, 1897-12-03

near you, and now he is gon And
then that boy who ran away before you
had time To think Of making sure his
news was true. At any rate Blaise has
left you the Two dogs and the gun. has
he not:'
1.-The two dogs are asleep on the
porch. As for the gun, Blaise must
have left it in the hall ! shall go aud
make sure. Can you lear Marcel: He
is sitting in my lap and is saying good-
night to you. Listen.
Good night, papa, good night.
Good night, my da-linSs. l must
get a bite of dinner now. and hen
will call you again
"Once outside l felt oppressed with
~dissimulated my WI anxiety in order
not to add to her fears. but that uneasi
ness, which had hardly been quoted by
the first conversation. now waXcd stron-
ger at the thought of this strange, in
credible letter which had taken away
my wife's one defender. the only man
in the house. My thoughts took so dark
a turn that by the time l reached the
hotel l could not swallow a mouthful. l
left the table to return to the telephone
Office, but my agent found me and laid
before me a lot Of details which were
essential to the success of my venture. l
could not dismiss him Immediately, and
it was late when l re-entered the tele-
phone office. My heart throbbed with
impatience and my hand trembled 50
that l could scarcely hold the receiver
to my ear. 1t was some seconds before l
could hear anything.
"'Hello. Louise, hello!' l cried. Are
you there? Answer me.
AT last | heard her voice, but it was
low. oppressed. filled with terror.
"'Oh. it's you at last! For the last
hour l have been nearly crazed. l could
not find the gun-that boy must have
stolen it when he went away Blaise
has not com' back. They must have got
him out of the way OIL purpose. Oh. l
am losing my head! l can scarcely
breathe for terror think l hear-in
the garden-far away Wait while !
listen
"Clutching at the box for support, !
could only cry. Louise, l beg of You,
do not leave me in this silence-what
do you hear:'
"'The dogs are growling-now they
are Misunderstanding furiously. They
have run to the bottom of the garden
now. suddenly they are still There is II
deathly silence. But-yes. it sounds Xix
muffied footsteps Oh the pebbled walk
as if some one were coming toward
the house
ECO on, speak. Louise! l am stran-
Cling. | shall go mad. What do you
hcar-what do you hear now?'
"'Nothing ~now-almost nothing
yes, there is a gentle. steady grating
sound. as if n chisel were being slipped
under "A shutter to force it. The sash
gives way-a window is broken. oh. l
am terrified!
Il shook the telephone box in my
agony. Telephone to Marseilles. l
cried, to warn the police!'
"'How can l? The city is three leagues
away. They would come too late-and
l cannot-oh, am going mad
"'Call for help or hide yourselves,
that's it. Take the little one and hide
81 cannot. l have no strength left
they are coming, the stairs creak-they
are in the hall-they are feeling along
the wall-they try the door-Marcel!
My God-help, he'll
"There were two untitled cries of ter
ror. then u vague. confused noise. then
u jumbo of indefinable sounds. then
silence. Something seemed to crack in
my brain. and | fell unconscious.
Gasping rs if he had lived through
this terrible scene again, NJ. Maroux
concluded: From Le Gazette Judi
clare you can learn the details Of the
crime. 1t is known As the Morande
atrocity.' By it l lost my wife, my
child and my two servants But no re
port al describe, no mere words can
eve express the hideous nightmare
hat modern science brought me, the
frightful torture of a mar who, at q
distance of 100 leagues, hears the de-
spairing cries of his wife and son. who
are being strangled while he is power
less to do more than batter impotently
on a wooden telephone box. Trans
lated For Argonaut From the French
of Charles Foley.