Wessington Springs herald. (Wessington Springs, Aurora County, Dakota [S.D.]) 1883-1891, 1884-01-25
MY NIGHT AT AN Inn.

ave quote the following curious story
drom a Lyons paper: Recently, at a
hotel called La Croix 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
i1ad been extinct for several hours, and
that the aus of death was apoplexy.
This report, however, did not satisfy
the police. One of the most celebrated
physicians and surgeons of Lyons was
sent for, and a strict investigation of
the case was set on foot. The LYONS
doctor disagreed in toto with the opinion
of his provincial confreres, and held
shat, as the man was tall, thin and long
necked, an apoplectic seizure was al
most a physical impossibility. The
post-mortem examination showed all
the vital organs to be healthy, and a
minute analysis of the contents of the
stomach failed to detect the least trace
OF poison; the face was purple and
swollen; the eyes were bloodshot and
p%rotruding, but there were no marks of
violence about the throat or neck to
support the idea of strangulation, which
was suggested by this condition. A
small clot of blood was found upon. the
brain, as though a vessel had been rup-
tured, and all agreed that this was the
immediate of death, but how the
vessel came to be ruptured there was
no cause to show. A traveller who was
staying at the hotel on the evening
when the deceased arrived deposed that
the latter had drunk freely of cognac
before retiring to rest, and that he
should Judge him to have been a man
who habitually INDUCED in stimulants;
the slightly intlamed state of the coat
lngs Of the stomach supported this
opinion. Across both insteps was an
indented livid line, on either side of
which the flesh was slightly pulled;
this mark did not extend to the back
part OF the leg, but terminated abruptly
upon the ankle-bone. The doctors
seem to attach considerable importance
10 this curious appearance. although
beyond the fact that it must have been
produced BY pressure o fsome kind, they
nave utterly failed to find any explana-
tlon thai will accountfor it. This COM
plefes the medical evidence; but there
are other suspicious circumstances con-
hccted with the case. The traveller
whose testimony has been previously
quoted states that the deceased informed
nm that he had a large sum of meney
IN MS possession, yet only a few francs
We're found upon the body; the lock of
MS portmanteau seems to have been
tampered with, and its contents, chiefly
wearing apparel, were in general disor-
der, as though they had been hurriedly
eurned over and not properly replaced.
nc card or letter or paper of any kind
can De found to give a clue to his name
o. address, both of which are unknown.
LIS With extreme reluctance that the
authorities have had to assent to a YER
ulct OF death from natural causes. The
greatest excitement still prevails in the
usually quiet town, where all kinds of
tumors are at1oat; it may be mentioned,
en- PEASANT, that the host and hostess of
La CrciX dor do not stand yery high
All inc estimation of their fellow towns
people,
l read the above paragraph in the
fragments of q weekly newspaper that
haa been wrapped round something l
Aaa brought home with me, one win
ters night as l was sitting alone in my
oachelor chambers. l had been walk
ing against q bitter n~ortheasterly wind
aor TWO orthree hours before dinner, and
one reaction effected by food, warmth,
VINE and tobacco had induced such q
lelharglc state of Incidence that even
teaalng was too great an exertlon, and
al telt inclined to do was to puff out
9moke and stare at the blazing Goals.
looking about for something to light a
resh pipe, l picked up the aforesaid
fragment. l was about to screw it up
When my eyes fell upon the words, ga
mysterious Story" After the first few
alnes 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
llon, and all that evening l could think
OF nothing else. Like the French doc
toSs, the point that struck me most was
aae mark across the instaps, and I