Newark evening star and Newark advertiser. [volume] (Newark, N.J.) 1909-1916, 1910-06-24
Continued from Y..ierdny.,

F SAAbbSobiV VI idNC hafC 0NOlt IA
the Cabaret Noir. Boulevard de Mont
martre."
You are generally known as The
Worm"
That is So
You nave served several periods Of
Imprisonment, and have paid over 400
francs in fines?'
'"I have % kept count, but 1 sup
ppose it is all written down there" and
ne jerked his thumb toward the con
viction book on the comnlissary's desk.
You are a noted thief. and you OBJ
tanned your nickname by reason Of
your dexterity in picking locks and
climbing through s~cullery w~indows?"
''If you say SO, monsieur. your words
annot be disputed"
Very we'll" The commissary
scratched a few lines on a memoran-
dunn tablet. Then he suddenly raised
his quick eyes and fastened them on
the prisoner with the direct question:
How came you to be detained in
such an extraordinary manner in the
house, No. IL Rue Barbette, y%ester-
day."
A vacant and stolid expression In
tended to convey an idea of utter Ia
nocence came over The Worms face.
Relieve me, monsieur" he said, Il
annot give you the slightest e%xplana-
ito of that extraordinary incident"
Indeed. You surprise me. | suppose
you wish me to understand that you
casually strolled in out of the street
and were set upon by three Turks.
who gagged you and bound you with
leather thongs, leaving you to starve
quietly to death If you had not been
rescued by reason of a chanc visit
raid to the place by myself anu
others?"
IT assure you, monsieur, that, strange
as it may seem. you have almost re-
lated the facts. | went to the place IN
question with a very ordinary message
from a Turkish gentleman with whom
i have a slight acquaintance. The
other Turks listened to me with the
gravity peculiar to their nation, and
then. before / could offer a word OF
remonstrance, treated me exactly AZ
YOU saw"
AT what time did you GO there"
at must have been nearly 3 O'Clock.
the day before YESTERDAY" was the an
And what message did you bring =
81 was told to ask the Turkish gem
tlemen to be good enough to cross the
Point Neuf exactly at $40, when they
would meet a friend who desired to
give some information to them"
"Oh, come now" said the commits
isary, with a knowing smile, that VIII
not do, Petit. You are far too old a
hand to convey such a childish message
AS that. What reason car you have
for seeking to shield these men who
treated you in a barbabrous way and
left you to die a cruel death"'
ION my honor began the thief
melodramatically. but Brett here inter
rupted the conversation.
xvii Won alow me- he said to the
commissary, ito put a few questions 70
Abe man?"
Certainly" was the answer.
Now listen" said Brett, sternly gaZ-
ing at the truculent little rascal with
those searching eyes of his, which
seemed to reach to the very spine. II
us useless for you to attempt any fur
Their pre~varication. We know exactly
who are your confederates. We are
acquainted with a large number OF the
that frequents the Cafe NOR
Do not forget that / was present
when YOU tried to palm OF
on Observation-Disclosures the false dia-
n1onds. which your confederstes
hoped he would accept. For you to at
tempt now to escape from the law Is
homeless. The sole chance you have
Of RENTING n punishment which may
even lead you beneath the guillotine Is
to confess fully and freely all that you
know concerning the outrage which mas
been committed.
No. don't interrupt me" he con
tinued with even greater emphasis,
when "Le YER tried to break in. You
will tell me thai you merely acted as
the agent Of others, and that you your
self are not conscious of the nature of
any crime that has been committed. ]
know that to be so. You have been
made a mere tool. You are the cat,
employed by the monkey to pull
the chestnuts out Of the fire, and you
have only succeeded in getting your
own paws burnt. our sole chance OF
safety now is to inform the commits
sary and me exactly how you came to
be mixed up with this affair
The Frenchman's truculency seemed
o vanish under Brett's cutting words
His wizened face even manifested a
faint flush of anger as the barrister
pointed out o he had been duped by
his employers and made to run risks
which they avoided.
Yet the order of his craft was strong
in it's influence, and he commenced an
other series of protestattons.
'I assure you gentlemen he cried,
that with respect to the Turks | have
no knowledge whatever of their pur-
suits or motives. / was present when
his English gentleman here was de-
batting with them, and ! understood
that they sven went so far as to use
threats against him. My mission was
package which l did not ever know
contained diamonds. either genuine or
false. No one could be more surprised
than myself when the Turkish gentle
man produced them" IA
who sent you there with the dia-
monds?' said Brett.
n rEven that l cannot tell you" said
Petit. ut was a mere chance affair.
4 was seated in a cafe slipping some
absinthe when a man asked me II I
would execute a small commission for
him. He explained that 1t was to de-
liver a parcel at a house not five min
utes distant, and
Il see interrupted Brett, with the
cynical smile which so often discOn-
eerted glib liars like Petit. ut Is hope
less to expect you to tell the truth.
However. / think / know a way to