Hopkinsville Kentuckian. [volume] (Hopkinsville, Ky.) 1889-1918, 1909-01-02


Who IS preventing your marriage
with her; some one who bas at.
tempted TO kin her so that she
should not be able to marry And
/ concluded with these words Now.
monsieur, you have only 20 tell me 10
confidence the name of the murderer
The words had uttered must have
struck him ominously. for when
turned my eyes on him I saw that his
face was haggard, the Precipitation
standing on his forehead and terror
showing 10 his eyes.
Monsieur be said to me, 1 am
going to ask Of you something which
may appear insane, but in exchange
for which ] place my life in your
hands You must not tell the magis-
trates Of what you saw and heard in
the garden Of the Elysee; neither to
them nor to anybody. swear to you
that / am innocent. and / know. feel.
that you believe me, but would raif-
er be taken for the guilty man than
see justice go astray on that phrase,
"The presbytery has lost nothing of
its charm nor the garden its bright
ness" The judges must know moth
ing about that phrase. All this mat
ter is In your hands. Monsieur,
leave 1t there, but forget the evening
at the Elysee. A hundred other roads
are open to you in your search for
the criminal. I win open them for
you myself viii help you. VIII
you take up your quarters here? You
may remain here to do as you please.
Eat, sleep here, watch my actions, the
actions Of all here. You shall be mas
ter of the Chandler, monsieur, but for
get the evening at the Elysee'"
Rouletabille here paused to take
breath. l now understood what had
appeared so unexplalnable in the de-
meanor of NJ. Robert Darzac toward
my friend and the facility with which
the young reporter had been able to
install himself on the scene of the
crime.
Everything seems to be pointing
against him." continued my friend,
land the situation is becoming ex-
ceedingly grave. NJ. Darzac appears
not to mind it much, but in that he is
wrong. 1 was interested only in the
health Of Mile. Stangerson, which was
daily improving, when something oc-
cured that is even more mysterious
than-than the mystery Of the yellow
room"
'Tmpossiblep I cried "What could
be more mysterious than that?Y
"Let us first go back TO NJ. Robert
Darzac," said Rouletabille, calming
me. II have said that everything
seems to be pointing against him. The
marks of the neat boots found by
Frederic Larsan appear to be really
the footprints Of Mile. Stangerson's
fance. The marks made by the bicycle
may have been made by his bicycle.
He had usually left it at the chateau.
Why did he take it to Paris on that
particular occasion? Was it because
he was not going to return again to the
chateau? Was it because, owing to the
off of his marriage. his rela-
tons with the Stangersons were to
cease? All who are interested in the
AudlICI lu0l lDOoE MEAE
to continue unchanged.
Frederic Larsan, however, believes
that all intercourse was at an end.
From the day when M. Darzac accom-
panied Mile Stangerson to the depart
ment store until the day after the
crime he had not been at the Chandler.
Remember that Mile. Stangerson lost
her reticule containing the key with
the brass head while she was in his
From that day to the even
ing at the Elysee the Sarbonne pro-
fessor and Mile. Stangerson did not
see one another, but they may have
written to each other. Mile. Stanger-
son went to the postofice to get let
ter which Larsan says was written by
Robert Darzac, for, knowing nothing
of what had passed at the Elysee, Lar
san believes that 1t was NJ Darzac
himself who stole the reticule and the
key with the design OF forcing her con
sent by getting possession of the pre-
cious papers of her father-papers
which he would have restored to him
on condition that the marriage engage
ment was to be fulfilled.
"All that would have been very
doubtful and almost absurd hypothe-
sis, as Larsan admitted to me, but for
another and much graver circum-
stance. In the first place. here is
which have not been able
to explain-M. Darzac had himself on
the oath gone to the postoffice to ask
for the letter which mademoiselle had
called for and received on the previ-
Gus evening The description Of the
man who made application tallies in
every respect with the appearance of
M. Darzac, who in answer to the
questions put to him by the examining
denies that he went to the
postofice. Now. even admitting that
the letter was written by him, which