Alma record. (Alma, Mich.) 1878-1928, 1888-06-08
chamber followed, and Regneoir was

VualnoeI iOIOWeu' anu hegncolI was
drugged.
lay still for An hour. much Ike
dog AT the door of his master. and
when the irst long resp ration told me
that he slumbered, | entered and did
the foul deed. then sought Regneo
in the room below A moment passed
ere he awakened from the effect OF the
drug had placed in his wine. He
was not aware of my absence. and
WAS not fool enough TO tell him.
sent him home after II time-it was
only Il few doors away-and then |
crept To my own room. | could not
sleep; the Thing haunted me. and |
suffered pain. But outived it.
slept I'LL late the next morning. 1t
was the custom of the servants To
awaken my guardian in time for break
fast 1t was past his time coming
when | entered. knew | should not
meet him as | usually did-that no
greeting would be extended me from
those radiant brown ewes
But what a surprise awaited me!
Was that the old man. as usual save
for that bloody hand about his throat?
| staggered forward; | clutched at the
wall for support; but the apparitiOn
had van shed, ami only the empty
ness Of the room hal unnervcd me.
Fortunately none OF the servants were
present. and took my place at the
table, and awaited the result of their
calling him. knew well the tale they
would bear on returnng-how they
had found his lifeless body. But had
nerved myself. after this first shock on
I a.. 1, ., >
est sensat on.
Fve-ten. The minutes slipped
slowly down the face of the old clock.
and still no cutlery. rs | had expected.
1t was the calmneSs of despair that
possessed me. What if | had failed?
The minute hand of the clock had
slipped from the quarter past the hour
10 the half before anyone appeared. 1t
was lOnan. the waiting-maid. | saw
how pale she looked. and the inward
terror she was struggling to subdue
She looked ut me; the very iloor
seemed sinking from beneath my feet
| know there was no reason in nv eX.
preston. She raised one hand slowly
upward to her face Before a word
had escaped her. | had risen TO my
feet
"The master has been murdercd?"
was all she said, but t was sufficient to
bring the react ON. and | was myself
agan-calm and bu>ineSs-like.
| ordered II search of the outs de
premises; | called the pol cc; placed
IA watch over the room amt its con-
tents. llenccfortl had Il part To act.
| felt some rel sh IN thu, deceiv NJ
them-the astute guardians of the
peace. My breakfast q not touch;
| did not need It. breathed the
delr,um OF exc 'meut yet | was
wonderfully cool aud clear 1t was re-
marked afterwards with what com.
po>ur' | bore myself through it all.
When the police arrived an i'm
mediate search was ordered. the ex-
clusion Of the members of the house,
hold being rig I'll, enforced
Now thought |. for the result
of my labor.
Nor was disappointed in it. i had
done every thing could; had seen to
the funeral arrangements; had offered
IA reward of II Thousand pounds for the
apprehension of the murderer knew
it would never be- pa Il. but / had to
make some show of anxiety.
! You may think that j turned pale.
faltered IN my speech. or perhaps was
/ speechleSs altogether. when pol ce
/ agent called on me. the evening OF the
/ dav Of the crime. and confronted me
with warrant for my arrest. But
no; it was part OF the intr ue-the
! plot had laid. ], of course, showed
some signs of surprise To the officer.
but inwardly | was elated for with
what prec SION had | planned 1t all!
His manner towards me was formal
beiitt NJ his position | was taken
to the MAR g. and no bail was allowed.
/ For one night occupied the meriled
cell
But can Il be of any interest TO on
To know how | fastened the crime on
RegneiOr? How the bowl OF my
meerschaum pipe, found IN INV guard
ian's chamber, had caused my arrest?
Part of these th n = have already been
made public through the papers To
re tell them would only add insult to
injury. With one broad sweep
would | clear my soul. | have told
my method; the details can b.
mag ned That | succeeded in ac-
complishing my preconce,ved desire is
. ma tcI VI IW l. tH't proven DeNonu
a doubt that RegneOr was the last to
use NV pipe on the night of the muir
der. the files OF the Paris papers of
December IL 1877, will show. That
the dark red spot found on the sleeve
aud luing of his coat, and analyzed in
connection with drops of blood taken
from INV guardian. were identical. the
testimony of Paul Zaiger, the expert
chemist fixed beyond argument.
But viii not ask you to heed me
longer. To-day am wasted. and not
worth the knife of the guiilo ne. On
the morrow. the depth of death will
divide us.
A Novel Ark.