The Cincinnati daily star. [volume] ([Cincinnati, Ohio]) 1875-1880, 1876-01-13
AN OLD LAWYERS STORY

81
comparatively young man, and still
unmarried, resided in certain city u
Pennsylvania, and enjoyed the reputa-
tion of being the cleverest lawyer known
there. 1t is not for me to say the praise,
was merited, but l certainly found N.Y.
self able to discover loopholes Of escape
for those whom i defended which sur
prised even my fellow lawyers. pos
sessed by nature those qualities which
would have made an excellent detec-
tive, and / was q thorough student of the
law. There Was no mystery about 1t,
but among the most ignorant classes l
gained reputation for more than hui
man knowledge. Perhaps it was not
polite for them to say that the devil
helped, but they did.
However, / began to tell you about
Madame Matteau. Sue was an old lady,
who owned little house in the suburbs
of the city. She herself was OF Ameri-
can birth, but her husband had been q
Frenchman, and so the title OF Madame
had been bestowed upon her. She was
widow, and her daughter Gabrielle and
her son Henri were her only living rela-
tives. Her income was but small, and
she eked it out by taking a few boarders,
generally steady old people who had
known her for years. These respected
and liked her; but the city generally
had prejudice against her. There had
been two sudden deaths in her house.
Each time The victim was stranger who
came at night, ami was found dead In
the morning. Each time the jury was
divided; some believed that strangula-
tion 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 friends pitied her.
The rest OF the little world limited that
these were strangers, and their trunks,
which contained no one knew what
amount of valuable property, remained
in Madame's possession. No one said
she was a murderess, but every one sald
twas very sstrange," in an odd tone,
and no one since that second death mad
visited Madame Matteau.
myself-perhaps because admired
| her great deal, and her daughter much
more-had always insisted tnat it was
merely a>coincidence; that in a world in
| which apoplexy and heart disease were
SO common, IL was not such marvel
| that two men should have met sudden
| deaths in the same house. But my faith
| in the theory vas shaken when one
morning it WAS published over the city
4 that another transient boarder had been
found dead in Madame Matteau's house,
and that she was arrested on suspicion
of having murdered him, his watch and
chain having been found in her posses.
| sion.
Before / had recovered from the shock
of this terrible piece of news, a nlessen.
ger came to me from Madame. she de-
sired to see me. VI course 1 Went to her
at once.
She had been taken to prison and ]
found her in little room with barred
window, and an insufficient fire upon
the hearth. The logs had burnt in TIVE
| upon the andirons, and the white ashes
were scattered over the hearth. Almost
! in them sat Madame Matteau, i'll her
widows dress of somber hue.
She was chilled with grief and excite
ment, and had drawn her chair close to
the low 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.
"Oh, thank heaven you have come p
she said; 81 know you can save me. Is
| it not horrible? How could 1 kill mar?
| Why should /? Why do people come TO
my house to die? To die horribly, with
black faces ana startling eyes, as if some
one had checked theml Ugh! and be
was pretty young man the night be.
fore. Oh, good heayenl how horrible ~
| l sat down beside her. 1 took her
hand, "Madame Matteau," said, "De
calm; collect yourself. AS your lawyer
| I must know all. Fen me, from first to
last, what happened-what was said,
| what was done. If you-o
1 paused; her black eyes flashed upon
me. | could not ask her whether she
had any confession to make. / saw thai
1 she had not, unless she was the bes
actress who ever lived. Madame Mat
1 teau was innocent OF any crime.
SIT you have any suspicious" I added
ssteil them all to me-"
"There is no one to suspectp sobbe(
the poor woman. sin the house wa.
/ Gabrielle, my daughter, whom you havt
seen; Old Hannah, the COOK; MIR. ant
Mrs. Beaucamp, friends OF my poor
dear husband in his boyhood-the best
the kindest people; Mr.. Gray, very oil
man, too feeble TO leave the house; poor
deformed Miss Norman, and the Librari
an, MIR. Brassford. None OF these woult
Il murder mouse. See how kind the,
are; they remain III my house; they SEM
me word that they have no doubt OF me
On the contrary, how"
sand this man who-----" began.
"Yes," said Madame Matteau, 'sI viii
tell you; n9 Was u IdlT, young, 'nanu
somsiy-dressed young man; he asket
Il Mr. Brasstord at the depot ii he knew o
I any one who could accommodate him
MIR. Brassiord brought MIN nome. III,
only empty room was the sne in whicl
those two strangers died. 1 could NO
bear to put him IN there; but MIR. Brass
ford laughed at me. 1t was late whel
he retired--late for quiet household
Hannah had made a fire. She came an,
told us she had done SO. He said goo,
night.
"After he had gone we found he hat
LETT his watch on the table. He wore
only with bunch. of seals, and had beel
setting iteby the clock, and showing j
to us as. some thing very handsome.
knocked at his door to restore 1T to him
He had lett us, but fifteen minutes be
fore; but ne must have. been asleep a
ready, for he made no answer. So l KEEP
it Tor the night, and wore it down t
breakfast the next morning, AS cam
down met q. gentleman in the hall. Fl
inquired for Mr.. Glen. This was tn
ne ew-comer's name. / sent Hannah t
! wake him. She could not do SO, an
grew alarmed. She had a key that woul
open the door. and used 1t. The uex
thing knew we were all in the, room
and the windows, were wide open, an
1.-The doctor had been sent for; and tn
Young man that called was screamIn