The Bon Homme County independent. [volume] (Tabor, S.D.) 1904-1913, 1908-12-10

a. headache.
Come, now, 1t Is not very dfficult,
and / have the right TO know said M.
! Ginory. After a moment Jacques Dan
tin said in q strong voice, II swear to
you. monsieur, that nothing Revere
said TO me when ! saw him the last
time could assist Justice In any way
whatsoever, n i beg of you not to
question me further about it,"
VIII YOU answer2' ....
Il cannot, monsieur
The more you hesitate the moro
reason you give me to think that the
communication would be grave" ~
Very gravei but 1t has nothing to
do with your Investigation
IT'S not for you TO outline the du-
ties Of my limits or my rights. Once
more i order you to reply"
II cannot"
You will, not -.
Il cannot" ~brusquely said the man
run to earth, with an accent of
violence. ,
The duel was finished. ..l..a',a .
M. Ginory began to laugh. or rather
mouth and his sanguine face wore a
soothing look. while a mechanical move
ment OF his massive jaws made him
resemble e bulldog about to bite. \
Then" said he. the situation is a
very simple one, n you force me to
come to the end of my ask You I'M
d~erstand?"
Perfectly said jacques Dantin,
with the impulsive anger of a man who
StumbleS over al article which he has
left there himself. 49, ..r'
You still refuse to reply?"
Il refuse. l came here as a witness.
l have nothing to reproach myself with,
especially as 1 have nothing to fear.
You must 10 whatever you choose to
do"
II can" said the magistrate, change
a citation for appearance TO a citation
for retention. l will ask you once
more
1T Is useless" interrupted Dantin.
A assassin, /! What folly! Rovere's
murderer! IL seems as If L were dream
ing. 1t Is absurd, absurd, absurd!"
Prove to me hat 1t is absurd in
truth. Do you not wish to reply?"
Il have tod you all / know"
But you have said nothing Of what
/ have demanded of you"
1T Is not my secret"
Yes; there Is your system. II is
frequent, 1t is common. 1t is that of
all the accused"
Am l already accused" asked Dan
tin. ironically.
NJ. Ginory was silent a moment; then,
slowly taking from the drawer OF his
desk some paper upon which Dantin
could discern no writing this time. but
some figures, engraved in black-he
knew not what they were-the magis-
trate held them between his fingers so
as to show them. He swung them to
and fro, and the papers rustled like
dry leaves. He seemed to attach great
value to these papers, which the regis
trar looked at from a orner OF his eye,
guessing = that they were the photo
graphic proofs which had been taken.
II beg of you to examine these
proofs" said the magistrate to DAN
tin. He held them out to him, and
Dantin spread them on the table (there
were four Of them). Then he put on
his eyeglasses I'm order to see better. |
What is that?" he asked.
Look carefully" replied the magis.
trate. Dantin bent over the proofs,
examined them N by one. divided
rather than saw in the picture. which
was a little hazy, the portrait of a man,
and upon close examination began to
see In the specter q vague resemblance. |
DC o not see that this picture !
bears n resemblance to your" |
This time Dantin seemed the prey OF |
some nightmare, and his eyes searched
M. Ginory's face with a sort of agony. |
The expression struck Ginory. One
would have said that a ghost had sud-
denly appeared to Dantin.
You say that 1t resembles me?"
Yes. Look carefully. At first the
portrait Is vague. On closer examina-
ton 1t comes out from the halo which
surrounds 1t. and the person who APP
pears there bears your air, your fea-
lures, your characteristics
1T is possible" said Dantin. at
seems TO resemble me. 1t seems as II I
were looking at myself In a pocket
mirror. But what does that signify?"
THAI signify. Oh, / am going to
astonish yOu That signi1es'--M. Gil
nory turned toward his registrar. You
the other evening, Fayarel, the
experiment In which DIR. Oudin showed
us the hear and lungs performing their
in the thorax OF a living man,
made visible by the Roentgen rays.
Wen. This is not any more miracu-
lous. These photographs" Che turned
toward Dantin) were taken of the
retina OF the dead nan eye. They
the reflection. the reproduction OF
thu image implanted there, the picture
of the last living being contemplated in
the agony, the last visual sensation
the unfortunate man expert
enced, The retina has given to us--as
a witness the image Of the living per-
son seen by the dead man for the last
A deep silence fell upon the three
men in that little ROOM. where one of
them alone lost his foothold at this
revelation. For the magistrate
it was a decisive moment, when all
had been said, when the man, having
been questioned closely. jumps at the
conclusion. As for the reg
istrar, however biase he may have be-
come by these daily experiences, IT was
the decisive moment, the moment when
the line drawn from the water the fish
Is landed, writhing on the hook.
jacques Dantin. With an instructive
movement. had rejected, pushed back
on the table those photographs which
burned his fingers. like the cards In
which some fortune teller has de-
the signs Of death.
"Well?" asked M. Ginory.
We'll" repeated Dantin in a stran-
gled tone, either not comprehending or
c~omprehending too much, struggling as
II under the oppression of a nightmare.
How do you explain how your face,
your shadow II you prefer, was found
in Rovere's eyes, and that in
h. 3gOny this was probably what he
saW-yes, saw bending over him?''
Dantin cast a frightened glance
around the room and asked himsel If
he was not shut up in n maniac's cell.
IT the question was real. II the voice