New Ulm review. (New Ulm, Brown County, Minn.) 1892-1961, 1894-07-11

! Vain hope! Champignol had turned
green. His hands were as cold as MAJ.
bic. His heart had ceased beating.
Their little pleasuring was turn;nr
! into tragedy. Chapoteau> buried his
! head in his hands, sad, distracted, see
ing nothing but that inert mass, those
! rigid members and closed eyes, and
through the doors he seemed to hear tie
| noise Of the courtroom
He was alone, without witnesses. No
one could prove his innocence. Every
thing was against him. It would be i'm
possible also to prove an alibi. People
had seen Champignol come in, and it
was known that he came every Thurs
day. They had seen him also walking
in his garden. Chapoteau believed him
self lost. Only one resource was left
;; him. He took Champignol in his arms,
lifted him from his chair, and pulling
him by his shoulders, his head and his
legs dragged him to the end OF the gar
den. 1t 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, easel
his mind little.
Near the hedge there was a large
round hole. Chapoteau rolled the body
of his friend into it. His feet projected
beyond, SO he covered them with straw.
"Adieu, Champignol, he subbed.
There at least his victim was in Sc
cure place. They would not discover
nim 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
his head, SO as not to be recognized
Already he was Geyising the ruses of
the criminal.
Three hours had suffced 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 lis crime would appear all
the more horrible because his victim
had been his best friend. And yet he
had been al honest man during SIS
years He hid practiced all the virtues
He lad g. med of diving in his bed.
Poor Chapv.>.<; t 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 a 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, "Poisoner!'' He
stopped for long time on the bank of
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. ..
ut 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, II
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.
"ChampignolP' .. \
It was Champignol in person. He
had awakened in the hole and was still
laughing at the joke.
Champignol a joker indeed! Chapo-
teau thought himself dreaming.
Then he had not given a fatal dose of
laudanum-.though little too much, it
is true.
| He had not killed Champignol He
{ had not committed a 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. From
! the French For Romance
l Amounted Stones.
The custom of amounting stones with
oil (see Genesis xviii, IS, 19), and
leaving them as memorial pillars or OBJ
jects of worship was one that was very
common among the ancients. The
stones first worshiped were probably OF
meteoric origin, which, having been
seen to fall from heaven, were easily
associated with some deity. In Roman