The Republican. [volume] (Oakland, Md.) 1877-current, 1878-11-30

in my hut with me all the morning,n
said Pere Martin.
"As he said this 1 flung myself ON
the ground in utter despair, and suf-
fered silently the cords with which my
comrades bound me. Then some stayed
to watch me while others went to the
village to apprise the authorities of the
murder.
You perceive, monsieur, that when
the gendarmes arrived they were neces-
sarily already prejudiced against me;
therefore my bearing and my words all
seemed to them proofs of guilt. But a
more certain proof was now forthcom-
ing. Down in the dell, near the body
of the murdered girl, they found
knife-my knife; it was covered with
blood, and had evidently been the
weapon used against her.
LAS the men spoke of this, remem-
bered, with a CHASTITY sinking of my
heart, that had lost this knife day or
two before in the wood, but | had men
toned this loss only to Elmire and her
father. l appealed to him, now re-
minding him of this fact, but he an
swered me angrily that he remembered
nothing of it.
"Then sank into sullen despair and
went silently to prison."
Pierre paused moment to recover
himself, and then continued his sad
tale.
1.-The trial drew crowds to the colrt.
The chief witnesses against nae, we're
Pere Martin and Luc Leroy
"'The girl loved me- said this last
villain, insolently; naturally she pre-
ferred man of my station to mere
charcoal-burner. She flattered herself
l should marry her. had no inten-
ton of the sort, so l amused myself in
talking to her.
when did you last see her?' asked
the Judge.
90 AT quarter to ten o'clock, in her
fathers hut
WAS her father there?'
No, and only saw her for a mo-
ment or two. She seemed frightened
and begged me to go away. She said
the man Pierre was Jealous, and she
should not like him to see us together
did you leave the hut at her re-
quest?'
mo, refused to do so; and then she
left it herself, saying she was going to
gather herbs to sell to the chemists
Did you follow her?'
Only step or two, and after a
little talk beneath the trees, returned
to the hut, where her father found me.
"'If you loved the girl, and were
pleased to be in her society, why did
you not accompany her in quest Of
herbs
"'Well the truth is, l didn't much
like being seen with a charcoal-burn-
er's daughter; l should have been
jeered at by my friends. Then, again,
! [ was unwilling to arouse theprisoner' S
jealousy; he had threatened me on va,
rious occasions, and | wanted to avoid
his violence, for the girls sake
"Other falsehoods he uttered l can.
not repeat to you. They madden me
with Indignation even now, as l think
of them. Enough that he slandered
the girl he had murdered, while he
strove to swear away my life.
81 never doubted he had killed her,
and as / looked in his shrinking cow
ardly face. l knew it, as surely ash
knew there was sun in the heavens.
"When Pere Martin was called, !
gazed at him eagerly, to see if there
were any signs of sense in him. But
no; his face was hopelessly dull. his
brain hopelessly drowned in intoxica-
ton.
"'When did you see your daughter
alive?' was the first question put to
him.
"'I don't know the hour, but l think
it was about half-past nine
"'Why did you leave her, and what
was she then doing?'
"' She was sewing. | left her to
fetch a jar of pekie, which Monsieur
Leroy had put for me behind the old
cross, on the road in the forest that
leads to Bastoigne.'
"' At what hour did you return to
the hut?'
"' At ten, and l then found Monsieur
Leroy there waiting for me-
80 But if you do not know the exact
time at which you left the hut, how
can you tell it was ten when you re-
turned?'
al know because Monsieur Leroy
showed me his watch; it wanted two
minutes of ten. He was angry because
| kept him waiting; he had been there
he said, nearly half an hour. This is
how | became aware that it was half.
past nine when l left home
"' You seem to know the time only
from Monsieur Leroy; how is that?'
81 did not know it from him.
looked at his watch myself
land what did you do when you
reached the hut?'
eve drank pekie.'
"'Till what hour?'
"' don't know. We drank together
till just before the moment when l met
the accused, and he told me he had
murdered my daughter
"' How did he look when you met
him?'
HE was wild and haggard, and his
hands and arms were covered with
blood
"'Do you recollect his having told
you he had lost his knife?'