The pioneer express. [volume] (Pembina, Dakota [N.D.]) 1883-1928, 1888-06-22

to man, can you give any reason for,
any clue to, this terrible mystery?"
For IL moment Merville seemed to
cover under his fierce gaze, but then,
recovering himself, answered bravely
enough:
"Marquis l.contine, l answeryo as
Il man, no. l confess that l loved
lIcloiSe ,lcarly--as n cousin. We had
been together since childhood. But.
if you would insnuate that there WAS
anything wrong between us, answer
you no, no, no"
pardon mo, Merville; I was mad to
think il, and with agroan the mar.
quis sank back into his chair.
AS soon us the sun had risen Il rigid
search of the grounds WAS made. Not
II trace OF the missing Heloisecould be
found until on the shore of the little
artiicialakr, at point where the wa
ter WAS deepest one Of the maidsfound
IL hook-tho one that Madame had
been rradin, that morninc-a volume
OF the poems OF De l'hurset. Grcgoire
scizc, i, and covered it with kisses; it
seemed to him some part q. the per-
sonali,v OF his beloved. But still no
trace oi the missing lady. by noon
time every inch of ground had been
explored, but without success. At
last Melville suggested that Il dcicc-
tive should be sent for At first the
Marquis WIS loath to.,lo this, rs he
was ,lnwillin. to make public what he
feared would prove his shame. Mel
willie reasoned, argued with him, aud
finally he consented
A telegram WIS dispatched TO the
Project OF Police ut Paris, who chance
ed To M II friend OF the Marquis, and
at nightiall Il quiet, business likel look
ng man presented himself ut the
chateau. lie bore letter from the
Project, recommending him as one of
his shrcw'lost officers, worthy Of all
confidence Perhaps it would be we'll
To let the detective tell his story in the
report submitted by him a week sub
seulcnt.
IN. lie Periect-In the matter of
the disappearance OF Nine. Heloise,
Maruuise I.eon,inc, | would report
that Immediately upon my arrival at
the chateau proceeded to question the
Marquis, wloappcarcd to be prostra.
ted with grief. He told me that he
and Madame had lived upon the
most friendly terms. and he could as
sign no reason for her departure. lie
told me- that the grounds had been
searched, and the only truce was
book which Madame was known to
have been rc;,,lin. the morning OF her
disappearance. This book had been
found on the shore OF an artilicialluke
on the grounds of the chateau. OF
course I.,t once concluded that this
lake contained tllrclcw to thcmystery,
but kept my suspicious TO myself.
by this time it had grown late into
the night, and postponed my invcsti-
Gations until thrmornlng. Before the
rest oi the household had arisen |
awakened the gardener and told him
tn procure me some strong iishhooks
aud lines He did so, wonlcringly,
and then babe him lead me to the
artificial lake, to the spot where Ma
DANES book had been found Reach
Ing there, examined the ground close.
ly, and noticed slight evidences OF Il
struggle. A boat was moorc,l close by,
getting into this with the gardener, We
rowe,i I" II position opposite the spot
! had examined. The water at this
point was nearly ten feet deep. To-
gcthcr we threw over our lines and
rowed about. We had been doing
this for some fifteen minutes when I
felt myhouk catch in sonnet hing at the
bottom OF the lake. | instructed tho
gardener to throw his limo over by the
side of mine He obcycd. His hook
also caught Slowly we pulled, and IN
Il few moments brought to the surface
the body OF a brautiiul woman. The
gardener threw up his hands and cried:
"'My Col it is madame"
with difficulty pulled the body
into the boat, and rowed toward the
shore. | laid my burden upon the
grass, and was gtooping overit to dis
cover il there were any marks OF vio-
lencc, WHEN ] heard IL deep groan and
II heavy body fall nj my side. 1t was
the Marquis, who had Just arrived up
on, the scene. My examination re-
veilcl marks Of fingers around the
dead woman's throat and IL lacera-
ton at the back OF thencck, as though
acclaim had been torn from it. Beur-
ing the body to the chateau, Mt once
summoned commissary and stated
to him all thcfact knew in the case
theevidcncc OF II struggle on the shore,
and the suspicious marks upon the
throat and neck. When the Marquis be-
came calmer we questioned him as to
whether his wife had been i'll the habit
OF wearing II chain or any other neck
ornament. lie started violently, and
answered that his wife had invariably
worn II valuable lockct enshrincd in
Jewels and containing u portrait of
himself on one side and lock OF his
hair OH the other. Search was made
throughout the house, but the locket
could nowhere be found. Again l
searched the spot by tho lake shore,
and at the end OF an hour found the
locket i'll the grass some distance off
Only the front portion of it, how
portrait OF the Ma,quis-the back
having been wrcnchcd from it's hinges.
1could find no trace OF the lock of
hair, l have pursued my invcstiga-
tons for Il week, but can fini no solu-
ton Of the mystery. There is a Mr..
Henri Mcrville here, a cousin OF the
deceased. with whom she was said to
lc very intimate. but as lie was in
Paris with the Marquis the day
OF the murder, if murder it was,
no suspicion can be attached to
him. His wife, pleasant woman, but
somewhat commonplace, has been
confined to her bed with illness since
the finding OF the body. The servants
are all above suspicion, and can find
no clue to the revelation of the mys-
terry" FRANCOIS LALAGEs.
This was the detectives report, and
he returned to Paris, having accom-.
plisletl virtually nothing
In the meantime IIeloise had been
buried with all the honors betitting
her rank and station, and the Mar
quls WAS he victim OF uncomfortable
grief. The Mcrvile: still fingered ut
the chateau, as Malalnc was 20 i'll
she could not leave her couch. At the
end OF two weeks she WIS no better.
and one day The Marquis received
this note from the sick-room:
M. IL Marquis: have something
important 20 communicate Come to
me instantly.
"BEArRnE MERvlLLE."
Listlcssly Marquis Lcontine went to
the sick chamber and entered. A ter
l1blc change had come over her. Her
lace had the pallor OF death, and there
were black rings around her deeply
sunken eyes. The Marquis was mex
prcssibly shocked. She beckoned him