Hopkinsville Kentuckian. [volume] (Hopkinsville, Ky.) 1889-1918, 1908-12-31

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to sleep in his attic, no one would have
doubted that he was the .sic-Jerer. He
owes his safety. therefore, TO the
tragedy having been enacted too soon
1.-The murderer, no doubt, from the 81
lence in the laboratory, imagined that
It was empty and that the moment for
action had come. The man who had
been able to introduce himself here so
mysteriously and to leave so many evil
dences against Daddy Jacques was,
there car be no doubt, familiar with
the house. At what hour exactly he
entered, whether in the afternoon or in
the evening, ! cannot say. One IA
mlliar with the proceedings and per-
sons Of this pavilion could choose bis
own time for entering the yellow
room"
HE could not have entered 1t If any
body had been in the laboratory" said
NJ. de Marquet.
"How do we know thatT replied
Larsan. "There was the dinner In the
laboratory, the coming and going of
the servants in attendance There was
a chemical experiment being carried
on between 10 and II O'clock with NJ.
Stangerson, his daughter, and Daddy
Jacques engaged Mt the furnace in a
corner of the high chimney. Who can
say that the murderer-an intimate, a
| friend--did not take advantage of that
moment to slip into the yellow room
after having taken off his boots in the
lavatory?"
! ut is very improbable" said NJ.
Stangerson.
/ DOUBTLESS, but it is not impossible.
/ assert nothing. AS to the escape
! from the pavilion, that's another thing
the most natural thing in the world"
For a moment Frederic Larsan paus-
ed-a moment that appeared to us
a very long time. The eagerness with
which we awaited what he was going
to tell us may be imagined.
al have not been in the yellow room,"
he continued, but l take it for grant
ed that you have satisfied yourselves
! that he could have left the room only
! by way of the door. 1t is by the door,
then, that the murderer made his way
out. At what time? AT the moment
when it was most easy for him to do
SCAT the moment when it became
most eXplainable-so completely ex-
| plainable that there can be no other
explanation. Let us go over the mo-
ments which followed after the crime
had been committed. There was the
first moment, when M. Stangerson
and Daddy Jacques were close to the
door ready to bar the way. ,11ere was
the second moment, during which
Daddy jacques was absent and NJ.
| Stangerson was left alone before the
door. There was a third moment,
when M. Stangerson was Joined by the
concierge. There was fourth mo-
ment, during which NJ. Stangerson,
the concierge and his wife and Daddy
Jacques were before the door There
was a fifth moment, during which the
door was burst open and the yellow
room entered. The moment at which
the fight is explainable is the very mo-
ment when there was the least number
Of persons before the doog. There was
one moment when there was but one
! person-M. Stangerson. Unless COM
plicity of silence on the part Of Daddy
Jacques is admitted-in which do not
/ believe-the door was opened in the
presence of M. Stangerson alone, and
, the man escaped.
Here we must admit that M. Stan
gerson had powerful reasons for not
arresting or not causing the arrest Of
the murderer, since he allowed him to
reach the window in the vestibule aud
closed it after him. That done. Mile
Stangerson, though horribly wounded,
had still strength enough, and no doubt
in obedience to the entreaties of her
father, to refasten the door of her
chamber with both the bolt and the
lock before sinking on the floor. We
do not know who committed the crime;
we do not know of what wretch NJ.
and Mile. Stangerson are the victims,
but there is no doubt that they both
know! The secret must be terrible
one, for the father had not hesitated
to leave his daughter to die behind the
door which she had shut upon herself
terrible for him to have allowed the
assassin to escape. For there is no
other way in the world to explain the
murderer's fight from the yellow
roomr
The silence which followed this dra-
matte and lucid explanation was APP
palling We all of US felt grieved for
the ilustrious professor. so driven into
a corner by the pitiless logic Of Fred
eric Larsan, so forced to confess the
whole truth of his martyrdom or 10
keep silent and thus make yet more
terrible admission. The man himself,
veritable statue of sorrow raised
his hand with gesture so solemn that
we bowed our heads to it as before
somc' hing sacred. He then pronounce
ed these words in Il voice so loud that
it seemed to exhaust him;
81 swear by the head of my suffering
4 fAv inc nf lof no