Weekly commercial herald. (Vicksburg, Miss.) 1884-18??, 1886-01-01

tcture there Is craven the image Of a flower.
On each, beside that flower, there is inscribed
i asing,e word. The word en- the DeSt. Florent
dagger means Eyanescence; thai on the other
Illusion.
"Here IS what I find written In this book
The book, I may tell you, belongs to b..
Beauvais. It is in English, and is called
THE Buddhist Belief-Buddhism, I need not
remind II. 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 DO translated. Ever
since it has lain in a 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 1 had just paid to N.
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, 1 had seen something-I could
not recall distinctly what, but still twas sure,
something-which connected itself in my
mind with the words ErdneScence and H.
fusion. I searched through the book; at last
found this paragraph, which l translate:
TnAKUNA, THE THREE SIGNS: There are
three Things on which the mind of the
Ascetic ought to dweU forercr; Amitya,
Euanescence; Anatma, Illusion; Dukha,
Sorro,U. These three Signs belong to every
eriSting 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 assumption9 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 l do not doubt he will, in
finding the dealer in curiosities to whom
Girard sold his weapon, 1 venture to predict
that he will find craven beside the flower on
its blade therenlaining sign of the three-the
word for Sorrow"
"Admirable!" said NJ. Blery again; tMon-
sieur, this is more than ingenious; it i sub
tile. You call your discovery ahappy chance
doubtless, to q certain extent, it was so. But
the inference you draw from it-ah, that Is
quite another thing! 1t is, l repeat, admira-
bic; Monsieur should certainly have been q
detective!'
Idisclaimed the compliment; but M. Blery
politely insisted that it was deserved, and as
sured methat, hadI only had the proper train.
ing, l might have reached a grade in the pro
fession scarcely second to his own.
"Your discovery" he said, supplies an
important link in the chain Of evidence. The
theory of the crime which We have both Of
us formed, each independently Of the other,
determines the line of action to be followed
l shall begin to-day; before a week is over, il
our theory proves correct, l shall have laid
my hand on the assassin.n
Igave NJ. Blery q little roll of notes; I had
contrived to borrow some money for this
special purpose. When I a~pologized for the
snallness of the amount
"Do notspeak Of it, u said NJ. Blery; "this
is ample. If 1 succeed in finding the rea.
criminal, as l hope to do, l receive five thou.
sand francs from the authorities, twenty
thousand francs from your friend-a sufi
Gent reward. Besides, take an interest il
the case, in NJ. Girard, and in the charming
young lady, his betrothed. And I shall have
a satisfaction, I confess it, in overthrowinf
the theory Of my friend Ply. All, it will b.
beautiful!-beautiful! A child might see thu
difference between our methods. Is it not SO
MOIlSleur!
Certainly. The judge and your friend
Ply start from the assumption of Girard's
guilt; wo start from the assumption of his
innocence"
"Oh, no, Monsieur" exclaimed M. BIery,
whcm this answer seemed to ~disappoint
grcviously-''nol We start from no assump-
ton; we assume nothing. It is this; let me
explain; Py and the judge look out for facts
to support their theory; wo discover facts
and construct our theory from them. Ply
says it is all easy, simple, straightforward,
the evidence lies at your hand; we say, no, ii
is complex, difficult, obscure; you have to GO
in search of tho evidence, possibly far
So saying, M. Blery bowed himself out
taking with him the key Of Meissner's door
and the tracings of the daggers, and promis-
ing to communicate with me at the end Of Il
days, if not sooner. I did not inquire what
his plan was; 1 could sec that he would have
disliked such q question. And l had now
great confidence in NJ. Blery.