The pioneer express. [volume] (Pembina, Dakota [N.D.]) 1883-1928, 1886-05-21
not the police seized him lust in time.

not the police seized him just In time.
Trembling with excitement, Mehul
went to the police station to make his
declaration; he charged tho man with
having tried to rob him. He wished to
charge him with something else. but
dared not. Was it possible to accuse
of murder q man whom one had never
seen except in dreamp
And, Notwithstanding the temptation
to do SO became stronger and stronger.
Mehul returned homo. greatly agitated
by the souvenirs which this singular In
cident had provoked. He went to his
bed. but without any inclination to
sleep; he lay thinking with his eyes
wide open, he argued with himself and
violent struggle ragged in his mind.
Ought lie. or ought he not to tell the
magistrate what had happened to hime
Dream or vision, was it not after all rs
warning from heaven that there had
appeared before him those CHASTITY
shadows-that double appariation Of
which lie had never spoken to living
soul?
Once again, exactly as she shone five
years before, the moon looked In be-
tween the half-closed shutters, and the
bells of the parish church chimed the
hour of 2. Just at that instant q white
shape made itself visible against tho
luminous beam-it seemed to stand be-
fore the window. And with its coming
came the sound of scpulchral whisper
-"Avenge met" "Yes. dear friend. I
swear to thee I shall avenge thee" cried
Mehul, rising in his bed.
Then all his hesitation passed away.
Next day he went early to the police
headquarters of the Champs Elysees
and frankly told all the circumstances
of his strange vision to the Commits
saire. The police officer would proba-
bly, have told any one else who visited
him upon the same errand to 60 to Jer-
icho. But NJ. Mehul was the choirmas-
ter of His Majesty, the Emperor, and a
musician of acknowledged genius, to
whom the opera owed more than one
rare masterpiece. The police official
respectfully listened to his story and
promised 10 consider the revelation in
serious way. To begin with, he had
the hunchback submitted to most
rigorous secret interrogation, and
very astute Judge d'instruction har.
assed him with every possible question
that could terrify guilty conscience.
These maneuvers succeeded beyond
expectation. Before week had
elapsed the hunchback had been made
to confess that he was indeed the assas.
sin of NJ. -. 1t appeared that the
wretch had. during the Reign of Ter.
ror. been a member of the Tape dur
("Hard-hitters') those cut threats
whom the Committee of Public
Safety had employed to excite
riots. The overthrow of that regime
of Fraternity or Death had left this es-
timable citizen without employment,
and rather than return to his old trade
of tailor, he sought to live independent
ly of work. The indiscretion of a ser.
want had enabled him to discover that
NJ. - was going to Melun to deposit
in notary's hands the price of coun-
try residence which he had purchased.
and in which he aimed to end his days.
Our Tape-dur took advantage of this
information to engage place in the
same diligence in which NJ. - started
that evening for Melun. Sitting face
to face with the unsuspecting traveller,
who showed signs of drowsiness at an
early hour, he watched his chance.
Amid the darkness of the Forest of
Senart-protiting by the rumbling of
the wheels and the loud singing of the
tenor-he suddenly threw a rope around
the sleeper's neck and strangled him
without any one hearing the least sound
of struggle. Then, noiselessly OPEN
ing the door of the diligence. he
had thrown the dead body into
the road, leaped out HIM
self, and after robbing the corpse of a
pocketbook stuffed with notes, con-
cealed the body among the brush-wood.
The next night he had returned with
a spade and pick, and dug u grave in
the place where he designated in his
confession to the police, and where the
skeleton of the traveller was actually
found. The jurymen brought in YER
dict of guilty, and this wicked Quasi.
modo died upon the scaffold just three
months after yielding to the unlucky
impulse to pick NJ. Melun's pockets >
Such is the trustworthy narrative re.
lated to us the other day in the coolest
and prettiest Partisan boudoirs by the
grandson of a Marshal of France, to
which it was related by the great mu-
stefan himself. Incredulous people
may declare, if they please. that must.
clans are highly imaginative people
and often nervous. and that the com.
poser of Joseph dreamed with his
eyes open. But, anyhow, the anecdote
is both curious and impressive in these
times of spiritism.
Celestial Shovel-Makers.
"You may saw" said leading Front