Weekly commercial herald. (Vicksburg, Miss.) 1884-18??, 1885-12-11
CHAPTER ~.
departed.

OIl1l 4GAb '
1 was strolling down he Boulevard st.
Michael, after attending the lecture on Ro-
man law, when l met by chance Thouvenot, a
friend Of mine, and law student like myself.
Thouvenot proposed a game of billiards; and,
feeling the need Of distraction after my late
effort Of industry, I agreed.
We went to the Cafe de Ia Cigarette, where
the young ladies' who serve you aroall dressed
alike in red, and where everything is very
gorgeous. We played several games at bill
lizards and had several glasses Of beer, spend
ing the afternoon thus very agreeably. Then
Thouvenot said all at once:
"My dear fellow, I hove a proposal tc
make.h
"What is thatP'
''That we go for a walk; ths1 re visit the
Morgue."
"And why the Morguc, Of all placesr
"Why? because all the world is running
there to-day, and We may as well run TOO.
Have you not read in the journals this morn
ing of the murder of Joseph MeissnerF'
"Ah, I have been told Of the murder Of this
man. Did you know hir2T
''To my cost; he was tho closast-fsted Jew
in the Quarter"
Impossible. Think Of my friend Levi
Jacob"
"He was infinitely worse than even your
friend Jacob. Some poor devil has murdered
him out Of revenge, 1 fancy. But you really
must hear the details of the affair; they are
curious, 1 assure you. 1t is the most promis-
ing mystery since the affair Of Menilmontant.
Euphraise, my angel"-to one of the young
ladies in red-"be good enough to bring me
The Figaro. All, here is the paragraph.
Listenl'
The paragraph which Thouvenot read me
from The Figaro was as follow:
"MURDER IN THE PASSAGE DE MAzARIN.-
Last evening the inhabitants Of the Quarter
des Ecoles were thrown into excitement by
the intelligence that a ~frightful and mysteri-
GUS crime had been committed in their midst.
Mons. Joseph Meissner, Of Jewish nationality,
and by profession a money-lender, had been
found murdered in his room, No. IS Passage
de Mazarin. The facts, so far as yet known,
are these: About q quarter-past seven last
evening a man out Of breath and i'll a state
Of extreme agitation presented himself at
the bureau Of police, Rue DIES Saints Peres,
declaring that o murder had been committed.
Interrogated as to his namo and avocation,
declared that he was called Jean Mouton, and
that he Yves janitor of the house no. 13
Passage de Mazarin, between the Rue ST.
Andre and the Rue de Biche. Declared
further that one Of the tenants Of the house was
Monsieur Joseph Meissner, q jewish money
lender, who had q room and cabinet on the
second floor. That Joseph Meissner was q
man of eccentric habits, and, among other
singular instructions, had givenhin, Moutor,
this-that if on any day hefailed toappear al
6 O'Clock, the hour at which he invariably
went out to dine, his room SHOULD he forcibly
entered without loss Of time. On this oven
ing-the evening Of Tuesdays o'clock had
sounded from the church Of st, Augustin,
and Meissner had not appeared Such a thing
had never happened before, the old money
lender being always remarkably punctuaL
The ianitor became uneasy, remembering
the instructions that had been given him.
He waited till the bells Of St. Augustin tolled
the quarter, then went upstairs and listened at
the door Of the room. Not a sound was to be
heard. He sought to peer through the key
hole, but the interior of the room was quite
dark, and he could see nothing. He came
downstairs again; went up q second time;
the same dead stiffness. His uneasiness grew
to alarm; nevertheless, he waited till z struck
from the church tower, then went to ask
the advice of his friend and neighbor, the
sieur Francois Dastoul, publican. Bastoul,
having heard Mouton's story, strongly advised
him to do as the Oldham had hidden him, and
offered to help him in breaking open thedoor.
Having provided themselves with q crowbar,
they went up to Meissner's room; listened,
called, knocked, shook the door; no an
swer. They then forced the door open
with their crowbar. The sight thai met their
eyes filed them with horror. The corpse of
Joseph Meissner lay before them on the
floor, in the middle Of a great red stain that
covered the plankng. The body lay upon
its face, huddled together as If it had fallen
from the char that stood in front of the
writing table. The furniture Of tho room
had been thrown into confusion, and the cab
inets and lock-fast places bore the appearance
ofhaving been forcibly opened and ransacIed.
at first the ~janitor and his companion
were too much Mortified to do, or think of,
anything; but at length Bastoul proposed
that they should instantly close the door,
without touching the body where it lay; and
that, while he himself kept watch outside,
Mouton should run at full speed to fetch the
police. This he did; and Superintendent
Ledru, having taken down his story, at once
accompanied him to the scene of the crime.
Everything was found there as Mouton had
described it. We are informed that the
police have discovered, beside the corpse of
Joseph Meissner, a dagger Of foreign manu-
f~acture, used beyond doubt in the commission
of the crime; also en- ivory wrist stud, with
an initial ON it, i all probability dropped by
the assassin. 1t is thought that these articles
cannot fail to give O clew to the discovery of
the guilty person. Meanwhile, the %janitor,
Mouton, has been placed under surveillance. y
swell Marsal, what do you thinko thatg'
said Thouvenot, as he laid down the paper
and relit his cigar. "Was / not right in call
ing it a promising mysteryp
'Certainly. This will Autter the Rue
Jerusalem, I should think. The police have
their character toregain."