The Topeka state journal. [volume] (Topeka, Kansas) 1892-1980, 1898-01-03
FOILED BY A WOMAN.

61dn lear. ana J16 l1QY SLOOQ D64OI6t All6
like lioness at bay. Even then could
NOS help but note the splendid beauty of
this grand lady. Tall and slender, eyes
blue and flashing, almost larid now the
spectacle she presented standing there in
the middle of the apartment was more the
appearance of a queen than hunted
criminal.
81 must, replied st do not doubt
your innocence; looking in your face it
is strange that any one could couple it
with guilt. But am constrained to do
my duty, madam, however inimical it
may be to my feelings"
'Will you allow me to change my
dress?'' she said, in a tone almost pleas
ant. The hard lines around the mouth
had relaxed, and the passionate glow on
the face gave way to a pleasant smile.
Certainly. I win wait for you here. 3"
81 also wish to send a messenger for a
friend. VIII you permit him to passP"
Certainly"
This was my first interview with Eu-
genia Cornille. I had seen her here for
months, the leader of our gayest and most
fashionable society. In her splendid man
sion she dispensed the most profuse and
elegant hospitality.
A Spanish lady, a widow she had repre-
sented herself, and she had been resident
here almost a year. No one ever suspected
her of being aught than what she seemed.
until one day I was ordered to arrest her
as a murderess.
TWAS now alleged that the young beau
ty was no other than the woman who had
poisoned her husband in Havana and fed
with all his wealth. An immense reward
was offered for her apprehension, and the
circumstances that had come to our knowl
edge pointed her out beyond all doubt as
the person we were in search of. Yet the
person who had recognized her the even
ing before at the theater advised us to be
full Lost he CHI nG I
laughed at the idea. When the lady left
me, stepped to the window and said to
my mate, who was waiting at the door:
1.-THE lady desires to send messenger
for friend. Suffer him to pass.
Almost at the same instant the door of
the apartment the lady had entered opened
and a youth-apparently a mulatto boy
came out and passed hurTiedly through
the room into the hall, and from thence
into the street. 1t was no doubt the mos
senger, I thought, and picked up a book
end commenced reading. Nearly an hour
passed. and still the lady did not make
her appearance nor did the boy retur.-.
The friend she had sent for must live at
some distance, thought, or the lady was
unusually careful about her toilet, and SO
another hour went by. At last grew inn
patient and knocked at the door.
Madam, can wait no longer
There was no reply. I knocked repeat
eddy, and at last determined to force an
entrance. Strange fears harassed me. !
began to suspect knew not what. 1t
took but q moment to drive in the door,
and once in the apartment the mystery
was revealed. The robes of the lady lay
upon the floor, and scattered over the
room were suits of boys wearing apparel
similar to that worIs by the mulatto. On
| a table was a cosmetic that would stain
the skin to a light delicate brown.
I was foiled for surety. The lady had
escaped in the disguise of the messenger.
| should have detected the Fuse. felt hui
| initiated, and determined to redress my
error knew she would not remain in
! the city an instant longer than she could
get away. I hurried to her bankers, but
found that she had drawn the amount due
| her an hour earlier.
s'Who presented the check?'' asked OF
| the clerk.
"a mulattO boy-it was made payable
TO bearer
There was yet a chance The French
steamer left within an hour. 1t was pos
| sibIe she would seek that means of escape.
! jumped in a cab and arrived there ten
minutes before she left the wharf-just
| in time to assist an aged and decrepit gen
tleman into the cabin. There were few
| passengers; none of them answered the
| desert tion of the person sought I stood
/ on the wharf, watching the reeeding YES
sci until it disappeared. I was in the act
of turning away, when a hickman ap-
| preached me with the remark:
| 'Mr. F., did you see that old man on
| board? He had a long white beard and
hair that fell on his shoulders. -
''Yes!"
''Well. sir, there's something curious
about him.
"Why9'
''Why, when he got into my carriage he
was a mulatto boy, and when he got out
he was aE9>GSd manl''
1 will not use the expression used
then-it was neither refined nor polite
| for knew the vessel would be far out at
sea before she could be overtaken. was
! foiled by a woman. Nor could help re-
! joicing, now that the chase was over, that
| she had escaped.
Innocent or guilty, there was charm
| about her none could resist The spell
of her wondrous beauty affected all who
approached her. 1t fingers in my memory
yet, and I could not have the sin of heE
| blood upon my conscience. Exchange.