St. Tammany farmer. [volume] (Covington, La.) 1874-current, 1908-06-13
T9om IT'S 6Am- COVERED LlR1 Issued
a HANAcAL ELL. ...

duke of Lambay" was phrase which
was often uttered by the lips of the
gamins of Paris.
If the grotesque appearance of his
mansion was such as to awaken sus-
picions of the owners insanity, one
might infer upon second though ;
that there was method in his madness
and that he hoped to inspire fear
thereby in the minds of his enemies.
And the number of those enc
mics was legion, ranging from
the lowest to the highest mem
bers of society Not only did
his chosen associates of the gutter
hate him, but his family ever treas
ured resentfully the memory of the
fraud by which, when cast out of his
| duchy, the discrowned prince succeed
ed in annexing the diamond millions
| which rightfully belonged to the
crown.
But the duke was far too cunning
to rely entirely upon the outside ap.
pearance of his forbidding lair and the
man traps that lurked here and there
in the grounds, for protection. Ere
hostile step could approach his
| apartments a thousand bells would
startle the air with their brazen
clangor Every door was equipped
with a bell and all of these doors
converged towards the bedroom and
private study of the duke In the
rear of these two rooms reposed the
strong box which contained the dia
monds. And here row of loaded pts
tolls communicated by unseen wires
with electric bells.
Should a careless hand unwilling
ly press one of the buttons which op
Grated the alarms sheet of flame
and volley of bullets would scorct
and shatter the luckless intruder.
The ghoul-like appearance of the
possessor of this great treasure wa:
such as to shock the sensibilities o.
the most hardened citizen. His age
was an unsolved problem guarded BY
a mask of paint that lent a frightfu
encircled by false whiskers and sur
mounted by a wig Of nondescrip
color. In his movements he resem
bled an immense puppet, walking will
tense, jerky steps rs though ever!
stride were controlled by invisible
strings worked by a concealed opera
tor. A curious rattle, caused by thu
striking against his corset steels o
a chain mail shirt which he wort
constantly as a protection against thu
possible stab of an assassin, aWokt
in the mind of the observer the no
ton of living skeleton.
Living as he did the person of THU
erratic nobleman was an object of NJ
small solicitude to the police of Pari
who were constantly called upon t.
extricate him from the intrigues ant
plots of the ruffianly partakers of hi
pleasures. 1t might be imagined tina
he must inevitably have fallen a vic
tim to some of the many scheme
Matched by those DESTROYS of acquiring
his wealth, but though the perils t.
which he was exposed were numerou
and deadly it pleased an inscrutabl
providence to enable him to avoid tn
pitfalls which surrounded, him. No
were there wanting instances wher
this degraded scion of noble hous
was compelled to appear before tn
authorities in the role of defend
ant. In most of these cases the duk
was selected as an object for black
mail, but on one occasion at leas
there was scant doubt of his guilt
! Among his servants there was
pretty young English lass named Ellie
Crosby who had not been long in hi
service before attracting the admire
ton of the duke, who made advance
to her which were Indignantly spurnet
by the girl, the latter evidently beinI
different type from the class of fe
i males that usually belonged to hi
graces household. Exactly wha
transpired within the walls of tn
gloomy mansion after Ellen repulse
her master was never brought t
light, but the fact remains that o.
the morning of November 20, 1856:
her lifeless body was discovered ly