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

Pierre greeted me aS usual: the news OF
RaOui's arrest was, therefore, not yet pub
Ished Isn't him, however, for q newspaper,
that Knight learn tho latest development Of
the case.
The Figaro had a long paragraph, headed
az usCel, The Crime Of ChristIas-day.7 1t
stated that no arrest had yet been made, but
that the police were understood to have found
q clew and to be now On the track Of the as
sassin. 1t commented on the mysterious
character Of the crime. "One Of the chief
difficulties Of the case,n said the writer, lis
the apparent want Of motive in the proceed
iEgs Of the unkno@nmurderer. Eodoubt the
deceased Joseph Meissner had a dangerous
reputation for wealth; possibly, from the ma
tuTs Of his business, he mayha7e had enc
mics. But Il plumber was the motive for the
deed, why did the assassin, who seems ohave
been quite unhurrisd, leave behind him valu-
ables like those mentioned in the police in
ventory-money, trinkets and jewels, which
could have been so easily carried away? On
the other hand, if revenge and not robbery
vas the motive, why should the assassin ran
sack those lock-fast places, breaking into
some, opening others-overturning every-
thing; and apparently taking nothing2 A
theory to explain this contradiction has vet
to be found"
Here was a point. 1 tried to think it out
calmly in connection with Raoul and his rela-
tons, SO far az l knew them, to the murdered
man. But all my bordering was in vain; l
could find no theory. Only the stern facts
confronted me.
The paragraph in The Figaro next went on
m Ar-awfbo H. z-Aso1an --1s1sA-1 - IL
horgue, which, it seemed, were 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 G., the owner CT the dagger with
which the crime was committed"
My hand SO shook at l read this terrible
paragraph that l could scarcely hold the pa
per. 1t was l who had been the first to find
that single ivory button at Raouls sleeve
and l had left it therel-I, his friendl 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: y+ sh2t wGs
what l had done. forced myself to read on.
THE dagger now being shown at the
Morgue," continued the writcr, sis Of so
singular q kind that no one who has once seen
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 a
single word beside it, also in the japanese
character. This word is stated, by a we'll
known Orientalist who has seen the weapon
to mean Illusion, and to have a religious sig
~ni6cance. N. de st. Florent, the well-known
private collector, writes us that the dagger of
the Passage de Mazarin is not unique, as has
been stated in several of the journals. M.de st.
Florent possesses q 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 place from
tie Morgue.
Ibid not leave the house all that day: /
shraak from doing SO. II 1 went out, and If
the news of Raoul's arrest were now gener-
ally known, as was possible, l should be as
sailed with questions from the numerous
friends Of both of u~s-questions which to me
would be torture. l could do nothing, at
least, l thought and thought, I 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 / could render him
SO far as 1t seemed just then-was to keep out
OF the way. In trying to imagine a possible
examination, I became aware that my evil
dence would not be in his favor.
This was by far the most wretched dav
lever spent in my life. This forced i~naction,
the cruel anxiety about my friend, the re-
morse Of my own conduct-which l painted,
no doubt, in colors unduly dark-all these
contributed to my misery. l lunched on
what remained eatable Of Magny's dinner
the dinner that had been ordered to celebrate
the accepting Of the comedy-and drank O
bottle Of wine. The day wore on with mad
dening hardness; at length evening came,
and again 1 sent out Pierre for o Journal.
By this time, surely, the news Of the arrest
must have been made public. A glance at
the paper showed me that it had.
The paragraph was headed, 'Crime Of
Christmas day: Arrest Of the Assassin, 4" and
ran thus:
can 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 a young man named Raoul Girard,
student Of law, residing at No. % Rue
Dauphine, a nephew OF the murdered man.
Further information is OF present withheld
by the police. 1t may be stated, however,
that the arrest was mado ct a late hour last
night, and that tho credit of it is entirely due
to tho Agent Of Police Py. There il reason ia
believe that, but for the activity shown bv
this slillful and energetic officer, G1-ard, who
was in hiding, would ere this have succeeded
in effecting his escape"
l was reading this paragraph with feelings
that may be imagined, when I was startled
by a knocking at the door. Isay STARTLED, ="
because l was apprehensive at every
moment Of q visit from the agents Of police.
This time, however, it was only Pierre.
GA lady desires to see Monsieur, " ho said,
and ushered in Madame DurVaine, the mother
of Gabrielle.
One glance at her face showed mo that she
knew all.
IN. Marsal," she said, "come with me at
oncel For PHYS sake don't refuse! l said
that I would bring you-that / would not
come back without you. Ibeg-I implore Of
you to comel'
"But whereof had confused notion that
she wished me to go with her to Raoul-"to
the house Of detentionP'
ttNn moi IT, 10 Cabr;o1Ja uybo .,aA~na L.