Rock Island Argus. (Rock Island, Ill.) 1893-1920, 1905-10-21
DAILY SHORT STORY
a WIFE'S REVENGE.

eCnth century TWO young Hltli' JcoH
Dcsmoulins and Alphonse Cateret- both /
living ia Dion. France, were bosom
friends. Cateret proposed marriage 10
= young girl. Louise PlancOn. but fns
suit was rejected. louise secretly
loved his friend DeSmoulins. and i'll the /
course OF time Desmoulins married Der
He was 50 devoted to Cateret thar Lou
Use thought il best not To tell him that
AIphOnse had once sought her hand,
ana since AIphouse never told him he
was in ignorance of the fact
Ten years passed. Cateret had gone
To Paris To live soon after his friends
marriage the DesmoulinSeS following
later Both men became leaders in the
revolution which was sweeping over
France like 4 cyclone. One evening
Desmoulns came across the Seine by
the bridge directly opposite the corps
legislatif and walked toward the Place
de In COncorde. or Place de Ia Revolu-
ton. as il was then called. At the
same time Cateret turned into the
place from the opposite direction. The
two men met at that point where the
guillOtine was set up and where II had
done great work that very day. Night
was falling. and the Place was desert
ed except for the friends. They stop
ped directly under the instrument or
death and began to talk.
"AiphonSe." said Jean. this revolu-
ton is like II tongue of flame which at
one moment sweeps i'll one direction,
the next in another. The favorite of
today is the condemned of tomorrow.
'You are right. Jean. DO you know
that if either of us has an enemy that
enemy can send the man he hates TO
the guillotine.''
Il don't IKE it," replied Jean. eft l
We're single like YOU. | would not mind
the danger so much. but / consider my
family
Cateret stood for awhile lost in
thought. then said: u have an idea.
Suppose we make an agreement. If
you are the victim, | will pay your
wife J0.O00 francs: If / am the victim,
you pay my mother the same amount"
After some discussion DesmoulinS
consented. and the friends went 10
| Caterct'S house. where the contract
was drawn UP in duplicate. duly exc
| cuted, and each party to it took Il copy.
| Ten days after this agreement DeS-
| moulinS was arrested under an accusa-
| ton of having correSponded with the
| royaliStS across the border. He had
| received Il letter from Il fugitive. but
| no one knew of ii except his friend
| Cateret. To whom he had shown il.
But there was nothing in this. for the
letter. bearing a foreign mark. must
have been opened in the poStofficc.
| I'll
danger that threatened her husband.
| As soon as she became quoted she set
| her wits To- work To discover who the
secret enemy could he. At Il confer
ence she had with her husband in Jail
| he told her that Cateret knew of the
| letter he had received from abroad.
Lonise. remembering that Cateret had
once sought her hand in marriage, was
seized with Il suspicion which she final
| ~ confessed to her husband.
NONSENSE" said Jean. There can
| be nothing in that, since at my death
/ Alphonse must pay you 10000 francs"
And he told her of their agreement.
She was but half convinced.
Jean DeSmOulinS died on the scaffold
beside which the agreement had been
made. His wife shut herself up. After
| Il few weeks she received one visitor,
| her husbands old friend. Alphonse
| Caterct Him she saw constantly and
| but a few months after her husbands
execution promised him that she would
| be his wife. Meanwhile she frequented
the courts and places wherein she
might learn the name OF her husbands
| accuSer. After awhile she became
| known as the widow who was hunting
| for one TO send TO the guillotine. One
| day she received visit from one of
the leaders of the revolution. who said
to her:
| Il know who informed on your huS-
| band. He is in my way, and | wish 10
| get rid of him. | will tell you who he
is on condition that you trump up an
| accusation against him. leaving me out
| Of the matter. You will not believe me
without proof. That proof i will fur
nish."
1t is proof alone that / wish. /
| know the man"
How do you know him.
by the instinct of woman"
He is
'Alphonse Cateret."
You are right
| The visitor the next day met the
widow in building where records
We're kept and. being in authority. took
ser To room where no other man in
| France except the keeper could go. He
took down "A volume which contained
record OF more villainy than any vol
ume in the world and, consulting an
index. turned to the name of Jean Des-
mouths. There was the charge and
the name Of the accuser, Alehonse Ca
teret. Louise looked at il apparently
without emotion: her guide closed the
| book. and they withdrew.
The friends OF Louise Desmoulins
were shocked a few months after her
husbands death 10 leaTp that she was