The Colfax chronicle. [volume] (Colfax, Grant Parish, La.) 1877-1981, 1894-02-17
DIR. BACARACS CRIME.
"A Very Strange Story of Love and
Crime


II began life as doctor myself, >
said the dreamy-eyed man, working
himself down in his seat till he rested
on the small of his back, and propping
his knee against the back of the seat
In front of him. s'It was only by acct
dent that / embraced my present trade.
That is to say" he added, rubbing of
the ashes of his cigar on the window
sill of the car window. and replacing
T.. the cigar in the corner of his mouth,
IF there are any Academia"
he was about thirty-five years Of age,
and looked like poet. He wore a soft
felt hat and flowing necl<scarf; his
hair was wavy, and his face oval and
sallow, with fine-cut features. His
forehead was high, with bulg ing brows
For year past, on entering the smok-
ing car of the s:15 train at my suburban
station. had found him sitting in the
same seat, and had gradually fallen
into the habit of taking my seat beside
him Thus a sort of acquaintanceship
had imperceptibly grown up between
us, but our conversation had never till
now shown any symptoms of becoming
personal
lyon are fatalist. then?' / rejoined
I'm detective" was his reply.
'Ah, indeed?r said !, much more as
tonished than l saw At to show. He
was not like other detectives that
knew.
''You are y writer. / think" he went
on. mot that see any ink-stains on
your ingers-I judge you use the type
writer; but have observed that GER
tain kind of stories interest you those
involving peculiarities of human ma
ture especially-and there are other i'm
dications. One of the queerest Incl
dents in my experience was the one
which led me to adopt my present pro-
fession; and, since you have finished
your newspaper, I'll tell it to you, il
you would care to hear It
ut was this way: Out in the town
where I lived few years ago, there
was a young married man and his wife
by the name Orwell, say Talbot. He
was junior partner in q wholesale
business and she was q very pretty
woman. but of delicate constitution.
They kept themselves to themselves
not exclusive at all, You understand,
but just quiet and retiring. They had
no children, and no relatives that ever
heard Of They paid their bills every
month, and went to church every SUM-
day. and that was about all they did do
that we knew Of l was called in to
prescribe for Mira Talbot once, for an
attack of palpitation, and found them
very nice people. They had one serv-
ant who did cooking and general work
for them should say that DIR. Baca-
rae was their regular physician; but he
happened to be out of town that day.
70 they fell back on me Bacarac was
quite an eminent man. though he chose |
20 live away from New York. The
heart was his speciality.
About q month after my visit, Mrs.
Talbot was very Ill again, and from
hen on, for the rest of the summer.
3acarac was there nearly every day.
de told me once it was the most pc
'uliar case he ever saw. To make 1t
hort, he did all he could for her, but
he died. Talbot was in q terrible
tate about it; remember thinking to
myself that he was just the fellow to
I'LL himself on account of it One gets
uch notions about people, you know.
iowever. the funeral took place all
light, and though he carried ON pretty
'ad at the grave, he didn't throw him.
elf into 1t; he went home, and made
p my mind he would pull through. IL
oticed that when Bacarac spoke to
Inn at the grave-side he gave him q
ook as savage as tiger-which wasn't
lght, tor Bacarac had done all man
ould to save the woman. And. in fact
ext to Talbot himself, he appeared
lore affected at the funeral than any
ne. 1t had no doubt been due to him
hat she survived as long as she did.
nd have reason to think that he had !
Jade no charge for his services, though
was . very high-priced man ordi-
arily.
We'll, Talbot shut. himself up in his |
ouse to nurse his grief 1t appeared ]
lterward that he had dismissed his
srvant the same day. intending to
ave the town. Bacarac, the next !
~, went of in . hurry to visit pa {
emit on the other side of New York-Il
he told me when happened to meet {
i'm on the way to the station Anil
as quiet for two days after that; and | i
len we had a sensation. Ii
1t seems the baker had called twice
the house, and had got no answer
hen he rang the bell The house an i
cared empty. He spoke of it here and {
lere. and one thing led to another. '
nth the folks began to suspect some Z
ing wrong. Finally, they fetched the | .
Unstable and opened the door: and | d
'ere was sight. sure enough. Tai IL
u lay dead In the sitting-room; that \
IS not so surprising; but what took | b
n breath away was the fact that the Q
'dy OF his wife lay beside him. with .
'thing but adozen yards of black cam 4
&c wrapped round it 10
IT knoc ked the wits out of every. 4
'dy. at tirst; but by degrees the oniy ]
'snole inference was accented - that n