The Bon Homme County independent. [volume] (Tabor, S.D.) 1904-1913, 1908-12-17
The Crime of s''Ti:is =. /,
a 3. Il. the Boulevard
CHAPTER XII.

M. ernafue was u~luhlpnaFt. nc
went home 10 dinner in O Jubilant
mood. His three little girls dressed
laIike, clasped him round the neck. all
ut h same time, while Mime. Bernar-
Diet. always fresh. smiling and gay.
held up her face with its soft, round.
rosy cheeks TO him. ....
my little ones" said the officer. IT
believe that l have lone well, and that
my chief will advance me or give me
some acknowledgements, I will buy you
some bracelets. my dears, IL that hap
pens. But II is not the idea Of filthy
lucre which has urged me on. N /
believe that I have certainly made a
great stride In judiciary instruction, all
owing to my kodak. IL would be too
fectly useless one Let us 60 to 0In-
ner. I am as hungry as a wolf"
He ate, truly, with a good appetite,
scarcely stopped to tell how the as
sassin was under loci and key. The
man had been measured and had be-
come q nunber in h collection, al
ways increasing, Of accused persons In
the catalogue continued ach day for
the museum Of crime.
"Ahi He Is moi happy" said Ber-
nardet between two ~spoonfuls OF soup.
NO happy. not happy at oil. Not
happy, n neutrality-suspicious.,
moreover. his Innocence. as they all do.
a IA GA1lOlIdINs
But" sweetly asked good little
Nine. B~ernardet, what IL he is inno-
scentf" And the three little girls, rails
Ing their heads. looked at their father
On IL to repeat their mothers question.
The eldest murmured, Yes, what II
mamma Is right?" .... .".....
Bernardet shrugged his shoulders.
To hear them, IL one listened TO
them. one would believe them all inno-
cent and the crimes would have to
commit themselves. II this one is In
tnocent, ! shall be astonished as IL /
should see nov fall in Paris in June.
17e will have to prove that he is inno-
cent. These things prove themselves.
Give me some more soup, Melanie."
AS Nine. Bernardet turned q ladelful
OF hot soup into her husbands plate she
softly asked: Are there no Innocent
ones condemned? Do you never de-
ceive yourself?' Bernardet did not
Stop eating. Il cannot say. No one is
infailible. no one. The shrewdest de-
'ceive themselves; they are sometimes
duped, but 1t is rare, very rare. AS
well to say that 1t Toes not happen
L~esurques, yes (and the three little girls
opened wide their large blue eyes as
ut O play, h Lesurques OF the Courier
de Lyon, who has made you weep so
many times al thu theater at Mont
martre. One would like to revise his
~ hCtttnldl0f ultkl, Dul IIO Otlc HAS
been able to do Il. / have studied his
trial. BY my faith. ] swear, 1 would
condemn him stiii-Ah. what good
soupi'' "
"But this n today?" asked Mime.
Bernardet. Are you certain? What Is
his manner"
"Dantin-Jacques Dantln. Oh, he is
p xentleman-a very fine man, elegant
in~deed-some Bohemian OF the upper
class. who evidently needed money and
who Revere had some valuables 1 n
his safe. The occasion made the thief,
and there It is"
Papa interrupted the eldest of the
three little girls, ''canst thou take us
70 see the trial when he shall be
SWORN"
h depends. 1t is not easy. I will
Try. 1 Will ask. II thou wilt work hard
oh. dame, said Rernardet. that will
be q dramal" g..
II will work hard
.Ah.' he said, opening O paper
coffee, he allowed his three little girls
20 dip Jumps OF sugar into his saucer.
He threw himself INTO his easy chair;
he gave O sigh OF satisfaction. like a
man whose daily wearisome tasks are
behind him., and who Is catching a
moments repose.
All" he said. opening q paper
which his wife had placed on a table
$3.50 S6SNAhCA a " little Kl0EH
Of cordiai sent to them by some cousins
~ Burgundy. II am going to see what
mas happened n what those good
journalists ave invented about the af-
fair IN the Boulevard de CIichy. 1t Is
true, II ID o steeple chase between the
reporters and u.s. Sometimes they win
the race In the mornings. At other
times. when they know nothinR-ahi
Then they Invent, they embrolder their
histories" $1,000
A petroleum lamp lighted the paper
which Bernardet unfolded and began to
read.
Let us See what Lutece says"
lie suddenly remembered what Paul
Rodier a said to him, Read NV
Journal" The woman In black, found
IN the province, did she really exist?
Had the novelist written q romance I'm
order to follow the ann of his
friendI He looked over the paper to see
n Paul Rodier had c~ollaborated, as his
friend had. Bernardet skipped over the
news. 'Politics-they are all the same
10 me--rninisterial crlsis-nothInr new
hpout that. That could as we'll be pub
llshed In yesterdays pepper as today's.
The Crime OF the Boulevard de Clichy.'
An, good! Very good. We shall see.''
And he began to read. Had Paul Rodler
invented all the information to which
- hiS puuliC nat VAS
certain was that the police officer
frowned n now gave strict attention
20 what he was reading, as IL weighing
h reporters words.
Rodier had republished the bioE c. phy
OF n ~ex-consul. M. Revere had been
mixed In South America in violent
dramas. He was q romantic person.
about whom more than the adventure
IN Buenos Ayres was known. The re-
porter had gained his information from
an Aregntiana Journal, the Presna. es-
tabiished In Paris, and whose editor, In
South America. had visltad intimately
the French consul. ~
The appearance of q woman in black
those visits made on fixed dates, as on
anniversaries revealed an intimacy. a
relationship. perhaps, of the murdered
man with that unknown woman The
woman was young. elegant and did
not live I'm Paris. Rodier had set him
self to discover her retreat. her name.
and perhaps, thanks to her, TO ~unrayeI
the mystery which still enveloped the
murder. .N..
"Heuh! That is not very precise in
formation" thought the police officer.