Litchfield enquirer., 1881-02-03


 jas' Weaalli got down. And there, just beyond the rails. fiat on his face, lay the poor wretch
 we were. seeking, His left arm was doubled
 beneath his chest, but the right arm was
 stretched out forwards, and was covered with earth. The cambric handkerchief had come
 undone in the violence of the fall, and from I the reopened wound it had concealed, few
 drops of blood had trickled. The body lay
 motionless. i. .r..4 ..se.-. ! sst.ii4lsC.tt,3- | The police agents assistant who had been | the first to jump out sprang upon the prostrate
 form with the eagerness of blood hound on the track. He stopped down, and taking hold of
 shoulder and leg, with a dexterity which
 betrayed professional practice, he turned the
 body slowly over Sure enough! the man
 was dead. The face was uninjnred. At the l corners of the mouth there was slight foam l of reddish tint,O and few drops of blood which had gushed from the nostrils stood elotted on the upper lip. The Wide-open eyes, of which only the whites were visible,
 were horrible to see. Stachowitch, who had leant over my shoulder to look at the corpse,
 uttered a loud cry, and fell senseless to the ground. og*@ a@# ri sjf'F .y%'t p dU a. 4 $. -a.L - H. s.,.H sE l The murder of the Baronne de Massieux
 was soon forgotten by the general public.
 The judicial inquiry had established that the crime had been, committed by Bechouard
 alone: he had not long eluded punishment, and was dead. Human justice had obtained satisfaction the case offered no particularein- terest, and people ceased to talk about it. Two persons only thought of it often, ,A Ma dame de Massieux's young daughter Marie
 who mourned the loss of a beloved mother
 and Boris Stachowitch, whose life appeared to have been deeply influenced by that tragic l event. s.-.-J ...t .~.., s.. ...'-.r. i It was December, and six months had gone
 by since had made the young Russians ac- quaintance on the railway. We saw good deal of each other Weslived; in the same part of the town, had many common inmates
 dined at the same restaurant, and rarelWepent
 a day without meeting. My new friend in-
 terested me-. Stachowitch, on many subjects,
 had original, and even wildly eccentric, ideas
 but 1t was evident that with him, there was
 no affectation either in speech or thought l
 soon discovered many excellent qualities both
 of heart and mind in the young Russian :; he
 was truthful, charitable, generous. and singu-
 larly gentle he was eager for information, i and, considering his age and position, had
 read and learned much., He was, m the true sense of the word, amiable. should add, I that l felt pity for him. Stachowitch, it was evident, was unhappy, but found it impossi. l ble to discover the cause of his secret sorrow
 He never complained, and when ventured to question him discreetly, his answers were SO | evaslve, and his embarrassment so evident,
 that, for fear of offending, l soon desisted | from any inquiry as to the cause of his con- l stant and gloomy -preoccupation. His apart ments were splendid he had carriages and ' horses, and was reckless of expense: evident l ly it was no want of money that troubled him. | Nor could his health give him cause for anx- l iety. True he always seemed languid and l depressed but he enjoyed an excellent appe tite: and during an excursion we had made | together, l had had opportunities of ascertain l ing that he was not only an indefatigable
 walker and bold rider, but also that he could l indulge in the most violent bodily exercise without any apparent effort. , ...s,. He was capital fencer, and was known as such ln all the fencing schools of Paris He was considered eccentric, but he was general favouritc, and people were disposed to be in- dulgent to his peculiarities For instance, l there were men belonging to the club with whom he positively declined to fence, with. | out giving any reason for his refusal It was certainly no fear of defeat or loss of reputa. 1 tion for dexterity which actuated him, for he bore being beaten with very good grace and, moreover, some. of those W ith whom he re- fused to measure himself were notoriously less | expert than he was.
 Apparently, in the choice of h,s adversaries he followed his caprice, for which he always offered some polite excuse, but no frank or sufficient reason.
 Twas present on one occasion when this pe- culiarity of his was shown in a very character istic way.@,,:-,s. 4,.,ta.., 7-,...s gd! {. ..a.aa "l say, Stachowitch," said the young Vic omte de Drieux to him one day, ''take your foil, want to try my strength with you"
 Excuse me-, my good fellow" replied Stachowitch; 'yeu know very we'll that will not fence with won "Bat why not?' Do be rational. You I don't fear, suppose, that I will run you through ?' .,s ~. .',..5--.t,. .I',...s -. vo, Got ;ot bit only would rather not have Drieux placed himself in front of Stacho- l witch, and said with mock .gravity,- SC taa- "rhere must be an end of this, Count Stachowitch. l must know why you hold my doughty sword in such respect am resolved to fight you and if you refuse me satisfaction here, in the fencing school, Iinsist that you do me the honour of killing me on other ground"
 ''Pray, do not make those jokes, my dear Drleux You do not know what pain you give me-"
 Drieux and looked at each other in mute astonishnient: Staehowitch had turned pale. :.
 What queer fellow you are," said Drieux, laughingly j; but noticing the gloomy expression of the Russians countenance, he added, more seriously, s1 value your friend. ship too much, Stachowitch, not to yield in this matter. So that is settled 1 never will ask you again to fence with me. But on your part pray satisfy my curiosity, and tell me what IS your objection ''Do not be angry" replied Stachowitch, ''and believe me when l say this is not mere caprice have a presentment that you would come to grief if you fought against me. Your hand, Drieux. We are friends, are we not ?" .1s#, 4st gafHis ,42i,"f l. 'sTo be sure we are. But that does not comprehensrbfe OF 3men"
 Stachowitch, who seemed to have strong liking for me, and was disposed to be conf dential on most subjects, never referred again to this incident when we were alone For some time past, it must be added, we had matters of greater importance to discuss I had fathomed with DO great difficulty the cause of the strong affection the young Rus sian had conceived for me; and I had easily found out why. in spite of the difference in our ages. was. of all his friends, the one with whom he liked best to talk The fact was that l was the, only person with whom he could speak of Marie de Massieux
 His theory of the .tsmallness' of the world | had received new and striking confirmation. Very soon after the death of Madame de Mas sioux he had learned that his sister, the Countess de Villiers married to a Frenchnan. had known the murdered lady and, more. over, that his friend Drieux, whor, he met daily at his club and elsewhere. was related to the Massleux.ss Since she had become an or phan, Marie de Massieux had lived with her aunt, Madame de Baudy. in the Faubourg St. Honore, in the very same house as Madame de Villers. ,a g,s<.x..s ~ 4.s .,,r.3,s M. :,
 Stachowitch was delighted when he made these dlsc,veriea for several days he reeurred to the subject continually, taking to me in- cesssntly of the s'small, small world. ."s ~.
 "Iust ride out daily for a fortnight" ". he horsewoman of Paris only follow a course of concerts for month. and you will know every amateur of music in the town And you cali that a great capital! About the size of a