The Wilmington daily Republican. (Wilmington, Del.) 1890-1902, 1899-12-06
III NEUTRALITY-SUSPICIOUS.
| A CAS- TAWAY
| CONES TO HIS OWN


/
Some yeara ago came across French
newspaper containing an account Of
trial to establish the plaintiffs claim to
an estate One Guerin and his wife and
child. named Charles, cams to live in tho
I small town Of Rios, in Franchecompte,
! France, in 1865. The man had no occu-
| patton, and yet the family seemed to be
well off. As Charles grew up he attended
school, but he was fonder Of spending his
| time among horses or strOlling through
the woods or fishing or swimming in the
| streams that ran into the river Oignon
than Of studying his lessons.
In 1877 Nine. Guerin died. For some
time she and her husband had been ad-
dicted to drink. They mortsaged the
house which they had bought, and it was
sold over Guerin's head shortly after his
wife's dath. Guerin removed with the
boy to Gy, five or six miles away to the
south. He drank heavily, dressed in
good style and exhibited rings and jew
elry, though the boy went around poorly
clad. One day Guerin was arrested as an.
escaped convict and taken away Charles
| at once appropriated Is francs which
was in a drawer, and would have taken
! his fathers jewelry II the box containing
| 1t had not vanished. Charles was now II
years old, and with the Is francs in his
| pocket he decamped. 1t was June, and
the weather was fine, so the boy made
up his mind to go to Paris on foot. A
few miles out, he came up with a travel
ing photographer and remained with him
for three weeks and left him at Epinal.
In the middle Of July he found himself at
Lamarche, some 10 miles from Epinal.
1t was growing dark, SO he bought some
bread aud milk, and then, making for an
old stable away from the road, he climD-
ed up the ladder into the loft and lay
down at full length on some hay, looking
out Of the open hatch. In that position hc
fell asleep. Suddenly he awoke and
heard voices below. He saw light shift
ing through crack in the floor and put
his eye to the aperture. Two men were
seated on the floor below, with a lamp
near by. They were counting money into
handkerchief which was spread be.
tween them.
There" said one "That makes 4G3
francs. A mighty big sum for a man to
risk his head for"
'Wrap it up" said the other. "Do you
think any one will ever suspect you, the
schoolmaster, and me, the verger? Be-
sides, if the old man hadn't died under
the circumstances Of which you and l
know, he would certainly have died in
week or two from natural causes"
The first speaker wrapped up the mon
ey in the handkerchief. arose and. reach
ing up, put the bundle in hole in the
wall near the ceiling,
"There," he said. ut will be safe until
the funeral is over and things have quiet
ed down"
81 wish we had just now all the money
that has been In that hole" said the 9TH
err man.
After they had quilted the place
Charles was drowsily thoughtful. He
had vague idea that some one had been
murdered and robbed. and while trying to
put together the conversation he had
overheard he fell asleep. When he
awoke, day was just about to break. He
arose and. descending the ladder, looked
up at the hole in which the bundle was
deposited. ~ must have that money"
he said half aloud, and by climbing up
the buck Of the ladder he reached the
tributed the money about his person,
thrust back the handkerchief into the
hole and. quitting the stable. crept round
to the rear aud made his way across the
fields to stream, which he followed for,
some time until he came to village.
1t was daylight. and he saw a tailor at
work in his window. His clothes were
mean and torn, so he entered the tailor's
uh nd hnrrht nd noir pf
trousers and jacket. At another place
he bought shoes and some other things
and then made for the bank Of the
stream again. He walked on some dis
lance and then took bath and donned
his new outfit. The rags he had dis
carded he rolled together and flung into
n ditch. He soon came to another village
and bought himself a cap and had a good,
hearty meal When night came on, he
climbed tree, fixed himself in fork
and slept. Before going to sleep, how
ever, he tied all his money In handker-
chief and hid 1t among the foliage above
him.
1t was well that he did so, for he was
awakened by gruff voice, bidding him
come down. He looked and saw below
him big man, nearly seven feet tall and
n small, thin man not much bigger than
himself, both evidently tramps. He de-
scended and was grabbed by the small
man, who said:
lyon younp thief. where did Won get
those clothes? You stole them, and we
are officers come TO arrest you."
The big man laughed gleeful]y, and the
small man continued:
Come, strip, OF with them all, or ri
kill Won. Won't |. ,Jean?"
"Oh. yes" replied Jean. Hes n ter.
ror. is INV friend. and thinks nothing of
killing and eating one of his own size or
even bigger. Don't Won. Antoipey"
Yes. indeed" was the reply. Some.
strip,"
One by one the bow removed his
clothes. and Antoine removed his Then
Antoine nut on Charles habiiments and
threw his rags to Charles. The men
then left him. Antoine saving.
.If YOU move for the next ten minutes.
I'll coma back and bite Won Won't I
JeanY
Charles had ncrrorce IN nut IN the