Courier Democrat. (Langdon, N.D.) 1891-1920, 1910-08-25

followed remained blurred men,
cries in the minds Of Alice and
~ her rescuer. They wandered in
a strange subterranean region Of pas
sages and cross passages that widened
n narrowed, that assembled and de-
scended, that were sometimes smooth
under foot. but oftener blocked with
rough stones and always black as
night. Surely no more pathetic pair
than these two ever braved the mazes
of the Paris catacombs.
At any rate, through the CHASTITY hor-
TOR Of darkness and weakness and
pain there presently came hope-fick-
ering torches in the distance. then
faint voices and the presence Of
friends. some workingmen. occupied
with drainage repairs. who produced
stimulants and rough garments and
showed them the way to the upper
world, to the blessed sunshine.
An hour later M. Paul and Alice
We're in clean, cool beds at a private
hospital near the commissary's house.
with nurses and doctors bending over
them. And on a chair beside the girl.
battered and blackened, sat Esmer-
aida, while under the detectives pill
low in an adjoining room was the
scorched but unframed diary Of De
Heidelmann- Bruck!
During the weeks that Coquenil and
Alice lay in the hospital, slowly recov-
ering from the shock and their burns,
the time swung around for the trial
of Lloyd Kittredge on the charge of
numbering Martinez. the billiard play
ar.
dt was a delightful September after
noon. The courtroom in the Palais de
Justice was crowded with fashiona-
bles intent on witnessing the trial Of
Lloyd Kittredge. Pussy Wilmott, in
her most fetching gown, sat we'll down
In front. A distinguished looking man
pressed through the crowd and was
given a seat on the platform occupied
by the three judges. 1.-THE Baron de
Heidelmann-Bruck" whispered eager
tongues as the nobleman was thus hon
ored. Yes; it was the baron, intent
~ khS AooJ oSI LII IuO awful
drama he had inaugurated.
And now, suddenly, the blow fell.
AS the prosecuting officer scared along
In his oratorical fight a note was
passed u~nobtrusively to the. presiding
Judge, a modest little note folded on
itself without ever ar envelope to hold
it. For several minutes the tote lay
u%nnoticed; then the judge, with care
less eye. glanced over it; then he start
ed, frowned. and his quick rereading
showed that a spark Of something had
flashed from that scrap Of paper.
The presiding judge leaned quickly
toward his associate on the right and
whispered earnestly, then toward his
associate on the left. and one after
another the three magistrates studied
this startling communication. nodding
learned heads and lowering judicial
eyebrows. The public prosecutor blazed
through his peroration to an inatten-
tive bench.
No sooner had the speaker finished
than the clerk of the court announced
"a brief recess. during which the judges
withdrew for elaboration and the au-
dience buzzed their wonder. During
this interval the Baron de Heidelmann-
Bruck looked frankly bored.
On the return Of the three an an
nouncement vas made by the presid-
ing Judge that important new evidence
in the case had been received, evidence
of sc unusual a character that the
judges had unanimously decided to in
terrupt proceedings for a public hear
ing Of the evidence in question. 1t
was further ordered that no one be al
lowed to leave the courtroom under
any circumstances.
~tCall the first witness!" ordered the
Judge. and amid the excitement caus-
ed by these ominous words a small
door opened and a woman entered
leaning on a guard. She was dressed
simply in black and heavily yelled, but
her girlish figure showed that she was
young. AS she appeared Kittredge
started violently. The woman came
forward to the witness stand and lift
ed her veil. AS she did so three dis
! tinct things happened: The audience
murmured Its admiration at a vision
.of strange beauty. Kittredge stared in