River Falls journal. [volume] (River Falls, Pierce County, Wis.) 1872-2019, 1912-12-26

a liar, and that il he did not put the
cards In my pockets, he knows who
did And
Pardon me- interrupted the Wis
comte, we cannot allow this. We SIN
cerely hope you may prove your inno-
conceive hope it for your sake And
this is all we have to say to you for
the present."
After pause my visitor resumed:
i have no recollection of how | got
home that evening; and even the next
morning | could not realize that it had
not been a fearful dream Several
days | spent trying to unravel this mys
terry, when received two letters from
England. The first was from my ia
Their. The poor man is heart-broken.
He had had a full account of what
had occurred at Madame's house. He
| advised me to go away, somewhere in
the Colonies, and remain there till this
affair is forgotten. The other letter
was
He again stopped, and hid his face
in his hands.
1t was from my fiancee, the girl /
was to have married in three months.
on my return to England She, too,
knew all about it, and informed me
that | must consider our engagement
at an end. / at once wrote to my IA
ther and to my fiancee, telling them
that | had been the victim Of a hor-
rible plot, imploring them to reply by
return post; but neither of them has
sent me line. | then remembered
my friend, l.. de v. a school-chum,
now on the diplomatic service. He has
known me all my life; and, after had
told him my story he gave me this
Introduction to you. Monsieur Goron,
| beg Of you to help mel"
II certainly will try to help you,"
| replied; but your story is incom-
plete | want to hear more about these
people-the vicomte, Bernard t,
Madame j, and even-if you allow
me-Mademoiselle Genevieve. Who are
they?"
Madame j is the widow of a
naval officer / was introduced to her
the first week | arrived in Paris, by
man in the studio where | was paint.
ing. She received every other even
ing. The vicomte is an old friend of
hers, and | am told, a member of the
| Jockey club. Bernard tt I met also
at Madame's house. We have often
dined together and gone to theaters."
Has he a profession? How does he
get his living?"
He is, | think, an insurance broker
but he has money, and does not seem
to work very hard"
"And Mademoiselle Genevieve? Last,
but probably not least?"
you are right, Monsieur Goron-
last, but not least; for | believe she is
the innocent cause of this business
have been thinking night and day,
and | am sure | have found the clue to
this mystery"
He colored slightly and said:
L am afraid what / am going to tell
| you will sound rather foolish, but you
will see it is important Bernard T
is In love with Genevieve, a striking
| ly handsome girl. She had Of late
shown me marked partially, and in
his mad jealousy Bernard has planned
this to ruin me in her eyes"
And this, according to you, is the
clue to the AFFAIR."
Undoubtedly. There can be no 9th
er cause why anybody should try to
compromise me in such horrible way.
With your help we will get to the bot
tom of it,
1t is queer, very queer bust
ness; darker than you seem to think.
do not say this to alarm you, but to
prepare you for few surprises. Give
me the addresses of all the people
you have just mentioned and come
here tomorrow at four o'clock. Don't
think of revenge; this may, or may
not, come later. The first thing to be
done is to clear you
My visitor thanked me and went
away with lighter step. But when he
returned the following day he looked
more distressed than before.
What has gone wrong?" | asked
ANY fresh trouble?'
NO." he replied moodily. except
that | have had letter from our law
yer begging me to go away at once
for the honor of the family"
With suppressed oath he threw the
letter on my table.
Never mind the lawyer. Tell him to
go to the-Colonies himself. Since
| saw you / have looked into the
matter and have gathered a little
useful information. First, let me tell
you that your theory about Bernard's
jealousy does not hold water. Excuse
my asking you-have you ever, say,
firted, with the girl?''
Never"
Have you given her any presents,
or made appointments with her?'
Never"
"All the better, for it simplif1es mat
ters Another question. Do they play
baccarat at Madame J-'s?"
Yes, three or four times a week"
Did you play?"
Yes, but gave up because"
You found you lost too much?"
You've guessed it. did lose"
| How much?"
| About two thousand dollars"
Just what l expected. l have re
ceived some queer reports about your
| friends. Madame is reputation is
FAR from good, and I suspect her salon
| TO be trap to swindle people like
you. Bernard T certainly did in
herit some money last year. but he
ran through it: and he is now the as
sociate. and possibly the tool. of nro-