The Abbeville press and banner. [volume] (Abbeville, S.C.) 1869-1924, 1908-04-01

becoming greatly alarmed by the con-
dition of Antoinette, and he sent Ma
non to beg for his assistance. He
administered a considerable dose OF
opium at once and Arthur sat by her
sofa watching for the effect with the
deepest anxiety. His heart ached and
bled for her, this poor, helpless child.
In her waking moments she chung to
him. and he soothed her and kissed
her as tenderly as if she were indeed
a child.
The others seemed to understand
with instructive tact. An idea a
got about that Arthur was her fiance,
and he did not contradict it. He was
thankful for the excuse it gave him
to keep the position toward her that
he had almost involuntarily assumed.
She slept at last, her hands relaxed
their clipging to Arthur, the painful
drawn expression died out of her
sweet face. She slept so heavily n
with such extraordinary stiffness un-
der the influence of the powerful
opiate that new fears began to assail
Arthur, and he again summoned the
doctor.
However, the doctor treasured him.
1t was all right, the best thing hat
could possibly happen to her, he said;
and he then at last felt that he could
make up his mind to leave her, and
obey the summons of the Mayor to
come and give the assembled mag
mates all the information in his
power.
Alas! all the rapidly-collected evil
| dence seemed to point one way only.
Battiste had declared that only he
himself had known of the existence
of the diamonds. Arthur at once
told of what Mademoiselle Rigaud
had said to him the night before, that
Battiste had spoken to her OF the
treasure, and that previously she had
heard nothing of it. The fact that
Battiste had volunteered this infor-
nation to lis masters daughter on
the very night of her arrival, he
thought, would tell greatly in the old
mans favor; but the doctor inter-
posed by asserting that it was his
belief that even then, already at the
time of her arrival, Monsieur Rigaud
must have been dead. Arthur, at the
moment, was almost bewildered by
all that had passed. He put his hand
to his head, and said that he was
afraid of making fatal mistakes II
| called upon to give evidence at that
moment; he asked for time to collect
his thoughts.
They agreed at once, begging him
c%ourteously not to trouble himself,
and went on talking less formally
among themselves. 1t was we'll
known, unfortunately, that Paul Le-
due, in conversation with several in
dividuals in Goucy, during his visits
there, had spoken Of his uncle's ner-
vous fears and apparent distrust OF
his old servant.
The worst of all was the effect pro-
duced on the ~bystanders by the I'M
happy old mans exclamation over the
body of his dead master: 1T is all my
doing"
On the other hand, the nature OF
the blow that had killed Monsieur Ri
gaud seemed to indicate that the deed
must have been done by a stronger
arm than Door old Battiste could now
boast of. The force of the blow must
have been terrific, and death instan-
taneous, for the skull vas shattered
like a nutshell. He had evidently
been kneeling owe the hole which
contained his treasure, with his back
TO the door by which the murderer
entered. He probably was struck
down instantly, for he was discovered
lying face d~ownwards, with both
arms stretched out.
Arthur, in spite of his request for
time to collect his thoughts, could
not help in%terposing to point out how
impossible it was that that feeble old
mar should have been able to deliver
such a blow, but they were rather
inclined to laugh at that suggestion,
asserting that Battiste was as good as
ever at telling trees, cutting up logs
of wood, etc. They summoned poor
old Nanon, utterly unconscious OF
what was going ON, and it made his
heart bleed to hear them cross-ques-
tioning her Is to her husbands capa-
bilities. and to hear her stoutly main
tain that in strength he was equal to
any young man yet. The old wife
made her boast with honest pride,
while she could not help wondering
why such irrelevant questions were
being asked at such a time as the
present. No trace Of a weapon could
be found anywhere, and the doctor
could form nc opinion as to what in
strument had delivered the blow. He
was a timiG man, with only the COM
monrlace experiences of a small
country practice.
Arthur had a theory of his own on
the subject, but he was afraid to
make suggestions p~rematurely. He
was under the strong impression that
the blow had been dealt with a life
Dreserver. Of Battiste's innocence he
had not the slightest doubt, and it
was with a bitter sense of his i'm
rotence to save him that he saw the
roor, faithful cid servant heavily
bound with ropes, placed in Mounier's
cart. and driven off to the gaol at
Goucy.
Monsieur Tasset set a seal upon
various bureaus, ordered in a couple
of women and a gen d'arme for the