The times. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1890-1903, 1899-01-06
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| reached the castle by way Of tho tongue
/ Of land / was ordered TO wait for them
( on short. and II necessary 90 procure the
| assistance Of fishermen with their boats
| 20 facilitate the return. I waited four
| ! waited five hours. the tide came in with
a rush. and return by land was cut Off
| For an hour or longer a fisherman had
kept me company. lie had his boat ready
| 10 row over the minute the signal was
! given. But no signal came and no sian
| Of life. when I couldn't stand the sus-
| pense any longer / went across and. r4-
naming IN the boat. shouted for my CIs-
toners. No response.
Finally, though I was afraid TO enter
the ruins. which. as the people say. are
peohed with demons, we both went i'm
side and searched the place from cellar
To tower. We looked into every niche
and corner. we cried ourselves hoarse:
we prayed. we wcpt-all 10 no avail-my
customers were gone. were swept OF the
face of the earth. and concluded the
honest fellow, there are said TO he people
in Paris who don't believe i'm the DEVIL
on reaching the Inn. NJ. de Courthaucs
soon learned that non only the landlord
but the whole population nay. the au-
thortics themselves. backed up the hon
est Jchu's tale Of terror.
why was 10 word OF this sent 60
Tars?"
because the Investigations are not
completed yet; We don't even know The
names Of the parties that were lost"
But from the description ] gather that
tho gentleman was the owner of the
village and the castle the Count Rave
neauT
'TIe registered under that name" said
the Inn keeper. "out thought n was
merely q dodge 90 escape paving The bin
BY the provisions OF my leaseh0ld am
bound to entertain the Count free OF
charge. and. having never seen our mas
ter and knowing nothing Of him or about
him. I concluded that the stranger was
a fraud"
The Brittany people are a cunning lot
anH above an hate 90 part with money
That was probably one OF the reasons
why the inn-keeper aid not follow up
the clew An absent or dead master
collects no rent from his n~oper'v
FRUITLEsS SEARCH N RUINS
NJ. de Courtballes searched the ruins or
Castle Ker-Guivarch for ton days. with
the aid Of "a large force Of workinemon.
lie sent men with ladders and DANGLING
on ropes into the crevices Of the walls
and towers and down the chimneys Tie
investigated the cellcrs for secret walls
and tunnels. He sounded the floors Boo
apartments an1 corridors His Search
was thorough and systematic. NothinE
was discovered that promised a solution
of The mystery. That the Count and
Countess had visited the ruins and had
not left them alive. either by land or
Sea-of that there could Doe no doubt. The.
whole village had seen them go in, and
none had seen them leave.
An incident reported by q certain fish
erman promised some sort Of a clew.
This fellow had seen the man and wo-
man ON the western balcony az the tall
tower oyerhanging the sea. Possibly"
thought NJ dc Courtballes "this balcony
is defective and the unhappy Count and
his Wife fell from Sc to perish"
But the balcony proved 10 be in perfect
state. It's stone fagsng was apparently
sound. It's stone railing showed not q
single crack
After that w. de Courtballes listened
more patiently 10 the ghost stories told
OF castle ker-Guivarch The villagers
knew Of half dozen persons who ha0
entered the ruins during the last nny
or sixty years. never 90 be seen again
by mans eye. Even in the nearby mon
astery Of ST. Brandau be heard similar
tales and. though the prior. learned
and experienced man. would not tolerate
the sQperstitious conclusions of the com
mon people. be- was unable 10 offer any
mystery and those that had gone before.
One day toward the end of November
when NJ Dc COurtballes sat talking To the
prior explaining his own theory OF the
case VIZ that the Count had lured Jac-
0ueline 20 Ker-GuiVarch 90 murder her
there. and 10 commit suicide. The priest
remarked. ole had Certainly some secret
object i'm taking her 20 the ruins. for his
statement that his family archives are
kept there Is untrue, as you yourself can
testify The archives have been in our
library for the last thirty years. 90 save
them from the damp and from Nermin.'
THE PLATFORM OF DEATH.
Next day. with the priOrs permission.
Courtballes began systematic inVesti-
CATION of the archives ass far as they zee
lated 10 the ancient history Of Castle Ker-
Guiyarch and its owners. After wadino
through miles of documents. NE al last
discovered the specifications of the archi-
tcct who rebuilt Che castle for Robert dc
Raveneau SigHeur de Ker-Ggivarch. to-
ward the end of the seventeenth century
Tn the estimate 1850 francs were set
down for the benefit Of "a certain Italian
mechanic. VINO hNed the moving plat
form on the balcony I'm the Louis ri
tower.
Courtballes looked up the record OF the
said Sir Robert and found that he bore
the reputation OF a cruel and crafty lord.
who was the terror Of his enemies and
subjects alike. While ne held forth 40
Castle ker-Guivarch his residence was
known as the "h0use of mysterious disap-
pearances." and twice Sir Robert had
been summoned before the King 90 defend
himself against charges Of murder-thc
murder Of men nigh I'm office who were
known 90 have been at Castle kcr-Gui-
Varch. bat never returned However.
nothing could be proved against him
Now, after centuries. Courtballes held
the murdcrcrs last viii and testament i'm
his hand, which. according 20 the testa-
tors provisions must be communicated
70 every successive head Of the RaVeneau
family. It's main article read as follows:
For the benefit Of myself and my sue
cessOrs. / have constructed i'm tho hall
cony OF the Louis Nt tower Of my good
Castle OF Ker-Guivarch. a death tran.
viz, moving platform. One hagstOne on
the eastern end OF the balcony IS safe.
The rest looking toward The west turn
about themselves as soon as heavy
body steps upon them. In this way one
may invite an enemy or a brace of them
90 the balcony, and. by taking the pre-
caution 20 hug the eastern extremity see
those hated parties drop 10 the death
Tor the sea beneath the balcony Is set
with ragged rocks. and the water there
afoufs several fafhOms deep. The victims
Will plunge into the crevicc OF the rocks.
which hold them fast and ] have never
seen one rise again. lie who does will
drown anyhow.
Count Ravenoau was the head Of the
family. Doubtless he knew the secret of
the Louis II. tower. Hc murdered his
wife and committed suicide. being con-
WINGED that his crime would be buried
with him. NJ. de Courtballes has engaged
divers 20 search the sea FOR traces OF his
beloved Onc-lnter-Occan.
New Orleans Races.
IA