The Sunday herald and weekly national intelligencer., 1890-04-06

conceived and executed crime Those hands
Joined upon the confessional were red with
bloodl-were perhaps still soiled with it as it
had run from the veins of his victim
And in the horror that assailed the Able Faber
as the penitent spoke there was possibly little
terror, for he could find no words in which to
respond but the conventional
"Confess, confess, my son; the mercy of God
is infinite. "
'Well, listen to my story" said the man, his
voice vibrating, and harsher than ever in its
hopeless sorrow:
"By trade am mason, a layer OF brick and
stone, and came to Paris at twenty years of age
with friend and companion of my childhood
and from my own village We lived together
and learned to read together at the public
schools. He was called Philippe and was more
than brother to me, and | am called jacques
He was also tall, handsome, good worker and
carried his heart In his hand. l, on the contrary
was heavy, dull, not even as good mason as
Philippe, yet 30 proud of having such friend,
SO glad to walk beside him in the boulevarGs and
to have him clap me on the back and call me his
great stupid In short, l loved him, and
though he left me three-quarters of the time to
go and amuse himself with his comrades in the
cdffs still loved him.
at was natural ut his age he was happy and
liked pleasure; he was free, with no cares to
worry him, and was not free-I was forced to
be saving, for l had an old and infirm mother in
my village home who needed all / could give
her. 1t was for this first began to take my
meals with woman who lived In the same house
with me and made her living by furnishing the
pot du.f fen for all the masons.
"Philippe did not do this, but ate elsewhere,
and | remained, perhaps for another reason-I
loved the daughter Of the household, loved her
madly. Poor Catherine and you will see pres
emily, NJ. lie Cure, to what all this is coming.
lived there for three years without telling her OF
my love for her. was too poor, too Indifferent
worker, and scarcely earned sufficient to care
for myself and my mother. When she left me
for heaven, for she was good and pous woman,
did better-I saved little money-enough, it
seemed to me, to start household. 1 spoke to
Catherine, and at first she said neither yes nor no.
"Psrbleu! 1 was notattractve-I see it now
and 1t was not until her mother, who liked me
well, talked on my side that our marriage was
| finally agreed upon. All, NJ. lie Cure, spent
then some happy weeks, though feared that
| Catherine had only accepted me and did not love
me. But she was good girl, with good heart,
and meant to wait-I loved her SO much she
would surely love me.
''Of course had told Philippe, whom saw
every day upon the scaffolding-we were then
employed by the same patron-told him, l say,
everything. The result, NJ. lie Cure, you have
doubtless OWNED. Philippe was handsome
man, gay, free-handed, everything, in short, that
l was not, and soon, without either of them in
tending it, Catherine was mad about him. She
was good GIRL as I've told you, and she told
| m Of n oe ha knayy r. harea1f All tbe
same, shall never forget that moment.
"Ah, well, l loved them, loved them both, NJ
lie Cure, and believed it would be for their hap
piness. Philippe had always made good sal
ary, but had saved nothing. I gave him my say
ings; he purchased furniture, and they were
married. Everything at first went WE'LL and
there was one child, a boy, named Camille, ant
l was the godfather it was after the birth of th'
child that things began to go wrong. had beer
mistaken-Philippe was not meant for marriage
he loved pleasure and gay company too much
You, who spend your life among the poor, NJ. Il
Cure, know by heart this sad history; in the be
ginning the worker who little little glidesintC
idleness, drunkenness, and absences of two O.
three days; then who reports only at the end of
week, makes a scene and ends by beating hi
wife. In less than two years Philippe had be
come one of these unfortunates
''In the beginning l sought to stop him-tC
correct him; nay remonstrances only made hin
furious, separated us, and stripped the house
hold for the furnishing of the Monte de Piet
all the faster. One night he had the shameless
ness to make me q shameless proposal-of hi
own wife, too, that poor, pale Catherine, a
; honest as the Holy Virgin. There was seem
between us, accusations and insults, heapet
upon us both by this drunken fool. l strucl
him. and-renounced even seeing Catherine an,
my godson. Philippe l only saw when W
, Glanced to meet (Which, as he worked bu
little, was infrequently) on the same building
, "Still loved them all too well to lose then
from sight; yet 1 could only prowl the quartz
on Saturday nights when Philippe had gone t.
drink up the wages he had just received, and
| there was too much misery in the household
, which / learned by listening to the gossips, dc
ing what / could to relieve it, Philippe tn
shameless, discovered this, and, finding that
would still come to the aid of his wife and child
found 1t very agreeable.
( ''To abridge-years passed thus, Philippe eve
r sinking deeper and deeper into vice, but Catt
1 crime, with my help had been able to bring u
her son as brave, honest, and true as herself
{ though not as mason, worker, like me. Nc
he was a scholar, designer pupil of the nigh
schools, who was able to earn good salary i
an architects office. He was good to his mothe
p as we'll, and to see her on the arm OF this kin
unpaid me for everything
D "But yesterday evening, in coming from th
cook shop, encountered Camille alone, and @
| ba mr. ha Ia NOT tor TNrp Al