Staunton vindicator. [volume] (Staunton, Va.) 1860-1896, 1894-06-29
sTAUNToN, VIRGINIA, JUNE 20. 1874.


him by his shoulders, his head and his
legs dragged him to the end of the gar
den. It was growing dark Suddenly
a. board fell near to Chapoteau. He
started, cried out, ready to struggle,
thinking the officers had come to arrest
him. The silhouette of cat, prowling
on the wall in the clear twilight, eased
his mind little.
Near the hedge there was large
round hole Chapoteau rolled the body
OF his friend into it. His feet projected
beyond, SO he covered them with straw.
'Adieu, Champagne" he sobbed.
There at least his victim was in a Sc
cure place. They would not discover
him there very soon. Chapoteau would
have time to escape.
He reached the fields, walking straight
ahead, without plans. He had only one
thought-to get away, to go to the end
OF the world, but his feet refused to
carry him. Every few minutes he was
obliged to sit down by the roadside
He had knotted a handkerchief about
sa;6 head, SO as not to be recognized
Already he was devising the ruses of
the criminal.
Three hours had sufficed to lose his
assured position, to make an assassin of
him, to lower him to the ranks of the
greatest rascals. What did his con-
science matter to him? He would not
be the less culpable in the eyes of the
world, and his crime would appear all
the more horrible because his victim
had been his best friend. And yet he
had been an honest man during So
years. He had practiced all the virtues
He had dreamed Of dying in his bed
Poor Chapoteau! Most unfortunate
Nine. Chapoteau
He saw himself on the bench of the
accused. The judge was talking to him.
They had spread out before him the
victims clothes, and in the darkness
the crowd howled, stamped and threat
ened to kill him.
Then greater fear spurred him on,
and he began again to walk. Sometimes
he stopped, believing he could hear
some one running after him. The trees
took on strange forms in the darkness
The wind whispered, "PoisonerP' He
stopped for a long time on the bank Of
a pond trying to persuade himself to
jump in.
A noise Of footsteps caused him to
look up suddenly. Two policemen were
coming toward him, In the dusk they
seemed enormous, like the pillars of
the guillotine.
cit is all over" moaned poor Cha
poteau, ''they have followed me- They
will arrest me-"
He hid himself behind hedge. The
policemen passed on.
Chapoteau wandered for an hour or
two. He could no longer see nor hear.
His head swayed on his shoulders, as an
empty gourd sways in the wind.
"By this time" he thought, 81
should be in my bed at home"
And distracted by his fears he STUN
bled against wall. There were houses
in front Of him, black as his crime, as
his thoughts, as his remorse. However,
light cleaned beneath door. Tired
out, his strength and energy exhausted,
he knocked. He heard voices inside.
Finally they opened the door.
Chapoteau gave loud cry.
'ChampignolH'
It was Champignol in person. He
had awakened in the hole and was still
laughing at the joke
Champignol joker indeed! Chapo-
teau thought himself dreaming.
Then he had not given fatal dose Of
audanum-though little too much, it
is true.
He had not killed Champignol. He
had not committed crime! He would
not die on the scaffold! He touched
Champignol with the tips Of his fingers,
as one touches delicate piece of game,
fearing that this shape was only Cham
pignol's shadow.
In reality, Chapoteau never forgave
Champignol for the fright which he
gave him that day.-Translated From
the French For Romance.