Litchfield enquirer., 1881-02-03
had left the station behind us. and were CT going

a
 The Russian had opened & book, and tried to assume the appearance of an iufnobseryaat reader; but hls thoughts were not with his book-and now and againI saw him steal a glance at his neighbour. His countenance betrayed great perplexity as though he were seeking the solution of some difficult problem. Once our eyes met. His look seemed to ask assistance from me, and to say ,alt'H Help me, ii you can, to understand" was beginning 10 feel rather puzzled at what was going on around me; 80, at Amiens, finding myself near the Russiantat the buffet, | asked him whether he thought he recognized the travel Ter from Verton, as he watched him so per severingly. "H .l''9 ''H'.s S'N e'
 ? .No, do not know him,a he answered DO litely and in a tone which seemed toencourage further conversation; ;.- "but the man has some thing about him which attracts ne"
 Well, really" answered. smiling, "Iwas not prepared for that answer For my part must confess that his face has no attraction for me. It strikes me as peculiarly repulsive. The man looks like an escaped convictn
 'An ugly lace, truly ,-aj repulsive face,- quite strange face.
 The Russian as he spoke, shuddered nerv- ously. s...-,n ..,... ...g-- f>,eyr,a zgs<Y
 .,..'W ."'Will you excuse my giving you piece of advice ?''f added. ,U -.-.......| 5...f. r.
 ''Pray do,"',a'.g .t, .,..,. .t5z,..,s -.a-.5- Well, then, think you would do wisely not to pay ,furtLer attention to your neighbor Without wishing it, you might get embroiled in quarrel. He seems rough customer, and, at any rate, is a very ill-bred man. You must have noticed the rude. free-and- easy ilianner in which he thrust himself between you and me to look out of the carriage win dow he did it at Amiens, as we'll as at Abbe- vile, felt angry, but held my tongue from prudence With man like that, fancy, and blow, and. the idea of coming to fisti- cuffs with him does not tempt me-" l,s-,~r From Amiens to Creil we continued to con verse found him wellbred, agreeable companion, and we soon discovered that we had some acquaintances in common, both in Parls and Tn St. Petersburg. He handed me bis card, and, in my turn, told him who was. His name was Count Boris Stacho- witch, and he lived in Paris, Avenue Fried land. ,...
 ''How small the world isl" said my new friend. Have you noticed that no man of a certain age if he has seen something of the world, can eyer meet any one with whom he is not connected by some anterior link? Half an hour ago you were 8 perfect stranger to me. The few words we aVe,exchanged have shown mo that one of my cousins is friend Of yours, and that was at school with one of your relations. That does not surprise me <; it is always so. would wager that if talked to your neighbor there who is snoring so sweety. would find out that he and I have something in common. Oh, what little world it is have often wondered how any body can manage to hide in it. l had, not long ago, very interesting conversation on that very subject with one Of the heads of the Secret Police. He was man of wide exper- fence, who could reckon by hundreds the thieves and murderers he had helped to cap- ture. Among other things, he told me :: Many crimes are never discovered at all, and those who have committed them of course elude justice; but scarcely one criminal out of thousand, when once known, can long escape the grasp of the law. Sooner or later, whatever disguise he may have assumed, in whatever hole he may have taken refuge, we find him out, The trace of blood is never ef- faced. Once on the track, we are pretty sure never to lose it. The world is-"
 Here our conversation was interrupted sud. denly. Stachowitch had been speaking loud enough for every word of his to be overheard by his neighbour the man from Verton. This latter got up hastily, and, as at Abbeville and at7Amiens, pushed forward between us to look out. All at once, before we could offer any opposition, he opened the door rapidly and stepped down on the narrow ledge which runs along the carriages. a''5 e.
 We looked at each other In mute surprise the next instant the man had leaped out on the line. 1 leant' forward, and saw him re bound forwards, and then with outstretched arms, fall fat upon his face In a few sec onds he was hidden from view by the wall of garden which skirted the line 1''i ''i .,' '
 The Russian had turned very pale. The four Frenchmen ceased their talking, and looked anxiously towards us. The English man was awake at last and was looking for the railway rug the Verton man had thrust under these .-....s.. .
 What does it all mean p said Stacho- witch +tS". ''" ..l.
 could only shrug my shoulders, for could not make it out myself. We were soon to be enlightened s ..,-gse ... i We were drawing near to Paris and the train was beginning to slackenits speed. About hundred yards from the terminus it came to a stand-stili Two railway officials who had been waiting for us on either side of the line, jumped on to the train, and passing along the carriages, said in low voice, while the en- zine began to move on, Keep your places, gentlemen, if you please" m =, r,
 A minute later we entered the station. The place was empty. Then from the superintend- ent's office there came out two gentlemen, fol lowed by one of the higher officials of the railway -one of them wore the ribbon of the Legion of Honour. They walked quickly up to the train, and stopped for few seconds before each carriage. Al last they came to ours The gentleman with the red ribbon looked in, and cast scrutinizng glance on each of HIS in turn. f.. :
 i''Has any one left this carriage since Yer ton station?" he asked. !, -.
 lie spoke te me, as being the nearest to him; but one of the Frenchman cut in before me, and related rapidly all he knew about the eighth traveller namely, that he had joined us at Verton, and had jumped from the train before, it reached St. Denis. This gentle man" he added, pointing to me, ''can,. no doubt, indicate the precise spot, for it was on his side that the mana villainous- looking feilow-e escaped" -.-...,.4 .,s-'-.
 Fihe police agent-as we had rightly judg- ed him to be-requested me then to describe the missing passenger. l was able to answer accurately, for had examined the man close iy. aea .,te1
 While spoke, the agent nodded repeated ly, as in assent. ..-.f.......t... 5 No doubt, :" he said, when had concluded my description, 'that is the man. Please, sir, to follow me-" ......erts.,s1g.-, : l gathered up my wraps and got down. Staehowitch4 followed. The railway guards shouted, Paris, " and while the platform was filling with passengers and porters, Stacho- witch and entered the office of the Special Commissary of Police The order was given for an engine to be placed at our disposal, and few minutes later found myself seateof in luggage-van, in company with the police agent, his attendant--a vigorous aud appar emily agile man of about thirty-two gendar- mes, and lastly, the young Russian, who had obtained leave to come with us. after he had related to;the agehtsthe altercation which had taken place between the Verton stranger and limself.P I had already described the spot where the man had jumped out, and had added thatIfel confident of being able to point it out exactly # i3s a
 On the way learned from the police agent that the Barronne de Msssieux, who lived with her daughter on a property near Bou- logne-snr-M -MeT, had been murdered on the pre- vious night. and that her coachman, Bechou- ard, was strongly suspected of being the au- thor of the crime. liss,.s3atss sslsIfsi s3E
 Ksff n . s