The Opelousas courier., 1892-10-15

and a lamp flashing into the carriage
woke me up from my day dream to hear
these strange words, apd to see a couple
OF men in police uniform and q railway
Inspector peering into the compartment.
"aullo! this must be wrong. They
aren here, and yet this is the right
number. Excuse me, sir, how far have
you come in this carriagea" i
"From Stroud" I replied, a bit dazed
by drowsiness and my strange reception.
"Have you come all the way alone2"
Some mad idea connected in a con-
fused way with the beautiful woman
whose soft, clinging clasp I could still
feel on my hand, stopped the truth that
rose to my lips, and instead uttered the
foolish lie:
"Yes, I have been alone in the carriage
all the way" =;
A moment later I would have given all
l possessed t have recalled my words,
for as I uttered them the railway lnspec.
tor turned his lamp under the seat
opposite to me and said in q hoarse
whisper:
"Good Heavensi what's that2"
NV eyes followed the glare OF the
lamp, and I saw the toe Of a mans boot
on the floor of the carriage a few inches
back from the front of the seat.
A minute later and the corpse OF a
somewhat understood man, whose face
was still drawn in the agony of a violent
death, was dragged out, lifted up and
laid upon the seat.
Of course / spent the night in the
cells, for if / could have procured bail to
any amount it would not have been
accepted.
Notsonly was I charged with the most
terrible of all crimes, but the charge was
supported by prima facie evidence that
looked practically conclusive. Tne
handouts had been found in my pocket,
and I was accused of procuring the
escape from justice of the notorious
Maria s., the wife of a member of
the Nihilist Inner Circle, then serving a
life sentence in Siberia.
No fewer thaefour murders had been
traced to her, and now I was charged
with completely in a fifth, that of q
we'll known English detective who had
sought to make a brilliant coup by taking
her alone. .
She seemed to have the poweAof fas-
cinating men with her beauty Hill they
became her slaves, and then striking
them dead by some terrible aud myster-
ious agency that left no trace save death
0s There Il /. no need to dwell on IL hor-
rors of the time that followed my arrest.
Everything that money and skill could
do for me was done, but I was COM
mitted for trial ON the circumstantial
evidence to answer the charge Of muir
der.
While I lay in Jail awaiting my trial
the search for Marie s. became an
absolute hunt to death.
Despite all this, SO perfect was her
skill in disguise. aud $ unlimited her
fertility OF resource, that she might have
evaded pursuit after all, had it not been
for one of those slips that the cleverest
of criminals seem to make sooner or
later.
A smart young chemists assistant, at
a fashionable watering place. one even
ing on the pier made the acquaintance
of a very pretty girl, who said that she
was studying chemistry for the science
and art examinations.
This turned the conversation on chem
icals, and she ended by asking him to
get her a quantity of a very poisonous
substance which she wanted for al X
pertinent, and which she could not buy
because she was a stranger in the town.
The chemists assistant was a sharp
young fellow, and he saw the chemical
she asked for was not in the syllabus OF
the science and art department.
He told his employer of the occurrence
the next day, aud in the evening took
the girl some crystals of a harmless salt
which resembled what she had wanted
somewhat closely.
aThis is not what ! asked for" she
said, as she looked into the packet.
emo, you can't make prussic acid out
OF that, miss, but it's safer to play with"
coolly replied the youth, and as he spoke
a mau who had been leaning over the
, rail OF the pier q few yards away movea
| silently up behind the girl, pinioned her
arms to her side and held her down to
the seat.
The detective called a cab on the es-
| plenade, and the three got in and drove
TO the police station, pulling up the win
do xs TO avoid any possible observation
as they went through the streets.
When the cab reached the station
there was no sign or sound of movement
inside it. The cabman got down and
opened the door, and as he did so he
staggered back and fell gasping for
breath to the pavement.
Inside the cab Mary s. sat with
her two would be captors-dead, and on
the face of each corpse there was the
same expression that there was on the
features of the dead man wlo was taken
out Of the carriage at Paddington.
When the clothing OF Ma:ie s.,
came to be searched the mystery was
solved By the discovery of one of the,
most internally ingenious contrivances
that have ever served the purpose of
murder. Inside the dress, just above the
waistband on the right hand side, were
NO small rubber ball pumps, such
IS are used for ordinary spray producers.
From these two tubes led up to a bottle
suspended round the necx.
This had two compartments and two
necks closed by rubber coIks, through
which ran thin tubes, which ended in
the mouths OF the two golden serpents
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