Staunton vindicator. [volume] (Staunton, Va.) 1860-1896, 1885-04-10

letter Na'o1s dt9"
thatl''-"Ah, but look at the knife! What
curious knifel What dron charactersl"-
''HeavensI Look at the stain on it'll 1T is the
blood"
passed on slowly with the crowd; came
IN front OF the white board that hung on the
iron grazing; ltook one look at lt-no, can
no1 Write down "na =, my Ieenngs were az 1na5
horrible moment. Inc tnlng nao Mucous
fascination for me; could not avert my eyes
from 1t. A cola sweat broke OUT over me;
my BRAIN reeled as II IN q vertigo; believe
should nave fallen, nub tne pressure OF the
throng heid me up Inc slgn1 maze me SICK
and faint, and yet could not tear my eyes
away,
This was what saw, exhibited on that board
at the Morgue: A white ivory button, about
the size Of a two-franc piece, with an initial
Z. upon it; under this was written: WRIST
stud found beside the body, supposed to be-
long to the perpetrator OF the crime" Below,
long, keen-edged dagger, its hilt OF lac
4uered wood, its blade OF dark-blue steel,
with some eastern characters craven on 1t,
and, stretching from the point about half
way up the blade, a dull stain upon the
cleaning metal. Under the weapon was
written: "Poniard OF japanese manufacture,
found beside the corpse OF Joseph Melssner,
with which the fatal blow IS supposed TO nave
been struck" At the foot Of the board were
these words: ANY person having mforma-
ton to give with respect to the murder Of
Joseph Melssner Is requested 70 communicate
with M. r. Roguet, judge OF instruction, at
the prefecture of police"
All this has taken time to describe;
seemed, however, to grasp all the details in
single glance; it was as if these fatal pieces
of, evidence burned themselves in on my
brain. You see, recognized, or thought
recognized, the wrlst-stud and the dagger
and the possibility they suggested to my mind
overwhelmed me for the moment. l gasped
for breath; strove to raise my hand, that l
might press it over my eyes and shut out that
terrible testimony that stared me in the face,
and would not let my vision CO. But the
pressure Of the crowd held my arms as If
plnioned, and swept me slowly along past the
bars OF the outer gate; then relaxed, and left
me free to move. had become separated
from Thouvenot in the crowd; for this, even
then, felt momentary thankfulness. My
sole desire now was to escape from that
CHASTITY Morgue, to leave it far behind. L
had come to it as scarcely curious specta-
tor; left it with the frenzied haste almost of
mailman. am persuaded that, had either
OF the skilled detectives afterWard concerned
in this case seen my manner OF leaving the
Morgue, they would have arrested me on sus-
picion there and then.
Whittier went after recrossing the bridge
I cannot now remember, walked on, or
rather half ran, quite aimlessly; dull, red
mist seemed to hang before my eyes, and
prevent my seeing anything distinctly l
was unconscious OF being looked at or pointed
at, unconscious of time or OF fatigue. My
one clear idea was that must fly as fast and
as far as possible from that hateful Morgue
and its choking atmosphere of crime,
When came to myself-for in truth had
been for the time distraught-I found myself
on one of the quays on the left bank, in the
extreme west of the city. The thought came
to me that must do something; that must
think calmly of what that something ought
to be. Darkness had come on; the lights of
Paris stretched in long line before me down