Audubon County Republican. [volume] (Audubon, Audubon Co., Iowa) 1885-1894, 1886-05-27
not the police seized him lust in time.


went to the police station to make his
declaration; he charged the man With
having tried to rob him.. He wished to
charge him with something else, blu,
dared not. Was it possible to accuse
of murder a man whom one had never
seen except in a dream?
And, Notwithstanding the temptation
to do SO became stronger and stronger
Mehul returned home, 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
a violent struggle ragged in his mind.
Ought he, or ought he not, to tell the
magistrate what had happened to himp
Dream or vision, was it not after all as
q warning from heaven that there had
appeared before him those CHASTITY
shadows-that double appariation of
which he 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 tho
bells of the parish church chimed the
hour of 9. Just at that instant a white
| shape made itself visible against the
| luminous beam-it seemed to stand be-
fore the window. And with its coming
came the sound of scpulchral whisper
-"Avengc mc"' "Yes, dear friend, |
swear to thee | 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 Camps 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 90 to Jer-
| icho. But NJ. Mehul was the choirmas-
ter of His Majesty, the Emperor, and 4
musician of acknowledged genius, TO
whom the opera owed more than one
rare masterpiece. The police official
respectfully listened to his story and
promised TO consider the revelation in a
serious way. To begin with, he had
the hunchback submitted to most
rigorous secret interrogation, and a
very astute Judge instruction har-
asscd him with every possible question
that could terrify guilty conscience.
| These mancuvGrs succeeded beyond
expectation. Before n week had
elapsed the hunchback had been made
70 confess that he was indeed the assas-
sin of NJ. -. 1t appeared that the
wretch had, during the Reign of Ter
ror, been member of the Tape dur
"Hard-hittcrs'D 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 cs-
Unable citizen without employment,
| and rather than return to his old trade
of tailor, he sought to live independents
" of work. The indscretion of a SER
want had enabled him to discover that
NJ. - was going to Mclun to deposit
in notary's hands the price of q 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 4 place in the
same diligence in which NJ. -- started
that evening for Melun. Sitting face
to face with the unsuspccting 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 rope around
the slcepcr's neck and stranglcd him
without any one hearing the least sound
of struggle. Then, noiselcsSly open
ing the door of the diligence, he
had thrown the dead body into
the road, leapcd 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 grave in
the place where he designated in his
confession to the police, and where the
skeleton of the traveller was actually
found. The jurymcn brought in a yer,
dict of guilty, and this wicked Quasi
modo died upon the scatFold 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 coziest
and prcttest Partisan boudoirs by the
grandson of a Marshal of France, tC
which it was related by the great mu
stefan himself Incredulous pcopl,
may declare, if they please, that must
clans are highly imaginative people
and often nervous, and that the com
poser of Joseph" dreamed with hi
eyes open. But, anyhow, the anccdot,
is both curious and impressive in thest
times of spiritism.