Staunton vindicator. [volume] (Staunton, Va.) 1860-1896, 1885-04-17

lOo AGANO lClf'Ce ILL OuU VI LIS uduSGI
Might not the warning l had given be il
vain? Might it not have come too late? Grea
heaven, it had been too late! That man WIN
had stopped me as I fed from the house
had not realized the truth at the time, TO
till now-that man was an agent of police
now that thought of it, he had said so
Already Raoul was arrested, and through
my Fault I despised myself; execrated m,
cowardice; felt like the murderer of m
friend. At once, without a moments hesita
ton, turned on my steps and fastened bacl
to the Rue Dauphine
sHere is the key of Monsieurr' criet
Pierre after me, as hurried past his door
an. Girard has gone out"
''Gone outw repeated, mechanically.
eyes, with a gentleman who called for hin
"a stout gentleman, a friend of M Girard's
he said. He was upstairs with NJ Girard fo
some time; then they went out together, no
ten minutes ago."
did not need to hear more Sad at hear
I went upstairs and entered our garret-room
On the table stood the dinner from Magnys
the two bottles of wine untouched. Besid,
the tray, just where I had placed them, lay
the evening newspaper and the little pile O.
money. The drawers of the bureau I no
UlCOI WHO AleslI PullCl OOU. 1OOhOd IllUt
them. My papers had been left; Raoull
were all taken away.
The fire had gone out, but did not thinl
of reminding it. I did not want comfort.
which Raoul could not share For long sal
at the table, a prey to my wretched thou ghts
until the sudden leaping up of the EXP irine
candle warned me of the lapse Of time. My
snow-drenched clothes made me silver il
limb. hoe op6
myself into bed. There, from sheer fatigue
If mind and body, must have slept; since
remember no more until the servant awoke
me next morning.
Pierre greeted me as usual: the news of
Raouls arrest was, therefore, not yet pub.
ished. I sent him, however, for a newspaper,
that I might learn the latest development of
the case
The Figaro had a long paragraph, headed
as usual, ''The Crime of Christnas-day.n It
stated that no arrest had yet been made, but
that the police were understood to have found
cleW and to be now on the track Of the as
sassin. 1t commented on the mysterious
character Of the crime. Zone of the chief
difficulties of the case" said the writer, sis
the apparent want of motive in the proceed
ings of the unknown murderer Nodoubt the
reputation for wealth; possibly, from the ma
ture of his business, he may have had enc
mics. But if plumber was the motive for the
decd, why did the assassin, who seems to have
been quite unhurried, leave behind him valu-
ables like those mentioned in the police in
ventory-money, trinkets and Jewels which
could have been so easily carried aways On
the other hand, if revenge and not T. bae1y
was the motive, why should the ASSASSIN ram
sack those lock-fast places, breaking into
some, opening others-overturning every
thing; and apparently taking nothing? A
theory to explain this contradiction has vet
to be found"
Here was a point. tried to think It out
calmly in connection with Raoul and his rela-
tions, SO far as l knew them, to the murdered
man. But all my bordering was in vain;
could find no theory. Only the stern facts
confronted me.
The paragraph in The Figaro next went on
to describe the articles exhibited at the
Morgue, which, it seemed, We're still attract
ing public curiosity. ''These," it said, ''are
the real clew to the discovery of the criminal.
The police have to lay their hands upon the
individual who, on Monday night, dropped
from his wrist that ivory button in the room
of Joseph Meissner They have to find, if
possible, the other ivory button that makes
the pair. In brief, they have to find the
man c., the owner OF the dagger with
which the crime was committed"
My hand SO shook at I read this terrible
paragraph that could scarcely hold the pa
per. 1t was 1 who had been the first to find
|. that single ivory button at Raoul's sleeve
and had left it there!-I, his friend! I had
had it in my power to destroy the evidence
against him, and instead I had preserved it.
Let him be guilty or not, it was not my part
to deliver him up to justice; yet that was
what had done. I forced myself to read on
ssThe dagger now being shown at the
Morgue," continued the writer, ''is of SC
singular a kind that no one who has once seer
it could fail to identify it. 1t is Of japanese
manufacture, the steel being specially fine
and the lacquering of the hilt being very rich
and artistic. On one side of the blade is an
inscription in the japanese character; on the
other side is the figure of a flower, with q
single word beside it, also in the japanese
character. This word is stated, by a well.
known Orientalist who has seen the weapon
to mean Illusion, and to have religious sig
nifcance. M. de st. Florent, the well known
private collector, writes us tnat the dagger OF
the Passage de Mazarin is not unique, as has
been stated in several of the journals. M. de ST.
FlGrent possesses a weapon which is an exact
counterpart of the one found beside the corpse
Of Joseph Meissner" The paragraph ended
with the statement that next day the funeral
Of the murdered man was to take placo from
the Morgue
Ibid not leave the house all that day; !
shrank from doing So Ii went out, and if
the news of Raoul's arrest were now ganer-
ally known, as was possible, should be as
sailed with questions from the numerous
friends of both Of us-questions which to me
would be torture. I could do nothing, at
least, I thought and thought, [ read the
newspaper reports over and over again, and
could devise no measure which would be OF
any advantage to my unhappy friend. In
deed, the best service I could render him
SO far as it seemed just then-was to keep out
OF the way. In trying to imagine possible
examination, / became aware that my evil
dence would not be in his favor.
This was by far the most wretched day
ever spent in my life. This forced inaction,
the cruel anxiety about my friend, the re-
morse OF my own conduct which I painted,
no doubt, in colors unduly dark-all these
contributed to my misery. l lunched on
what remained eatable of Magnys dinner
the dinner that had been ordered +, celebrate
the accepting of the comedy-and drank a
bottle Of wine. The day wore on with mad
dening hardness; at length evening came
and again I sent out Pierre for a journal.
By this time, surely, the news Of the arrest
must have been made public. A glance al
the paper showed me that it had
The paragraph was headed, 'SCrime OF
Christmas day: Arrest of the Assassin" and
ran thus:
IAN arrest has now been made in the case
OF the Passage de Mazarin, and all the cir
cumstances point to the conclusion that the
police have laid their hands on the veritable
murderer. The individual arrested on sus-
picion is young man named Raoul Girard,
student Of law, residing at No IS Rue
Dauphine,y a nephew OF tae murdered man.
Further information is al present withheld
by the police. 1t may be stated, however,
that the arrest was made at a late hour last
night, and that the credit of it is entirely due
to the Agent of Police Ply. There is reason tc
believe that, but for the activity shown by
this skiilfql and energetic officer, G;rard, who
was in hiding, would ere this have succeeded
in efecting his escape"
was reading this paragraph with feelings
that may be imagined, when was startled
by knocking at the door. I say startled, "
because I was apprehensivs at every
IF f,,o,,, tl,,o