Yorkville enquirer. [volume] (Yorkville, S.C.) 1855-2006, 1902-03-29
S38&@& g 8 is@ss& OBSERVATION-DISCLOSURES 6 8 @a

"I must get rid Of them somehow"
he said to himself. 81 can neither re-
turn home nor to the Archangel with
these devils at my heels. They are
following me to find out where l live
and who am. IF they. discover that
the clown is NJ. verduret and that NJ.
Verduret Is M. Lecoq. there Is an end
to my plans. They will escape abroad
with the money. and shall be left to
console myself with wounded ARM"
The idea Of Raoul and Clameran es.
Gaping so exasperated him that for an
instant he thought Of having them ar
rested at once. This was easy. for he
| only had to rush upon them, cry for
help, and they would all three be ar
rested and taken to the station. The
police often resort to this. ingenious
and simple means Of arresting male
factor for whom they are on the look
out and whom they cannot seize with
out q warrant The next day there is
q general explanation. and the par
ties. If innocent, are dismissed. The
clown had sufficient proof to sustain
him In the arrest Of Lagors. he could
show the letter and the mutilated pray
er book. he could reveal the existence
of the pawnbrokers' tickets in the
house ut vesinet. be could display his
wounded arm. Raoul would be COM
PEELED to confess how and why he had
assumed the name Of Lagors and to
what end he was passing himself Off
for relative Of NJ. Fauvel.
On the other hand, In acting thus
hastily be was insuring the safety Of
the principal villain. De Clameran.
What proofs had he against him? Not
one. He had strong suspicious, but no
facts. On reflection he decided that
he would act alone, as he had thus far
done, and would discover the truth
Of his suspicious. Having reached this
decision. the first step to be taken was
to get rid of his shadowers. He walk
ed rapidly up Sebastopol. stepping out
boldly, and. reaching the square, he
abruptly stopped. Meeting two SER
geants of police. he asked some insig-
niflcant questions. The maneuver had
the result he expected. Raoul and
Clameran stood perfectly still about
twenty steps of. not daring to ad-
rance. Twenty steps! That was as
much start as the clown wanted.
While talking with the sergeants he
had pulled the bell of the door before
which they were standing. and its
sound apprised him that the door was
open. He stepped into the house. A
minute later the sergeants had passed
on, and Lagors and Clameran In their
turn rang the bell. When the porter
appeared. they asked who it was that
had just gone in disguised as clown.
They were told that no masked person
had entered and that none Of the lodg-
ers had gone out disguised that night.
"However," added the concierge, II
am not very sure, for this house has a
back door which opens on st. Denis
street."
1--WE are fooled" interrupted La
gors, "and will never know WHO the
clown is"
"Unless we learn it too soon for our
own good" said Clameran musingly.
While Lagors and the forgemaster
were full of anxiety the clown hurried
up the back street and reached the
Archangel hotel us the clock struck 3.
Prosper. who was watching from his
window, saw him in the distance and
ran down to open the door for him and
led him up stairs impatiently.
"What have you learned" he said.
What did you find out? Did you see
Madeleine? Were Raoul and Clameran
at the ball?"
But NJ. Verduret was not in the hab-
1t Of discussing private affairs where
he might be overheard.
First of all let us so into your room
and get some water to wash this cut,
which burns like fire."
Heavens! Are you woundedT
Eyes; it is a little souvenir Of your
friend Raoul. All. | will soon teach
| him better mannersp'
Prosper was surprised at the look Of
merciless rage on his friends face as
he calmly washed and dressed his arm.
"Now, Prosper. we will talk. Our
enemies are warned, and we must
crush them with the rapidity Of light
Ming"
NJ. Verduret expressed himself in q
quick. imperious tone, which Prosper
did not understand.
II have made mistake. have been
on the wrong track. 1t Is an accident
liable to happen to any man, no mat
ter how intelligent he may be. | have
taken the effect for the cause. The
day was convinced that culpable re-
lations existed between Raoul and
Nine. Fauvel thought held the end
Of the thread that must lead us to the
truth. should have been more doubt
full 1t was too simple. too natural
do you suppose Nine Fauvel to be
innocent?"
Certainly not. but her guilt Is not
such as l supposed. l imagined that,
infatuated with a seductive adventur-
er. Nine. Fauvel had first bestowed
upon him the name Of one Of her rela
tives and then introduced him as her
nephew. This was an adroit strata
gem to gain him admission to her hus'
bands house. She began by giving
him all the money she could dispose
later her jewels. which he pawned.
Finally. having nothing more to give,
she allowed him to steal the money