Weekly commercial herald. (Vicksburg, Miss.) 1884-18??, 1885-12-25

con the contrary, I was nover more in
"But where is the money to on 'FRONT.'
rom your
sit is you who are jesting now, Raoul.
it to mo, like a good fellow. Sign your
lame, and take my word for it that l am
you to do nothing wrong"
On this Raoul signed without further hest
II put myself in your hands" he said.
Nothing can make me more your friend than
[ am; but if you get me out Of this frightfui
)lace-if you restore me, a free man ones
more, to Gabrielle ali, Paul, what shall L
lot--n
His voice failedli i'm; a hand-claspsaid what
Zach of Us had to say. This was the one no
nent during our whole interview that Raoul
ihowed the slightest want of composure, He
recovered himself Immediately.
Soon after I had to go, the duration OF my
visit being limited by the prison rules.
''Be patient, my FRIEND" I said to him;
what has to be lone will take time, end the
lime will seem doubly long to you. do not
,ay be brave, for you are brave; but l say,
DC patient"
Il will be patient" he said, Looking back
rs the warder closed the door, l saw his eyes
lxed wistfully upon me; the Du:;s Tell, and I
mad left my friend in his prison.
After leaving the house of detention I went
Itraight to the Palace Of Justice, to see the
advocate Sapinaud and retain him for Raoul's
lefense. Sapinaud was al intimate friend
If mine, and knew Raoul well also. He was
4 fiery Meriodinal, an eloquent pleader, and
mad a rapidly-growing reputation at the bar.
Sapinaud took up the case with enthusiasm.
He promised to see Raoul on the morrow, and
n three days tine to make himself master Of
The evidence. I asked him to send me his
copy CT the Judges notes, which be engaged
20 do.
The next few days passed in comparative
l~naction, / went to sec Gabrielle Dumaine.
[ found her very calm, like Raoul; but one
could easily see how severely she lad been
Iied by that cruel ordeal of t~hoinquiry. All
her vivacity was gene; her cheeks were pale,
ler movements languid; her dark eyes had
ceased to shine. 1t would have wrung the
heart of any man to see her with her mother.
Nine. Dumaine had evidently no hope Of
Raoul's innocence ever being established; I
believe that, in her heart, she even doubted
whether he were innocent. Yet, for Ga
5rielle's sake, she had to feign the most per-
feet confidence that all would go well.
"And you will save him, NJ. MarsalW G-
brielle said to me with trembling eagerness as
[ took my leave. "Remembor, [ trust in you'll
Leave me a word Of confort-te1 me hat l
may hope!'
"Mademoiselle," I said, ''assuredly you
may hope. / honestly believe that the right
clew will yet DO foJ2l.that Raoul's limo
cence will be put beyond all doubt" And in
this l said no moro than I really thought.
A few days after my interview with Sapin-
aud, I received from him a copy Of the evil
1ence taken at tho inquiry. At once I shut
myself up in my room, and set myself to study
it as I had never studied anything before.
l shall not go into the details of all my
reading, weighing, comparing and theorizing;
for three days l did not leave the room, and,
but for Pierre, would almost have forgotten
70 take food. The knowledge that Raoul's
life might be hanging IN the result of my
efforts seemed to lend me new powers
Of mind-or, at any rate, powers that l
had never before suspected myself of pos
sessing. 1t was, as it were, o continuation Of
that duel between myself and the judge Of
instruction, Of which the first passes had been
exchanged at the inquiry. Iseemed to enter
into the personality of each witness to seize
at a glance the significant point Of each state
mont. found a fact to explain every diff
Guilty, a theory for every contradiction; my
brain was fer tho time abnormally clear and
IT,. - ... j.. sk,Ao 20 ~,on4o1 4o~c;o-, ,vlsal
had it lasted, might have landed me either in
Bic6tre or the presidents chair Of the court Of
cessation.
NY study Of tho eviderce led me to this
conclusion: that the judge Of instruction,
starting from tho assumptions of Girard's guilt,
had, in several instances, unconsciously
warped important facts to make them fit in
with his own theory; but that ono starting
from The contrary assumption, thato Girard's
innocence, might take the same facts and
base upon them a theory Of the crime revers-
ing that of the Judge. Such negative EVIL
dence, however, would not suffice to clear Cir
arc Of completely in the crime. Here and there
aweak link might be found in the chain ofthe
testimony against him; but to point out these
was not enough. 1t was necessary that the
adverse circumstantial evidence against him
should be overborne by circumstantial evil
dence equally strong in his favor. In q
word, since Girard was not the assassin of
Joseph Meissner, that assassin must be found.
My first proceeding waste go to. the house
No. 10 Passage de Mazarin, and question the
child Sophie Mouton, daughter Of the %janitor.
From her | found out even more than l had
expected. Then I went to a certain wine shop
in the Rue st. Andre, which, as Sophie in
formed mo, the ~janitor Mouton frequented
moro than was for his good. There l found
him, drinking with several of his friends, and
~recounting, no doubt for the hundrcdth time,
his share in tho events of Meissner's murder.
1 had no difficulty in beginning a converse
ton with the %janitor, and soon found out
from him, over a glass Of milk punch, all that
l wanted to know.
"But it is singular" said Mouton, 'tnese
questions that Monsieur las asked they are
precisely the same questions asked by the
little man with the sharp nose and the gray
coatl'
"What man do you meanq'
"By Jove! that l cannot tell you. But he
was here two nights ago, sitting in the very
same place where Monsieur is sitting now,
and he asked the very same questions as Mon
siourl He also accompanied me home, and
took away the key of NJ. Meissner's door.
He produced on me the effect Of an agent Of
police. Is it not so, M. BastoulP
M. Bastoul said that it was so. left the
w~ineshop, wondering who the little man