Wichita eagle., 1888-06-03

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heard them saying, "What, then, IS the
letter upon it?"
thatr'-"Ah but look at the knifei What
curious knfei What drol characters!"-
"Heavensl Look at the stain on it'll 1t is the
bloodr
neSssi on slowly with the crowd; I came
in 'front.' of the white beard that hung on the
iron grating; / took one look at it-no, / can
not write down what my feelings were at that
horrible moment. The thing had hideous
fascination for me: could not avert my eyes
from it. A cold sweat broke out over me;
my brain reeled as if in a vertigo; believe
should have fallen, but the pressure of the
throng held me up. The sight made me sick
end faint, and yet I could not tear my eyes
away.
This was what saw, exhibited on that board
at the Morgue: A white ivory button about
the size Of two-franc piece, with an initial
q. upon it; under this was written: Wrist
stud found beside the body, supposed to be-
long to the perperator of the crime" Below,
long, keen-edged dagger, its hilt of lac
quered wood, its blade of dark-blue steel,
with some eastern characters craven on it,
and, stretching from the point about half
way up the blade a dull stain upon the
cleaning metal. Under the weapon was
written: "Ponard of japanese manufacture,
found beside the corpse of Joseph Meissner,
with which the fatal blow is supposed to have
been struck" At the foot Of the board were
these words: "Any person having informa-
ton to give with respect to the murder of
Joseph Meissner is requested to communicate
with NJ. 4. Roguet judge of instruction, at
the prefecture of police"
II Al. L
seemed, however, to grasp all the details in a
single glance; it was as If these fatal pieces
OF evidence burned themselves in on my
brain. You see, recognized, or thought l
recognized, the wrist-stud and the dagger,
and the possibility they suggested to my mind
overwhelmed me for the moment. [ gasped
for breath; strove to raise my hand, that 1
might press it over my eyes and shut out that
terrible testimony that stared me in the face,
and would not let my vision go. But the
pressure OF the crowd held my arms as if
pmioned, and swept ne slowly along past the
bars Of the outer gate; then relaxed, and left
me free to move I had become separated
from Thouvenot in the crowd; for this, even
then, l felt q momentary thankfulnesss Ny
sole desire now was to escape from that
CHASTITY Morgue, TO leave it far behind. l
had come to it as q scarcely curious specta-
tor; left il with the frenzied haste almost Of
a mailman. an persuaded that, had either
Of the skilled detectives afterward concerned
in this case seen my manner of leaving the
Morgue, they would have arrested me on sus.
picion there and then.
Whittier [ went after recrossing the bridge
I cannot now remember. ] walked on, or
rather half ran, quite aiTnlessly; dull, red
mist seemed TO hang before my eyes, and
prevent my seeing anything distinctly. /
was unconscious OF being looked at or pointed
at, unconscious Of time or of fatigue. My
one clear idea was that I must fly as fast and
as far as possible from that hateful Morgue
and its choking atmosphere of crime.
When / came 10 nyseif-for in truth had
been for tho time distraught-I found myself
on one Of the quays on the left bank, in the
extreme west of the city. The thought came
TO me that / must do something; that must
think calmly OF what that something ought
TO be. Darkness had come on; the lights of
Paris stretched in long line before me down
the right bank of the river; snow had again
begun to fall sat down on the quay wall,
looking into the black water of the Seine,
and forced myself to reflect | cannot think
that any criminal was ever more wretched
than | at that hour.
| do not know how long | sat there, alb
sorbed in most miserable thoughts. But at
last something like a plan came into my
mind. ReGracing my steps toward the Rue
Dauphine, | stopped at u kiosk on the Boule-
ward, and bought an evening paper-The
Temps. | opened it under the light Of a
street-lamp, ana read this paragraph amid
tie falling SHOW:
The Grille OF CBRISTMAS-DAY.-To-da
there was a considerable crowd at toe
Morgue, to inspect the articles on which the
police must chiefly reg in their attempt to
unravel the mysterious affair of the Passage
de Mazarin. No arrest mas yet been made
nor, so far as is known, is there any one even
under suspicion The daughter of Mouton,
the Jsnitor at No. Is Passage dc Mazarin,
Is said 10 heye given evidence to the effect
that, about TO o'clock On Monday night. the
hour at which the crime seems to have been
committed. she saw a young man, 'tallish,
slendTly-huit, and light of foot-step.' glide
through the passage Of the house as if on his
We upstairs. The police will, of course.
make every effort to trace this young man.
but, in tie absence IF clearer testimony, their
task must be pronounced enc OF the greatest
difficulty. Meantime, the judge of insrruc-
ton has opened his inquiry OF tie spot; and
a reward of 5000 francs has been offered by
mo ffelGCt CT ponce LOT suCu LlIOTLlallOn as
may lead to the arrest of the assassin"
read this paragraph slowly tai ugh; its
every word seemed TO fan on me ike a great
weight added to an already heavy burden. l
feared, but that was not enough wanted
certainty. HUrrying up the Rue Dauphine, l
mounted the stairs and listened at the door OF
Raoars room From his slow, regular respi-
ration i judged him To he asleep; could he
sleep and-ny would not believe it, would
not think IL Yet, for all that, dared not
open the door, walk straight up TO my friend,
and tell him what l had seen. took of my
shoes on The threshold, and crept into the
room like q thict
Raoul DID not speak TO me: be must there
fore De asleep. The room was quite dark
groPad ny way TO the corner where the
CLOTHES - h-ch I,aoul had last worn la, heape,l
toScia5- 81 . clair. / Ielt for the shirt
sleeve; u ono 1 took up fist had tie livery
Dlff p IT ,-,7 ----5., md and smooth. The
butto-nc-as q To ether were both empty:
aropPel :. with . s-aoths1ei groau Of anguish
then L5--..e3. citeaiag my breath. u see
Thethe: haoCl Id lc5 awase He slept on.