The Forest Republican. [volume] (Tionesta, Pa.) 1869-1952, 1877-12-05

out together. The workman did not re-
turn till midnight, and here lose track
of my man. OF course / didn't ques-
tion Tarot, lest / should put him on his
guard"
"Who is this Jules Tarot ?"
A worker in mother-of pearl that
is, a man who polishes shells on grind
stone, to give them perfect lustre. He
is skillful fellow, and helped by his
wife, to whom he has taught his trade,
can make q hundred francs week."
"They are in easy circumstances,
then"
"Oh no, they are both young; they
have no children, they are Parisians |;
and, zounds, they amuse themselves.
Monday always squanders all the other
days bring"
Two hours after Maitre Magloire's re-.
port, several police officers went to Jules
Tarot's lodgings to make a search. At
the sight of them the worker in mother
of-pearl and his wife turned paler than
corpses and were seized with an attack of
nervous trembling that could not escape
the practiced eye of Maitre Magloire.
Yet, the most careful search having
failed to discover anything suspicious,
they we're about to withdraw, when the
detective saw Tarot's wife anxiously
watching a cage that hung near the win
dow. This was ray of light. In an
instant Magloire had taken down the
cage. Twelve hundred-franc notes were
found between the boards Of the floor.
This discovery seemed to crush the
workman, while his wife began to utter
terrible shrieks, protesting that she and
her husband were innocent. On being
arrested and taken to the police-station
they were questioned by the examining
magistrate that very day. Their answers
were precisely the same. They ac-
knowledged that they had had q visit
from their employer on Saturday even
ing. He seemed so i'll that they had
offered him something to take, which he
refused. He had come, he said, on tac-
count of an important order which he
proposed that Tarot should undertake,
hiring his own workmen. Tarot and his
wife replied that they could not do it
for want of means. Then their en-
ployer said : Never mind, I'll furnish
the money" and instantly put twelve
hundred-franc notes on the table.
AT eleven o'clock Monsieur Jandidier
asked his workman to show him out of
the house he was going to the Eau
bourg Saint Antoine. And, in fact,
Tarot accompanied him to the Place de
Ia Bastile, crossing the Constantine
Bridge and walking along by the river.
The magistrate asked both husband
and wife the very natural question
Why did you hide the money ?"
They made the same answer. Hearing
on Monday morning of Monsieur Jan
didier's disappearance, they were seized
with terror. Tarot had said to his wife
If it is known that our employer
came here, that / crossed the bridge and
walked along by the river with him,
shall be compromised. If this money
were ever found in cur possession we
should be lost"
The wife then wanted to burn the
notes, but Tarot prevented it, intending
to return them TO the family. This ex-
planation was reasonable and plausible,
if not probable, but it was only an ex-
planation. Tarot and his wife were still
detained in custody.
A week after the magistrate was in the
utmost perplexity. Three new examina-
bkCtAS AttNA LOO CAl1OlCNt lllu1 " IOIlu
opinion. We're Tarot and his wife inno-
cent? Or were they simply marvelously
clever in maintaining a probable fable :?
The magistrate knew not what to do,
when one morning strange rumor
reached his ears. The house of Jandidier
had just stopped payment. A detective
who was set to work brought back the
most startling news.
Monsieur Jandidier, who had been
considered so wealthy, was ruined,
utterly ruined, and for three years he
had sustained his credit only by means
of various expedients. He had not a
thousand francs, and notes falling due
at the end of the month amounted to
sixty-seven thousand, five hundred francs.
The cautious merchant speculated in
stocks. The magistrate had just learned
these particulars when Maitre Magloire
appeared, pale and painting for breath.
You know, monsieurP" he cried,
from the threshold.
"All !"
"Tarot is innocent. r"
81 believe him 30; and yet that visit
how do you explain that visit p
Magloire shook his head sorrowfully.
"I am only fool" said he, "and
Leeoq has just proved it. Monsieur JAN
didier spoke of his life insurance at the
Cafe Ture. This was the key to the
affair. Jandidier was insured for two
hundred thousand francs, and French
companies don't pay in case of suicide.
Do you understand2"
Thanks to Monsieur Gustave Schmidt,
who will marry Mademoiselle Therese
Jandidier next month, the house of
Jandidier has not gone into bankruptcy.
Tarot and his wife, restored to liberty,
have been established in business by
this same Monsieur Gustave, and no
longer go pleasuring on Mondays. But
what became of Monsieur Jandldier ? A