Lexington weekly intelligencer. (Lexington, Mo.) 1871-1887, 1876-02-19

ess, but every one said it was very
"strange," in an odd tone, and no
one since that second death had Wis
tied Madame Matteau. srFT b.
myselI-perhaps because l admir-
ed her great deal, and her daughter
much more---had always insisted that
it was merely coincidence; that In
a world in which apoplexy aud heart
disease were So common, it was not
such q marvel that two men should
have met sudden deaths in the same
house. But my faith in the theory
was shaken when,. one morning, it
was published over the city that All
other transient boarder had been
found dead in Madame Matteau's
house, aud that she was arrested on
suspicioh of having murdered him,
his watch and chain having been
found in her possession. .s-.t..-.
|. Before | had recovered from the
shock of this terrible piece of news,a
messenger came to me from Madame
Matteau. She desired to see me. OF
course l went to her at once, ~, -, -,
She had TO be taken to prison and
| found her i'll q little room with a
barred window, and an Insufficient
fire upon the hearth. The logs had
burnt into upon the andirons, ,and the
white ashes were scattered over the
hearth. Almost in them sat Madame
Matteau in her widows dress of
sombre hue.
She was chilled with grief and ex--
citement, and had drawn her chair
close to the fire. ---. aas-..aa
She shook Violently from head to
foot, and her face was deadly pale as
she turned it toward ME and held out
her hand. .-
sob, l thank heaven you have
come" she said "[ know YOU con
save me. Is it not horrible? How
could 1 kill man? Why should !?
Why do people come to my house to
diel To die horribly, with black fa-
ces and startling eyes, as if some one
had choked them. Oh, and he was a
pretty young man the night before +;
oh. good heavens, how horrible"
sat down beside her. took her
hand "M'me. Matteau," said, "be
calm collect yourself. AS your law
yer, must know all. Tell me, from
first to last, what happened, what W as
said, what was done.i If you"
paused her black eyes had fash
ed upon Inc. could not ask her
whether she had any confession to
make. l saw that she had not unless
che was the best actress who ever
lived. Mime ,Matteau was innocent
of any crime. r-s ,,- t-.-.....
| elf you have any suspicious, !" add
ed, "tell them all to me-" @7EsI hsd+
| 'eThere IL iio one to suspects" Sob
bed the poor. woman. a.'Iu the house
was Gabrielle, my daughter, whom
you have eeeu old Hannah, the cook
Mr.. and Mrs. Beaucamp, friends ol
my poor, dear husband in his boyhood
the best, the kimtiest people; MIR.
Gray. very old man, too feeble 10
leave the house; poor, deformed Miss
Norman, and the librarian, Mr.. Bras
ford. None Of these would murder q
mouse. See how kind they are they
remain in my house; they send me
| word that they have no doubt of me
| On the contrary, how" h-
1 "And this man; who" L be.
gan. laa se - E1a .-llta-1fuq d
"Yes," said Madame Matteau, 81
will tell you; lie was a, fair, hand.
sOmely dressed, young man; he ask ed
Mr.. Brasford at the depot il he kne "
| Of any one W ho could accommotfa
| him. sMr. Brasford sbroughth him home.
| My only empty room was the one in
| which those two strangers died. |
| could not bear to put him in there
but Mr.. Brasford laughed at me. Ii
was late when he retlred-late for a
quiet household. Hannah had made
fire. She came aid told us she had
done SO. He said good night. -"
After he had gone we found he had
left his watch on the table. He wore
it only with bunch of seals, and h. Il
been setting it by the clock, and
showing it to US as something very
handsome. knocked at his door to
restore it to him. He had left us but
| fifteen minutes before but he must
have been asleep already, for he made
no answer. So lkept it for the might
and wore it down to break fast in the
morning, As / came down met q
gentleman in the hall. He Inquired
for Mr.. Glenn. This was the new
comer's name. 1 sent Hannah to
wake him, She had a key that W would
open the door, and used it. The
next thing l knew we were all in the
room, and the windows were wide
open, and the doctor had been sent
for, and the young man that had call
| ed was screaming that his brother
had been choked to death and then
they arrested me. The brother said
that the first thing he noticed was
that l wore MIR. Glenn's watch and
seals. l had forgotten it in my ter
ror." ..
$50 Hannah had a key to the
room?" said.
"Yes at least it was a key that
would open it. 1t was tho key to
Mr.. Brasford's door. -.-- -..-.-''
"The people who were there on
that night when the other two men
were found dead. were your boarders!
[ asked. a -.r.
"Oh, yes" . ...-..
"And Hannah was there also?"
"All my married life Hannah has
lived with me-" .aa-:
"Your daughter oversees you,
household in your absence?"
| "1es, poor child, with Hannah's
help
1 thought little while. H.
"Madame," said, "there is some
strange mystery in this affair. l do
not despair of proving to ali the
world your entire innocence. Mean
time be as calm as possible, and re-
member everything connected witt,
the sudden deaths that have occurred
in your house. The incident that
seems the least important may really
be OF the most immense value"
So l left and went home. Strange
enough, on the way met the doc, or
who had been called in. He was Il
dull, heavy sort Of person, consider
ably gwen to beer-drinking, and my
opinion of his ability was not very
great. However, l questioned him
on the subject, and he replied:
"Well, you see, don't say the old
woman murdered him. If she did,
should say by sitting on him or
snothering him with holsters.
suppose the cause of his death was
,sphyxia. Well, then, what is as
phyxia? Well, too little breath to
keep one living. lie died because he
was short of breath. l wash my
hands of that matter. Only, there's
the watch; that looks dark"
had learned nothing from the doc
tor. The coroner lived near me. His
jury had been twelve of the most ig-
norant men in town. This is all he
told me:
''He was smothercd, that man was:
SO were the other two. Men don't