The Lebanon express. (Lebanon, Linn County, Or.) 1887-1898, 1891-11-13

allG tulY W VIC SonNcfDNtAoho t@Av~Aa~ e-.sN
about him. BE was oil duty, resting q
faded brain. yet the old habit Of listening
and putting two and two together at all
times and In oil places was so strong
upon him that his ear was on tho alert
unconscouBly, and his brain soon awak
encd TO interest in tho talk OF Two men at
table nenr his own.
They were Of the fsneur epecics both.
oae young, enc middle aged-me1 who
knew their Paris, evidently.
Here hc comes. said the elder man,
looking down tho boulevard toward the
Grand opera. u felt sure he would pass
as before o'clock; he is there every
night"
SNot every night, surelyf' said the
other.
81 have seen the piece at least half q
dozen times. and be was In the theatre
every time Men have told me the same
thing II Is kind Of mania--a diseased
vanity--l suppose He likes to see him
self on the stage-the central figure, the
cynosurc Of every eye.
Tho man they spoke ofapproached and
passed toward the theatre. Tall, slim.
well dressed with a light coat over
his evening suit, pale with fixed look
about the eyes, curious mobility about
the mouth.
"He looks harassed AMI ILL., said the
young man.
"0yerwork. brain pressure, said the
elder. Il should not be surprised II
were to hear within the next few months
that Marc Avalon had gone off his head,
4 Cauler rose and followed the great
chemist into the theatre. followed him tc
the door Of his avant-scene, and then went
round the other side Of the house. and got
a stall from which he could observe the
face in the shadow Of the curtain as well
as the lowered lights would allow.
\ That idea Of this prince Of science being
on the verge of lunacy had started q Gu
rious train Of thought In the brain Of ths
skilled detective. He had some time since
made up his mind that the murders Of tht
Rue Ste. Marguerite, the Rue de la Vieill'
IAnterne and the Rue des Feves were thu
work Of the same hand, and that the hant
Of a homicidal maniac; but 1t had nevel
occurred to him that these CHASTITY, mo
tiveless, insane murders might be the re
production of something shown upon th'
. stage of Partisan theatre. Tonight. TO
} the first time. he, the busy workingman
, whose hours were gold. saw the grisl.
, play which all the idlers Of Paris had bee
gloating upon for the last four or fiv
| months, and he also saw, or believed tina
he saw, the germ and suggestion of thos
strange and bloody assassinations whic
] had convulsed the city.
Such play. acting upon the prepare
8 mind of an unrevealed lunatic, might II
{ spire a sudden sanguinary impulse, a
! itching eagerness to taste those sensation
] and emotions depicted in all their hideoui
: ness by the actor That which was al
palling and revolving to sane minds migl
exercise morbid fascination upon til
! insane. The higher the education an
( the greater the refinement, the deept
E might be the descent into crime.
8 The detective hung about the vestibul
a till he saw Marc Avalon leave the theatr
( and was able to keep him in sight withor
t appearing to follow him. An elderly maj
: who looked like doctor, accosted I'll
Z sayant as he went out, and the two me
Q walked along the boulevard together
o the clear, mild night as far as Tortoni'
Q where they went in. Cauler had followt
/. close enough to be able to overhear the
n conversation. which was upon indifferel
J. subjects. The chemists friend remarke
o upon his looking i'll and wearied, al
t demonstrated with him for owe .agerneI
b in his scientific experiments.
d "You are trying to get quart Of wat
I into pint bottle, he said; nobody ev
t succeeded in doing that yet. Take CO
!. you don't burst the bottle. There a
4 very few men Of your age who have MAJ
It as great a mark upon the century as "
n have. Can't you be content to rest up'
n your laurelsy"
+ Il am not overworking my brain
: Avalon answered, doggedly, You ia
! to me as II | were an incipient lunati
IS Do you see any signs of overwork abo
N mel"
"Yes, several-hurry, pallor, dry i
~ and tendency to laugh ut things tn
g make other men serious. am talking
Ie you as your old friend, and with perfe
It frankness.
70 my dear Pignon, this is the comm
e, cry when q man deyotes himself to |
q, profession and succeeds little bett
ID than his fellow workers, 0yerstrni
70 brain work, incipient madnessi That
of what his friends say about him. Kind
meant, no doubt, but aITaht twaddlel"
1t They went into the cafe, came out aga
rs in quarter OF an hour, when Avail
ld hailed cab.
ie The detective followed him in anoth'
r The fly deposited him at his own house
r the Rue St. Guillaume Cauler drove
q the end Of the street, dismissed his G
If and went back to Marc Avalon's doorw
n. on foot The house in which the chem
Of lived was fine old mansion In a qua
Il rangular court. dull, digniied, respe
&c able. 1t was moonless night, and I
a court yard was black as Erebus at Il
n. hour, save for one lamp which burn
II, dimly over the porte cochere. There v
be plenty of cover for the detective,
ae He saw the light Of lamp ira
slowly through two rooms upon /