San Antonio daily light. [volume] (San Antonio, Tex.) 1886-1907, 1890-09-03

In debt, with no energy for work, 1t was
but natural that you should eagerly look
forward to his death"
I'm short, " interrupted Armande Duflot,
with a smile, las his last hour did not
sound, | have with a thrust Of my thumb
moved forward the hands of the clock"
The judge, for one moment, looked at
him through the half closed lids of his
small gray eyes.
"Of course" he said, "the thumb thrust
in this case is but a figure of speech. The
reality is this: that you have ~strangled him
wt:A Jour ten fingers, strangled him with
both your hands. Nay, had you possessed
a third hand you would undoubtedly have
used IL, to H,...e more certain you cruel
purpose. Perhaps you would wish me to
discuss your plea of an alibi. For the
present we will leave it. Its shallowness
is only too apparent, and l have other
means of proving your guilt. You alone
had an interest, a direct, immediate and
patent interest in your uncle's death; you
were his sole heir, you who, but just before
the crime, giving as security your word of
honor, gambled for ten thousand francs
and-mark me-, Armande Duf1ot-lost
them!"
Dulot slightly shrugged his shoulders,
ulu WIN JhS SulIlS llJlle ulSudlllul Sllllle
again interrupted the judge.
"All that you nave so far said, sir, is
based simply upon Prescriptions. Let us
reason for one moment. My uncle, you
say, and l acknowledge its truth, was close
upon an age when life is, to say the least,
precarious. At 20 years to the average
man the grave is well in view. Do you
suppose me capable (since you have been
good enough to credit me with some little
intelligence of having, even for a moment,
contemplated a crime which NJ. Dutlot's
age rendered useless and absurd? You
lave reminded me of a debt which l had
unfortunately contracted. Could | not,
by your own showing, have confidently re-
lied upon my uncle's exceptional kindness
and never failing generosity to have re-
lieyed me from that difficulty, even as he
had relieved me from so many previous
OueS?'
lone moment" said the Judge. 81 will
turn your argument against yourself. Yes,
you certainly did hope that NJ. Dufot
would once more lend a helping hand and
drag you from the scrape into which you
mad got yourself. | am well aware of the
unwritten law which eXacts from 'men of
honor'-of that honor which even you can
boast Of-the payment of a gambling debt
within twenty-four hours. You came here
20 find your uncle; you played the role of
the peGitent. OF the true repentant; you
promised him that if he would settle this
debt for you, more urgent than any of its
many predecessors, you would renounc
the gambling table forever. NJ. Dutlot re-
fused, and absolutely. Then the thought
dashed across your mind that he alone
stood between you n the Inheritance of
all his wealth and the consequent safety Of
your good name. From this resulted what
you with delicate irony have called a
thrust of the thumb"
stay, sir!'' cried Dufot impatiently;
| these are mere suggestions, vague ideas.
You are simply building up a sensational
romance"
''Indeed?" replied the judge, making, as
he spoke, a sign toward the end of the
chamber; there is another also who has
a word to say, whose testimony will be
worth taking. You will own that | nave
done my best to introduce him with due
effect"
A folding door was heard to open and to
close again, and the sound of some weighty
object being wheeled along the floor. Du-
lot following with his eyes the direction
of the judges outstretched finger beheld
the body of his uncle lying back in the
huge arm chair he had been wont to use in
life.
1t was a CHASTITY sight; the head had
fallen back; the lower jaw had sunk, and
from the open mouth the swollen, black
ened tongue projected. The stitfened
hands tenaciously clutched either arm of
| the chair, and beneath the folds of a cloak
could be seen the rigorous outlines of the
legs, extended to their fullest length. Du-
lot gazed fixedly at the dead body, and in
a quiet, almost gentle, voice said: my
poor uncle! What a sacrilege!" No sign
of surprise or startled guilt was to be seen
in his face, but only in his eyes an express
sion of pensive sadness and regret. After a
moment he turned toward the judge:
81 believe this is What you call, in legal
terms, a conformation. You are an advo-
cate, l see, of measures in which emotion
has no little share. But be reassured; l
will spare you the sight of a grief which,
without doubt, you would turn into testi-
mony against myself"
"Well." said the judge, not needing his
remark, lis not NJ. Dufot, the elder,
before you now, just as you last left him,
when the crime was done? Do you not
recognize the familiar attitude in which he
sat, the very clothes he wore? The position
of the body and the head is not changedby
the fraction of an inch"
And how, sir, should l know, as was
not there at the moment when this eX-
ecrable crime was committed"
"You will observe, " continued the judge,
perfectly unmoved, what has perhaps for
the moment escaped your attention; you
will notice how easy it is for one to imagine