The citizen-Republican. (Scotland, Bon Homme County, S.D.) 1???-19??, 1907-12-26
CHAPTER III.

81 ~ = my Sil HOW Coulu II ne con
nected with the one which we wer
trying to decfpher? Then, at a sec
ond glance, 1 saw how in deadly earn
est he q There could be no doubt
ing 1t: he had read into them som
meaning which / had failed utterly t.
see.
sat down in my chair again. m,
nerves a-quiver; at last, we were OF
the verge of success.
We'll, let's hear it." ! said.
Il intend that you shall-wait till
get them arranged. I'll build up tn,
story as i go along, and / want yol
to ask any questions or point out an,
defects that occur to you. OF course
1t will be only a study in probabilities
but between US. / hin we can get II
pretty straight"
He got up from the desk with ths
clippings in "A neat little pile. and sat
down In the chair facing mine. He
began.
Well have to start with a few gen
eral observations he said, at last,
It's evident that Thompson wouldn't
have carried these clippings around
with him for SO long unless they in
some way concerned him. It's evident
that Miss Croydon would never have
dared to take them unless she was
pretty certain that they somehow vital
ly concerned her. It's evident that
Tremaine wouldn't have taken so
much trouble to look for them unless
he was mighty anxious to find them.
We arrive. then, at our first conclu-
sion, namely. that these clippings neces-
sarily shed some light upon The
tragedy recently enacted in this room,
and upon the connection Of these people
with each other"
Yes" ! agreed; unless all these
people were mistaken in their estimate
n HI YYn - ne tHo- 49, ~-- ~
That, of course. is possible: but I
don't think 1T probable. At any rate,
let us disregard that suggestion for
the moment, n proceed along the 9TH
er line. What light is 1t possible for
these clippings to shed on the murder
OF thompson. Obviously, 1t must be
only by explaining motives. The ma
5ority OF them seem to be concerned
with the adventures Of a F~renchman,
who goes under various names, but
who. / am sure, is one and the same
person. He must. then, be either Ire
maine or Thompson. But Thompson
was evidently not q Frenchman, and
Tremaine pretty evidently is, though
his contact with the world has served
70 rub away a good many Of the marks.
I think we're pretty safe, therefore. in
assuming that the Frenchman Of these
clippings Is Tremaine. AS we go on, L
believe we'n find some internal evil
~SAAS ~ ililiiS NtilSs st lou dkTee WlIll
nj thus far?"
Perfectly" I said. admitting your
first premise that these clippings are
really concerned with the cose."
THAT. tao. ! believe, we'll soon be
able to preve by internal evidence. OF
course, II they haven't any connection
with 1t. they'll soon ead us into chaos.
But there's another thing; we mustn't
expect toe much from them. We
mustn't expect q story complete in all
Its ~parts-ltss bound to be fragmentary.
The wonder Is chat Thompson succeed
ed IN keeping fhis many links In the
chain. Maybe In his more prosperous
days he had a mania for clippings. At
best, we mustn't be disappointed II
there are long gaps in the story"
9 agreed again; that's evil
enough"
Very well; we'll begin with the clip
pln9a then. substituting Tremaine's
ping Is merely a marriage notice. an
snouncing that on the 23d OF August,
1883, Tremaine married one Therese
Bertigny. at Dieppe. Let me see; Ire
was Their probably about 20
years OF age. No doubt he was born
Dieppe. SO that the name given here,
Victor Charente. is his real one. You'll
notice that he's retained the first name
which is a bit of corroborative eyt-
dence."
"Or = mere coincidence" / supple
anented.
TIL wire our correspondent at Dieppe
70 look up this charente-perhaps he
can get a photograph. That would set
tie the question
I nodded. Yes. that would settle II.
Tor TTef1Hfne at 40 was probably not
greatly different from Tremaine at 20. !
The c clipping" proceeded
shows US that our hero soon
SAyu n AdenA Fvsr1vrs &Ia -. --..4-.l
path. af1d gives us. too. q little light
hts personal history. In the spring
following mis- nlarriage-April 16. 1881.
to be exaCt-vfrile assistant manage OF
the ship supplies house OF Briquet
5Freres. ne absccnds with go, 900 francs.
~ Is discovered that he kept a mis-
tress a. Fe00en. He lis believed to have
gone TO A~rrKrfca--to nave been SNUG
.gted out OF h harbor by a friendly
american Captnfn. Surely, 1t is not i'm
possible" he added. that this friendly
captain was Thompson"
Very Few things are impossible" i
c~ornirientnd. I began to be Impatient
with Godfrey. He was permitting his
prejudice aAafnst Tremaine to warp his
JUDGMENT.
Wen. wen keep that for a hypothes-
Y. anyhow and he turned to the third
clipping. This. he continued. Shows
chat ne indeed came to America.
- = Ne1tSN July Sd, 1900, ana states |
q y1ung Frenchman and a tramp
Ikipper nat11ed Johnson-ah, you see ?o
4 did. indeed, see-here was the first
appearances Of Tremaine,s zombi-of his
devil. I looked at Godfrey
with IA flve1test admiration. This con-
btructfve reasoning was something
tyhich 4. certainly. was quite incapable
$50 that ! on Thoynpson,s arm was
he initial Of his real name. observed
icdfrey. thought IL was LIT had
been there q hong time. and an EFFORT
had made to- ase 1t. After q
has gtarted on the crooked path,
be doesn't van any tattoo marks on
hinn--they make Identification too easy.
Jehnacn. then, veil hereafter read
Thoinps0ns
ncAacd; \ vas beginning 70 be CON
liCs4.#
ssssN y Gsss cortinued Godfrey eTrernaine
nd&S1apsfpnCs. then.Were arrested In
New Tcxks July Is. 1885. at q low re-
NeASFG AheT#werc hnyir1gsn earousc.
they , Eeaten AndYrobbed another
satlpr. at ,MssseGn5 TINT nothing was left
tho sixt4 th0nkand francs. and nat-J
tEftl8Ry x6senaGine found tt diculfit fo
So hNnekxtx to- work again. The fourth
eltpttS4kgMs Affsdaxedshu probably some
MISUNDERSTANDING vs that Tremaine ana
Eh0yniaNphMcre sentenced to- three
y8UTx#ENc lin SInE Sing. But thcv |