The midland journal. (Rising Sun, Md.) 1885-1947, 1910-07-01

| For the next hour her condititg
caused him the greatest anxiety, AMI
he felt that he could not leave hd
for an instant. Old Nanon was f;{
too mucn bewildered and terrified Il
be of the smallest use.
Meanwhile, the necessary measure.
were being carried out promptly bJ
the Mayor. The body Of the unfor.
tunate Monsieur Rigaud was removed
! to a bedroom; the doctor and cure
! were sent for; people began to come
and go. A hasty semi-oficial inquiry
was instituted,
! Arthur was most thankful to hear
/ of the arrival Of doctor. He was
becoming greatly alarmed by the con-
dition Of A.ntoinette, and he sent Na7
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 tho
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
child
4 The others seemed to understand
with instructive tact. An idea had
got about that Arthur was her fiance,
| and he did not contradict 1t. 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 clinging to Arthur. the painful
drawn expression died out of her
sweet face. She slept so heavily and
with such extraordinary stiffness UNI
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 that
| 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-collect evil
! dence seemed to point one way only.
4 Battiste had declared that only he
himself had known of the existence
of the diamonds. Arthur at once
told of what MademoiseIle 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-
1 nation to his 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
J belief that even then, already at the
time of her arrival, Monsieur Rigand
/ 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 if
called upon to give evidence at that
moment; he asked for time to collect
his thoughts.
They agreed at once, begging him
i courteously not to trouble himself,
i and went on talking less formally
| among themselves. 1t was we'll
known, unfortunately, that Paul Lee
4 due, in conversation with several in
i 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 bys.anders by the un-
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
4 gaud seemed to indicate that the deed
must have been done by stronger
arm than poor old Battiste could now
boast of. The force Of the blow must
have been terrific, and death instan-
taneous. for the skull was shattered
like a nutshell. He had evidently
been kneeling over 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 downwards, with both
| arms stretched out.
/ Arthur, in spite of his request for
time to collect his thoughts, could
not Aelp interposing to point out how,
impossible it was that that feeble old
q man should have been able to deliver
such 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 eross-ques-
tioning her as 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