Wessington Springs herald. (Wessington Springs, Aurora County, Dakota [S.D.]) 1883-1891, 1886-04-09

e"Se ihysea1, saying how mcager was orr
information regarding the ASSASSIN. and
TINS and that, but she looked at mo On
steadily became embarrassed and said
suddenly. "'io sa'o
wei, Miss, I would risk an arm or
q iimb to catch the rogue for wu.'
"And l spoke the truth; vet g. astnot
perhaps professional duty that made
eyes. ~ '1''A
| clew.' nave d
CA clew?' And then she shrugged
her shoulders. is not the hand onep'
"The hand! Whathand?'
".Then Catisson Coussac related IN mo
the story of the crime, which I confess
chilled me.
ut was one evening in September.
foor, honest Coussac had at his house
in Faubourg Montmailler some money
which had been intrusted to him by his
patron. M. Gabourdy, the contractor:
about ten thousand francs, with which
he was to settle two bills-one with a
plasterer, the other with a lumber mcr-
chant. Having. upon this particular
evening, finished his repast, Father
Coussac and his daughter remained
downstairs after Mother Coussac had
retired, he reading his almanac as he
sat near tho closet containing the
silver, and she knitting a wool
stocking. 1t is necessary to explain
that there was a garden back of the
house. and, facing this, a window, the
height of Il man, the shutters of which
were generally closed, but which on this
particular evening the worthy man, being
| a tritle warm. left open. He read there,
under the skylight by a small lamp, and
Catisson heard him turn over and over
the pages Of his almanac. She has often
told me that she felt, while working
mechanically, a little drowsy, by this
noise of the paper, so regular, and by
the tick. tick of the pendulum, and that,
suddenly raising her head from her
work to yawn, and see if it was nottime
to go to sleep, she saw, believing at first
that she was mistaken, that she dreamed
that she had the nightmare-she saw be-
tween the folds of the shutter, passing,
moving softly, softly, a hand, a large
hand, but with something frightful about
it that Catisson remarked at once, the
four fingers. almost as large as the
thumb, being all of the same size, as
though out by line, yet they We're not
cut, only terminated in this frightful
way; and this hideous hand glided along
the shutters, evidently seeking to open
the blind nciselessly. Then it remained
motionless, as though its owner knew
that Catisson had discovered him. For
a moment she believed she had not seen
Alright, that the light of the lamp had
dazzled her sight. But when she
opened her eyes, very much
frightened, there was the moving hand,
with it's enormous ever fingers. Catis-
son wished to scream, but seemed
strangled by that terrible hand. Then
she suddenly arose, and, Selling her
father by the sleeve, pointed to the
hand on the blind. But at the same
moment that old Coussac turned, the
robber quickly pushed open the blind,
and a current Of air extinguished the
lamp in. a cloud of flame and smoke,
leaving Catisson and her father in dark
ness. Coussac, hearing the sound of a
heavy body leaping into the room, tried
to find a knife with which to defend
himself, and more especially the money,
but before he could open the cupboard
he was seized by the throat, and felt a
stroke against his neck, then down near
his heart. Catisson screamed, diyining
all, though seeing nothing, but a heavy
blow rendered her powerless. The poor
girl was in a faint, she could not Say
how long, and when she recovered
found herself in the lower hall, where
Mother Coussac, whittier than her robe,
sought to rouse poor Leonard, who
pointed to his breast as if to say:
| wound in here-no remedy
"Of course the closet where Coussac
had placed the money was broken opea
and the bills were stolen. Such night!
The Faubourg Montmailler will long re-
member it. They aroused the neigh
bors and searched the garden, where
they found footprints. which they meas
ured. They searched everywhere. In
the meantime Coussac died, and the old
mother was beside herself. Catisson,
half out of her senses, saw ever that
frightful hand, with the four even
fingers gliding I'VE the oak shutter. like
q spider OF Il crab.
Gas you can imagine, we made every
effort to find the dog who had sent that
worthy to Louvat (the cemetery at Lii
moges). Yes, we did all we could, but
there was no clew. We had the hand
as Catisson had described it to me, but
knew of no one possessing such q hand:
We questioned all the masons who had
worked with Father Coussac, but no
suspicion rested upon them; all were
worthy people, well-known. with a little
fondness for chestnut wine, but mo-
crime. Who, then, was the criminal?
lone day a butcher-boy from Ia
Aigueperse came to tell us that he re-
WONDERED once having a quarrel with
a great fellow who, in drawing his
Noutron knife, had displayed a very
peculiar hand with four even fingers:
Now the knife with which he had killed
| Coussac was a Noutron knife, but
the butcher could give no further in
formation, and many thought his story,
a fabrication. And u men still
searched, finding nothing, which an
moved me, as / had said to Catlsson:
Tell US, demoiselle, what you will
give for the man who captures your
fathers assassin?
..Shc did not answer, but turned pale