Democratic Northwest. [volume] (Napoleon, Ohio) 1869-1894, 1885-05-07

Iurus ne 1OQnQ FRENCH so OlIlCuIb 70 uuutT-
standl 1t mattered little, however; he would
wait, If they would allow him. Mouton the
janitor had by this time come back from the
wine shop; with him the stranger sat, talk
ing very affably in his broken French
Mouton recollects having told the stranger,
in the course of conversation, that he re-
minded him in speech ard appearance Of an
other foreigner, client of Meissner's, who
had been accustomed to visit the usurer fire.
quently, up to about year before. The
stranger remarked that that might possibly
be one of his compatriots, but did not men
ton to what country he belonged.
"'After talking for about half an hour, the
stranger suggested that the girl should be sent
for a bottle Of wine. Mouton agreed with
alacrity; the stranger gave Sophie money to
pay for it. During her absence it seems that
he asked Mouton to look out and tell him
whether it still rained; tho janitor complied,
going to the outer door, and so leaving the
stranger alone in the room for, perhaps, a
minute"
"During which minute" observed M.
Blery, ''our man replaces Meissner's key on
the rack
''No doubt. Well: Presently Sophie
Mouton returns with the wine; the stranger
sits down, fills glasses for Mouton and him
self, and chats with the janitor for a few
minutes longer. Suddenly he rises, saying
that he wishes to see whether the rain has
stopped. He goes to the outer door-and
never returns"
"Precisely," said NJ. Blery; "never re-
turns. No; he has got what he came for.
And now, Monsieur, let me ask you if you
put any question to the janitor Mouton re-
garding that other foreigner Of whom he was
reminded by his complaisant vlsitorp
"Yes; it occurred to me that this was sig
nifcant."
"Admirablew murmured M. Blery; "admir-
ablel He neglects nothing-misses not a
single pointl A born detectivel-Well, Mon
sieur?'
''This other foreigner, Mouton informed
me, had been for a long time, more than-a
year, most assiduous in his visits to the old
usurer. He was one of those unfortunates,
the janitor said, whom Meissner had 'fayed'
At first he used to drive up to their door in
eabriolet, or ride with groom following him;
but toward the end of his acquaintance with
the old Jew his clothes had become shabby;
and finally Meissner had given the order that
he was to be admitted no more. 1t was more
than year, Mouton told me, since he had last
seen this man."
Monsieur attaches an evident Importance
to this other foreigner. He thinks that there
may be some connection between him and
Mouton's mysterious visitor of two months
backg'
Eyes. They were very like each other, the
janitor says-the same build the same cast
Of features, the same accent in their speech.
Iconnect them with each other; connect
them also with the weapon used in the COM
mission of the crime. The dagger is of
Japanese workmanship; the two foreigners
may be-it is mere surmise, but there is at
least something in its favor-the two for
eigners may be japanese"
"That is more than a surlnise, Monsieur-it
is an idea; an idea which has also occurred to
myself. And now as to the daggers-I take
it we gained precisely the same information
from M. BeauvaisP'
"No doubt, but shall ask your attention
to one point regarding the daggers, which I
think of consequence. l take no credit to
myself for this discovery; it was made by
the happiest Of chances"
M. Blery paused in his walk through the
room and listened very attentively.
"A Japanese dagger is found beside the
corpse of Meissner; one exactly like it is
found in the collection of M. de st. Forent.
The chief characteristic of these daggers is
their rarity; that of the Passage de Mazarin,
before the discovery of the other, was pro-
nounced by connoisseurs to be unique The
De st. Florent dagger has sheath shaped
like closed fan; presumably, that found in
Meissners room would have q similar sheath.
"Meissner obtained this dagger, which he
subsequently gave to his nephew, from rich
foreigner who was one Of his clients. The
question we have to deal with is this-can we
prove that Girard's story is true? Can we
prove that he really sold the weapon given
him by his unclea Ina word, can we show
that there is q third dagger Of this kind in
existencea If SO, can we lnd it2
"On each of the daggers now at the pre-.
lecture there is craven the image of flower.
On each, beside that flower, there is inscribed
asingle word The word on the De st. Florent
dagger means Evanescence; that on the other
Illusion.
"Here is what find written in this book.
The book, I may tell you, belongs to M.
Beauvais. It is in English, and is called
The Buddhist Belief Buddhism, need not
remind M. Blery, is the religion of the
Japanese. This book was given to my
friend Girard, by M. Beauvais, on the very
night Of the murder, to be translated. Ever
since it has lain in corner of this room;
last night I picked it up, to return it to its
owner. was idly lingering the pages,
thinking of the visit I had just paid to M.
Beauvais, and Of the information he had
given me regarding the words craven on the
daggers and their meaning. All at once it
flashed through my mind that here, in this
very book, I had seen somethingI could
not recall distinctly what, but still ! Iwass sure,
something-wh connected itself in my
mind with the words Eranescence and IL
lusion. searched through the book; at last
found this paragraph, which translate:
TnAKUNA, THE THREE SIGNS: There are
three Things on which the mind Of the
Ascetic ought to d,ueU torerer; Anitya,
Euanescence; Amatma, Illusion; Dutha,
SorTo,O. These three Signs belong to erer'y
eristirg thing
"Here, you will observe, are three words
taken from the sacred writings of the Bud
dhists-the mystic number Three. We find
the word for Evanescence inscribed on one
dagger blade; the word for Illusion on an
other What is the natural assumpton2 Is
it not that the smith Tokotaru in Yeddo
forged three daggers, ON each Of which he
chased one Of these mystic words? If Mon
sieur succeeds, as do. not doubt he will, in
finding the dealer in curiosities to whom
Girerd sold his weapon, venture to predict
that he will find craven beside the flower on
its blade the remaining sign Of the three-the
wo.'d for Sorrow
-.d;:.!rablc!' said N. Blery again; s'Mon-
sieur, this is more th&n ingenious; it is sub