The Madison daily leader. [volume] (Madison, S.D.) 1890-current, 1894-06-12

trunk with re.
At that moment it appeared in the
arms OF two porters, who were carrying
il with the greatest care. Confound
them, how slow they werei What fool
ever accused the railway companies Of
handling baggage roughlyf / hastened
toward the men, exclaiming:
"Be quick nowr'
had hardly uttered the words when
q heavy hand was laid on my shoulder,
and turning round to zee the cause Of
such familiarity / found myself face TO
face with o gendarme
What is the matter with you?'' !
asked In amRxemenE
Matter enough = replied the man in
ajeering tone. Tightening his hold .FYou
viii see!''
Behind the gendarme came two rail
way ofaciala They stopped over my
trunk solemnly, turned their heads en- ~
listening, then stood mp and exchanged
. glance, which piainly said, There ID
no doubt Of IL"
They are crazy, = I thought but then
ahorrible conviction flashed through my
brain.
Whether the men were q or mot,
one thing was sura it was 40 minutes
past IL.
At ali hazards ! must make my escape
] shook myself free Of the gendarme's
grasp, and knocking over two or three
people in my flight dashed madly away,
but was stopped by two custom house
officers, who seized me by the collar. I
was dragged, protesting and gesticulat-
ing, back to where my trunk stood
There was evidently q mistake some
where.
Let me go" I cried, ''let me COL
And / swear ! will come back i'm an
hour'-
The gendarme's lips described d smile
behind his thick mustache as he took
possession OF me again, this time with
both hands
Come, now, don't try that" said
one Of the railway officials. You may
az well confess You arrived from New
York in great haste and under suspi-
cious circumstances Who are you?
What have you i'm this trunk"
Clothes nothing but my clothes " !
answered, speaking worse French than
usual in my agitation.
mo explosives?'' insisted the official.
"Explosivesl What fora I ann not q
pyrotechnist nor q chemist
Then what is the meaning Of this
strange noise? Inside your trunk there
Ii n sound Of machinery-in short, an
internal machine. Yesterday the London
police arrested four American anarchists
who had similar articles i'm their posses
sion. You = known 10 be of the
gang"
/ listened I'm speeches. wonder to his
words. ] looked ut my trunk, and my
wonder increased TO stupefaction as !
heard o metallic ticktack inside. Sud-
denly there was q loud report, like sig
nal for IN explosion.
"Beware the bomb!'' shrieked some
one Officers and porters scattered I'm all
directions, and even the gendarme moved
away. I alone remained, like d hero. I
tore open the trunk and pulled ont the
clothes in feverish haste. All at once I
felt something hard inside o nightshirt,
and the next moment drew out and ex-
posed to view a little clocki
] had unknowingly packed up the ho-
tel keepers property, and it was strik-
ing the alarm six hours behind time.
'Confound the old turnip!" ! cried,
throwing IL down furiously. / was
answered by q loud peal of laughter from
the spectators.
Then, putting my head down, like q
wild boar that scents the hounds, ]
dashed toward the cab again and sprang
In, shouting TO the driver:
'I'n give you a louis If You get me
to Place de la Bourse before noon"
Seven minutes and o half later the cab
was tearing MP to the Stock Exchange.
! jumped out, few mp stairs to The
Semaphore office, burst into the room
like o hurricane and remarked in o stem.
torian tone:
Here ! ann. gentlemenP'
The next instant the first stroke OF
noon sounded from the exchange clock.
Translated From the French For Ro-
nance