and her daughter Gabrielle and
her son Henri We're her only living rel
atives. Her income was but slender,
and she eked it out by taking few
boarders, generally steady old people
/ who had known her for many years
| These respected and liked her but the
city generally had a prejudice against
her. There had been two sudden deaths
in her house. Each time the victim
was a stranger who came at night and
was found dead in his bed in the morn
ing. Each time the jury was divided
some believing that strangulation
had been the causes Of death, some
that the man had died in a it,
1t was a terrible thing that two such
deaths should have occurred beneath
her roof. Malame's friends pittied her.
The rest OF the little world limited that
these were strangers, and their trunks,
with no one knew how much money and
other valuable property, remained il
maaame's possession. No one said she
was a murderess, but every one said it
was Every strange in an odd tone,
and no one since that second death had
visited Nine. Matteau.
| myself--perhaps because | had adj |
mired her great deal, and her daugh- F..
ter much more-had always insisted /.
that it was merelya coincidence, and /.
that in world in which apopleXy and /.
heart disease were so common, it was .
no such marvel that two men should .
have met such sudden deaths in the .
same house. But my faith in this thee.
ry was shaken when one morning it was
published over the city that another
transient boarder had been found dead
in Nine Matteau's house, and that she
was arrested on suspicion of having
murdered him, his watch and chain
having been found in her possession.
Before ] had recovered from the
shock of this terrible piece of news, q
message came to me from Nine. Mat
teau. She desired to see me. OF course
| went to her at once
She had been taken to prison and l
found her in little room with a barred
window, and an insufficient fire upon
the hearth. The logs had burnt in two
upon the andirons, and the white ashes
were scattered over the hearth. Almost
in them sat Nine. Matteau, in 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
where hand.
"Oh, thank heaven, you have come"
she said; al know You can save me.
Is it not horrible? How could l kill
a man2 Why should l? Why do peo- [
pie come to my house to die? To die
horribly, with black faces and starting
eyes, as if somebody had choked them? {
Ugh and he was pretty young man {
the night before. Oh, good heaven, (
how horriblep
I sat down behind her. I took her
hand.
"Mme. Matteau," / said, "be calm 8
collect yourself As your lawyer 1
must know all. Tell me, from first to
asst, what happened-what was said,
what was done. If you !
l paused her black eyes had flashed
lpon me. l could not ask her whether {
he had any confession to make. 1 saw a
hat she had not. Unless she was the
,est actress who ever lived, Nine. Mat L
eau was innocent Of any crime. a
eff You have any suspicious, I ad-
led, "tell them all to me-"
"There is no one to suspect, sobbed {
he poor woman.
"In the house were Gabrielle, my /
laughter, whom you have seen old
Hannah, the cook Mr.. and Mrs. Beau t
hamp, friends of my poor dear hus.
,and in his boyhood-the best, kindest Q
,eople; Mr.. Gray, very old man, too
eeble to leave the house poor, de-
ormed Miss German, AID the librarian, /
IIr. Bassford. None of these would
murder q mouse. See how kind they {
re; they remain in my house; they send v
no word that they have no doubt of me-
)h, how can anybody p |
"And this man who" l began. S
eyes, said Nine. Matteau. 8" I will
ell you he was fair, young, hand a
omely dressed he asked Mr.. Bassford t
It the depot if he knew of any one who |
ould accommodate him. Mr. Bass '
ord brought him home. My only O
mpty room was the one in which those
'ther two strangers died. l could not |
,ear to put him there, but Mr.. Bass. |
ord lanrhel nj me. Wn hAl snnnnr d