The Richmond palladium and sun-telegram. [volume] (Richmond, Ind.) 1907-1939, 1907-12-25

helped a very, very little. | didn't ask
him to steal the money to buy the pat
ents He took it without consulting
me. He stole on his own responsible
ity. He must bear the consequence
of what he has done, for he has
brought it on himself. | could have
got the money in time without that,
and it is all mine, all mine by right"
| He started up and carried his chair
to the window, pulled aside a corner
of the curtain and sat staring at the
opposite house, and murmuring occas-
| ionally: He's still there, Thank
heaven. he's still there"
And so he sat for hours.
And now that the thing was done,
! Paul Deasix was suffering the most
terrible torments OF remorse. He had
betrayed TO the police Alfred Revillon,
his friend and partner, the man by
whose guilt he hadn't hesitated to
profit. For the last three weeks he
had been trying to force himself to
commit this abominable act Of treach
cry, and at last he had nerved his
he would have given all the world to
have it undone, and 10 recover his lost
honor and self-resrect-
Paul Desaix was undoubtedly gen
JUS. His gift of tnventiveness was
abnormal, his BRAIN was always full of
novel ideas but his life had been one
long row Cf failures.
| His strange powers lacked some
thing they lacked that particular
touch which was requisite for the turn
| ing of the products of his plan into
valuable and marketable articles of
! commerce.
| His latest invention proved no ex-
ception to the rule.
1t was a motor engine designed to
! be used with a flying machine, an EN-
CINE which. if successful, would revo-
Iutionize the science of aeronautics.
1t was wonderful and clever thing,
but there was just something missing,
and at last he had to call in the as
sistance of Alfred Revillon, a mechani-
cal engineer, the father of Jacques
! Revillon, who was engaged to marry
Marguerite. With his help the engine
was made perfect, and it was agreed
between them that the invention
|
| But now there was another grave
difficulty. Neither of them had any
money to secure the patents with, and
they were faced with the possibility of
the result of all their labor and all
their skill going to enrich somebody
else.
After many unsuccessful attempts to
beg or borrow the money without dis
! closing their secret, RevillOn solved
the problem in despair by embezzling
| twelve thousand francs from his en-
ployers and giving it to Paul Desaix.
Revillon went into hiding and DesaiX
secured the patents, which he subSe-
quently sold to a firm of promoters for
| 500 900 francs in cash and large num-
Der Of shares in the company, which
was to be formed for the purpose Of
exploiting the invention.
One of the stipulations made by
Revillon was that the 1900 francs
which he had stolen rom his employ
ers would be Immediately returned TO
them out of the money received from
the sale of the patents in the hope that
he might be pardoned and SO be able to
show himself again, but this Desaix
did not do.
All the money he received was still
in his possession. In fact, the usual
thing happened The deman of temp
tation attacked Paul Desaix. Why
shouldn't he keep ALI the money for
himself? Wasn't the idea his, his
alone? Wasn't Revillon thief?
Was it right to leave thief profit by
| his crime? Would it be fair? Why
not betray him to the police and then
the whole of the proceeds would be
| his?
| By such arguments as these he sue
ceeded in conquering the protest of his
conscience. and the first step toward
carrying this treachery into effect was
Margaret and Jacques. His next was
| to move from Nenilly and take up lodg-
ings in an obscure street in the Latin
quarter. where Revillon was in hiding.
Revillon had confided his where
abouts to him alone. Whom could he
trust with the secret of his life if not
his friend and partner? But his mind
>
not disguise from himself the bastard
| ly nature of the act he proposed 20
| commit.
He went on vacillating. He was
watching the house in dreadful appre-
hension lest Revillon should move to
some other place and escape him.
Still he continued to hesitate, de-
spairing himself until the greed of gold
got the best of him and the letter. an
anonymous one, written in a changed
handwriting addressed to the chief pf
the detective department, was given
to margaret to mail.
Shouts in the street again reached
his ear. He started up suddenly. A
wave of remorse weighed his soul.
| "Christmas.' he muttered. Every
one has joy in his heart but l. Here |
have wealth and credit in my grasp,
yet I'm miserable. I'll not let this
| bother me. I'll laugh in spite of my
| low spirits. I'll rouse myself. Mar
guerite. Marguerite. where are you.
Come quickly. Well go out to the
Wo.iJ dino loYoh he