The Mitchell capital. (Mitchell, Dakota [S.D.]) 1879-1918, 1908-12-18
CHAPTER NJ.

mood. HIS three little girls dressed
alike. clasped him round the neck. all
Diet. always fresh. smiling and gay,
held up her face with its soft. round,
rosy cheeks to him.
little ones" said he officer, y
believe that l have done well, and that
my chief will advance me or give me
some Acknowledgement. I Will buy you
some bracelets. my dears, If that hap
pens. But 1t Is not the idea of filthy
lucre which has urged me on. and j
believe that j have certainly made q
great stride In judiciary instruction. all
owing to my kodak. 4; would be too
long AN explanation and perhaps Il per-
fectly useless one. Let US go to dim
ner. l al as hungry AS a wolf"
He ate, truly. with a good appetite.
scarcely stopped to tell how the as
.sassin was under lock and key. The
man had been measured and had be-
come a number in the collection. al
ways increasing, OF accused persons in
the catalogue continued each day for
the museum of crime.
"Ah! He is not happy" said Der,
nardet between two spoonfuls OF soup.
Not happy. not happy at all. Not
happy. and astonished-protesting.
moreover. his Innocence. as they all do.
1t Is customary"
But" sweetly asked good little
Nine. Bernardet. what IL he is mo
iCent?" And the three little girls, rails
ting their heads. looked at their father
- il to repeat their mothers question.
Tho eldest murInured, Yes, what il
IL riEht?'
Bernardet shrugged his shoulders.
"To hear them. II one listened TO
them. one would believe them all inno-
cont and h crimes would have to
commit themselves. II his one Is In
should see snow fall in Paris in June.
1de Will have to prove that he is inno-
sent. These things prove themselves.
Give me some more soup. Melanie."
A. Nine. Bernardet turned a ladelful
OF hot soup into her husbands plate she
softly asked: Are there no Innocent
ones condemned? Do you never de-
oeive yourself?" Bernardet did not
stop eating. II cannot say. No one Is
infallible. no one. The shrewdest de-
duped. but It is rare. Very rare. AS
we'll to say hat it does not happen
LesurQues. yes (and the three little girls
opened wide their large blue eyes as
de Lyon. who has made you weep so
many times at the theater at Mont
martre. One would 4 K to revise his
trial and %reinstate him. but no one has
been able TO do It. 1 have studied hi.
trial. BY my faith. I swear. l would
condemn him still-Ah, wha good
SOUP"
B this one today" asked Nine.
Bernardet. Are you certsin Wl1at is
his name?"
"Dantin-Jacaues Danttn. oh, he is
r. xentleInan-a very fine man, elegant
1ndeed-some Bohemian OF the upper
class. who evidently needed money and
who Hovere had some valuables in
and there 1t is."
Papa" Interrupted the eldest of the
three little girls. .canst thou take us
to see the trial when he shall be
ma depends. 1t is not easy. ! Will
try: will ask. II thou wilt work hard
oh. dame" said Bernardet, that will
be u drana!!"
Il will work hard"
An" he said. opening a paper
coffee. he allowed his three little Yjrl.
70 DIP Jumps Of sugar into his saucer.
He threw himself into his easy chair.
he gave a sigh OF satisfaction. like a
man whose daily wearisome tasks are
moments repose.
All" he said. opening a paper
which his wife had placed on a table
near him. together with a little glass
OF cordial sent to them by some cousins
IN Burgundy. Il am going to see what
has happened and what those good
journalists have invented about the af-
1atr IN the Boulevard de CNchy. 1t is
true, 1t Is a steeple chase between the
reporters and us. Sometimes they win
81 &iS ~ Inks. AL O1noI
times. when they know nothink-ah,
Then they invent. they embroider their
histories"
A petroleum lamp lighted the paper
read.
Let us see what Lutece says"
He suddenly remembered what Paul
Rodier had said to him. Read my
Journal" The woman in black. found
On the province. did she really exist ?
HAD fhp DnVA1iqf vrriffor n a..
order to ollo the example of his
friend? He looked over the paper to see
II Paul Rodier had collaborated. az his
friend had. Bernardet skipped over the
headlines and GLANCED at the theatrical
news. "Politics-they are all the same
70 m~e-ministeltal crisis-nothink new
about that. That could as we'll be pub
iished in yesterdays pcper as today's.
Inc Crime OF the Boulevard de Clichy.'
All. good! Very good. We shall see
And he began to read. Had Paul Rodier
invented all the information to which
he had treated the public? What was
certain was that the police officer
1rowned and now gave strict attention
to what he was reading. as II weiehine
the reporters words.
fodier had republtshed the biography
OF the ex-consuL. M. Revere had been
mixed In South America in violent
dramas. He was a romantic person,
about whom more than the adyenture
.n Buenos Ayres was known. The re-
porter had gained his information from
an Aregntfana journal, the Presna. es-
tablished in Paris. and whose editor, in
south America, a visited intimately
the French consul.
The appearance OF a woman in black.
those visits made on fixed dates, as on
anniversaries. reveale an intimacy. a
relationship, perhaps. OF the murdered
man with that unknown woman. The
woman was young. elegant and did
not live in Paris Rodior had oat 49,,
self to discover her retreat. her name.
and perhaps. thank to her, to unrayei
the mystery which still enveloped the
murder. 80
"Heuh! That i. not very precise in
formation" thought the police officer.
But at least awoke Bernardet's curios-
ity n Intelligence. It solved no prob
lem. but 1t put one. NJ. de S%atines'
famous search for the woman came nat
urally to Paul Rodier's pen. and he An
1shed the article with some details
about Jacques Dantin. the intimate. the
only friend Of Louis Pierre Rovere AMI