The Indiana State sentinel. [volume] (Indianapolis) 1868-1895, 1889-04-10

Bernard here mentlonedY
81 am"
"And what am to doP
''To follow me"
thought it best to comply. If had
known what awaited me, should certainly
have knocked the man down and taken to
my heels. 1t would have been much the
wisest thing, however risky, to do. But L
did not know then what it is to be an in
criminated person in France, My con-
science was easy, and / imagined that after
a few minutes explanation l should be
free again.
The agent conducted me to neighbor-
ing police station, showed the superin-
tendent his warrant, had me searched and
my pockets emptied, and locked me up In
q CELL Here / remained for an hour,
when l was fetched out and hustled into
the "salsd basket" as the French call
their "Black Maria" equipage. The
''Black Maria" took me to the depot jail,
where was once more locked up. All
this time not a word of explanation bad /
heard. had not the faintest idea what l
was accused OF, but, being quite innocent
of any offense, felt completely reassured.
Indeed, my ad venture somewhat amused
me- 1t was a novel experience, and
would give me something to talk about
when got back to England.
By the French law every person ar
rested on suspicion must be examined
within twenty-four hours. 1t was
o'clock in the afternoon when l was
fetched by two gardes de Paris TO undergo
my preliminary examination. The writ
ings of Gaboriau, Balzac, and de Boisgo-
bey have so fully described the mise en-
scene of the depot prison; the winding
staircase, the dark passages by which
prisoner is brought to the fatal couloir,
on which all the doors of the rooms OF the
juges d'instruction, or examining mag
istrates, open, as well as the interior OF
such room, that will not describe what
/ saw, but come at once to the extraor-
dinary conversation which passed be-
tween me and the magistrate charged
with the instruction of my ''affair."
After he had asked me my name, age
and profession, and received my answer,
with credulous indifference, be opened
drawer in the table at which he was
sitting, took out an object, and laying it
before me, said:
do you recognize this jewell"
Certainly" l answered, cit is my scarf
pin. It was taken from me, with all my
other belongings, at the police station,
this morning"
"Can YOU tell me when and how this
pin came into your possession Y'
"There you puzzle me" / said, 81 don't
remember. It's a curious fact" l added,
smiling at the Judge, "but true, | have
no idea where that pin comes from. l
don't remember having bought it."
"Was it given to your"
"No. At least, don't remember ever
having received such a gift"
Perhaps you picked it up in the
street" said the magistrate, with slight
touch of irony.
eyes, perhaps 1 did This is ali l know
about it: A few days ago, in turning
over the contents of an old portmanteau, l
found this pin. did not care very much
for its style, and can only account for my
wearing it by the fact that / dressed in a
great hurry on the evening that L left
London, and that the first tie that came
under my hand was the one into which
/ had stuck it when l found i"
"Have you written down that state
ment?" This to the clerk.
Eyes. It's all down."
"Well, then, let us continue. Perhaps
YOU know when and how you came into
possession of this book" said the magis-
trate, producing a volume and laying it
before me. 1t was an old copy of the
Memoirs of Able de Croisy' which had
brought over to Paris with me, and had
left IN my valise in the hotel.
"Yes," 1 said, Il remember that 1
picked it up ON a bookstall on the Quai
des Grands-Augustlns about seven years
ago. It"
About seven years ago." said the
magistrate slowly, as if to give his
scrivener time to get my answer written
down.
eyes. 1t was the first bargain made,
and that gave me taste for book-hunting.
| got it for two francs, and it is certainly
worth two hundred. It is the first
edition"
"Where were you living in Paris seven
years ago ?"
81 don't remember. 1t was some hotel
in the Latin Quarter"
"And what were YOU doingP
'I was trying my hand at belles-lettres."
The magistrate here rose and touched
bell. To the usher who answered his
summons he gave the order to introduce
the Marquis de Kergaradec.
1t was the old gentleman who had been
my travelling companion that morning.
He bowed very politely to the magistrate,
and gave me what | suppose was meant to
be whitening glance.
"Monsieur lie Marquis, said the magis-
trate, "do you recognize this pin ?"
81 do. 1t is one which belonged to my
late brother, the Comte de Kergaradec
He brought the stone back from China,
and had it mounted in the Rue de la Paix.
l recognize it all the more easily inasmuch
as the setting, which is by no means
common one, was executed from design
l gave him."
"And this book?'
"As certainly. That book belonged to
the count On the fly leaf is dedication
from the Able to Nine. de Poranouc. our
ancestor in the time of Louis XIV. Besides,
the Kergaradec arms are stamped on the
cover"
"Quite satisfactory. These two articles
were among the contents of the valise
stolen from the count, your brother, at the
hotel in Senlis on the night when he was
murdered?"
"They were. But my declaration to the
police, made at the time, must be still in
existence. l set down the entire contents
of that valise, which l could do all the
more correctly that had packed it n.y.
self"
'That declaration is in my hands.
only asked you for the form. Now, mon
sieur," continued the magistrate, "look at
the prisoner. Do you recognize him ?"
II saw him for the first time in my life
this morning"
''You are certain?"