The Iola register. [volume] (Iola, Allen County, Kansas) 1875-1902, 1884-01-18
MY NIGHT AT AN Inn.

"We quote the following curious story
from Lyons paper: Recently, at a
hotel called La Crox dor, in the town
of La Tour du-Pin, in the southeast of
France, a traveller, who had arrived IN
the evening, was on the following
morning found dead in his bed. Medi-
cal assistance was Immediately sum-
moned; the doctor pronounced that life
had been extinct for several hours, and
that the cause of death was apoplexy.
TIL s report, however, d d not satisfy
the police. One of the most celebrated
physicians and surgeons of Lyons was
sent for, and strict investigation of
the case was set on foot. The Lyons
doctor disagreed in toto with the opinion
of his provincial confreres, and held
that, a. the man was tall, thin and long
necked, an apoplecric seizure was al
most a physical impossiblity. The
post-mortem examination sh wed all
the vital organs to be healthy, and
minute analysis of the contents of the
stomach failed to dete, t the least trace
of poison; the face was purple and
swollen; the eyes were blood hot and
protruding. but there were no marks of
violence about e throat or neck to
support the idea of strangulat;on,w which
was sug ested by this condition. A
small clot of hood was found upon the
brain, as though YES eel had been rup-
tured, and all agreed that this was the
immediate cause of death, but how the
vessel came To be raptured there was
no cause TO show. A traveller who was
staying at the hotel on the evening
when the deceased arrived depcsed that
the latter had drunk freely of cognac
before retiring to rest, and that he
should ju ICE him to have been a man
who habitually INDUCED in stimulants;
the 81 ghtly infiamel ate of the coat
ingS OF the stomach supported this
op n on. Across bo.h insteNs was an
indented livid. line, on ther side of
which the flesh was slightly pulled;
this mark did not extend to the back
part of the leg, bit terminated abruptly
upon the anKle-bsne. The doctors
seem TO attach considerable Importance
TO tbs curious appea "ance. although
begond The fast that it must have been
prod ced BY pressure of some kind, they
have utterly failed TO find anv explana-
ton that VIII account for il. This COM
ple,es the medical evidence: but there
are other sa>p cious circumstances con-
nected with the case. The traveller
whose St:mony has been previously
quote states that the deceased Informed
him that he had a large sum of money
in his possession, yet only few francs
Were found upon the body; the lock of
his portmanteau seems to have been
tempered with. and its contents, ch efiy
wearing apparel. were in general disor
der. as though they had been hurr eddy
turned over and not properly replaced.
No card or Letter or aper of any kind
can be found 10 give clue to his name
or address, both of which are unknown.
1t is with extreme reluctance that the
authorizes haze had to assent to a YER
dict of death from natural causes. The
greatest excitement still prevails in the
usually gu ct town, where all kinds of
rumors are afioat; it may be mentioned.
en- PEASANT, that the host and hostess of
La Cro;x dor do not stand very high
in the estimation of their fellow towns
people"
/ read the above paragraph in the
fragm nts of a weekly newspaper that
had been wrapped round something |
had brought home with me, one win
ter's night as / was sitting alone in my
bachelor chambers. had been walk
inc against bitter northeastern wind
for two or three hours before dinner, and
the reaction effected by food, warmth,
wine and tobacco had induced such
letharglc state of Incidence that even
reading was too great an eNertIon, and
all 1 felt inclined 10 do was to puff out
smoke and stare at the blazing Goals.
Looking about for something to light a
fresh pipe, / picked up the aforesaid
fragment. was about to screw it up
when my eyes fell upon the words, "a
Mysterious story" After the first few
lines l grew intensely interested and
read on TO the end. There was nothing
very extraordinary about the story, but
somehow it seized upon my magma
ton. and all that evening could think
of nothing else Like the French doc
tors, the point that struck me most was
the mark across the insteps, and l
racked my ingenuity 10 find some plaus-
ible explanation for it. The man met
his death by foul means, and the secret
lies in that mark, was my deliberate
Judgment When / went to bed my
sleep was haunted by horrible dreams,
In which the dead man and those livid
marks were the prom nent figures. ALI
the next day could not get the story
out of my thoughts. L related il to
everybody met, but no one except my
self seemed able to perceive anything
particularly mysterious about it. For q
whole week it haunted me, pursued me,
and do what would / was unable to
Danish this daily nightmare. But the
most vivid impressions viii fade with
time, and by the end of month the