The Jasper weekly courier. [volume] (Jasper, Ind.) 1858-1922, 1891-12-11

4 ~ W|MM I - A|
emphatic n In which he used N
utter these threats and Tie dark Loo.
that came over .sls face n the time con.
vinccd me that the murder Of Henri
Mon froid was not at al nm unlikely
possibil u and deemed IL my duty "a
warn the young equestrian Of his
danger. The young fellow. however,
made light Of Il, and assured me there
was no danger, as Orlof was tho great
. coward 10 face a resolutc man. For
Irma's safety neither I nor Henri had
any misgivings- Strange that Il never
occurred 10 either Of us that her death
blow would strike him more cruelty
than the assassin's knife.
One day about six weeks after nv
arrival at Odessa. l caught cold. aud
feeling very i'll. ! sem word 70 the cir
Gus that ] could not perform that
night In the evening l felt better,
and went out for a walk through the
splendid boulcvards erected BY the Due
dc Richelicu- About half-past nine |
went into q cafe close 70 the circus and
called for some r~cfrcshment. had
not been there long before the Russian
Orlof came in and called for brandy.
The place was almost deserted; we
were the only customers present. As
soon n 0rlof perceived me he came and
sat down by my side and saw at
once the man was drunk. After greet
ing each other, we both smoked on in
silence.
The Russian sac moody and silent for
some time 'Englishman." he said,
suddenly, I've rcvengcd us both"
what do you mean. Orlof?' / ex-
claimed, in alarm.
Revenge. man-revcngc."
ION whom?"
"On her."
"Iou've murdered her; you
mo" he interrupted with drunken
gravity; II have not injured a hair OF
her head"
Somewhat relieved. ! smoked on in
silence.
Presently Orlof resumed talking:
You were after her. too. Englishman.
Did she spurn you As II you were dirt
under her feet? the cat. Listen. man.
Though neither you nor l can have
her, that scclerdf Henri will not win the
prize"
"What have you done?" l asked.
lie was silent for a few moments.
and then he told me the whole truth;
and truly a more diabolical murder than
this man had premeditated had never
yet been conceived. Afew minutes lie
fore he came away from the circus he
had given the lion Leo a piece Of meat
containing . drug that would most GER
tainIy irritate and madden the savage
beast just at the very time il would he
in the circus with its mistress
turned pale as death when. after
he had told me his story. ] realized the
awful peril Of the young Lion Queen.
! glanced ut the clock; it wanted q few
minutes to ten. l might possibly be in
time TO warn the girl; and. trusting il
might be so. ! rushed out and ran as
hard as ! could to the cirque. When l
arrived there. Iran through the stables
to the artistes' entrance into the arena
] a too late; the bars were up and
the performance had begun. Naturally
the circus people were astonished at my
appearance. and ha~lf-a-dozcn stalwart
grooms caught hold Of me and drew
me back. In vain ! struggled, and
equally In vain ! tried to make myself
understood. / was trv " to do so
when a loud roar sounIci above the
martial strains OF the music that was
generally performed when Irma's lions
were in the ring. Instantly the noise
Of q terrible commotion made itself
heard from the other side The Rus
SLAMS now loosed me. End we all ran up
into the a~mphithcatre. Herct the scene
bcggars all description; men were
shouting and g~esticulating. while WON
en- were screaming or fainting all
around the circus. Making my way
through the crowd. I ran down to the
barred ring where Irma Delavante lay
prostratc under the claws Of the lion
Leo.
In the meantime the circus people
seemed paralyzed. AMI no determined
effort was made to drive the lion of.
Rcd-hot irons were procured; but they
were too short, and no one dared to en-
ter the ring. The one man (Monfroid)
who would have done 50 was absent
Suddenly all eyes were attracted TO
Nero, who was standing IN . part Of
the ring opposite TO where l stood. To
my dislnay l perceived that the males