River Falls journal. [volume] (River Falls, Pierce County, Wis.) 1872-2019, 1913-01-23


thing but pleasure.
Last night" | read, the police
were called to house in the Rue
Delambre, in the Montparnasse quar-
ter, where, in bedroom on the fifth
floor, they found the body of young
woman stabbed to the heart On a.
piece of paper pinned to her dress the
following lines were scrubbed in pen
Gil:
This woman, wretched spy in the en-
| ploy of the Russian police, has for a long
| time past watched young men and girls
studying at the Paris universities. Two
| girls who recently returned to Russia
were, on that woman's information. ar
rested at the frontier, and have not been
! heard of since. There are, we know, 9TH
er female spies now carrying on their ne
| farious work in some of the French wa
/ tering places, and their turn will soon
come.
| 1.-THE police are investigating the affair,
which has created tremendous sensation
among the Russian students here.
There was a moments silence when
| had finished, and then two or three
of the guests remarked that it was
terrible business. The count remained
silent. He soon after went to bed,
and | followed his example.
The next morning after breakfast |
sat outside the hotel smoking my
cigarette. The guests were at the
springs or strolling about, while the
countess had gone on one of her usual
peregrinations. Toward two the count
oppaarod apd DaccipU mo 0ayo mo
one of his formal mods. ] went up to
him.
Pardon me- l said; Il owe you an
apology for interrupting you some
what rudely last night; but | took the
liberty of stopping you from launching
into what looked very much like a
diatribe against the Russian authori-
ties You were apparently not aware
that political spy was sitting within
a yard of you"
"A SPY" he gasped
Yes, spy, in the person Of that
good-looking girl, Mile. Eugene Arco.
So, now, you will perhaps accept my
apology"
m. Guibert," he laughed, Il don't
know whether to challenge you to
fight or to ask you to do me the
honor to lunch with me today"
There is no necessity for either,
replied. 4 am only too happy to
have rendered you slight service"
How did you know she was spy?''
he asked. Have you any proof?''
mo, only strong suspicion. But We
shall now have proofs -.~4
The head waiter was standing at
the door
i have not seen Mile. Arco this
morning" / called out to him. Il hope
she is not ill.,
she has gone away" the man re-
piled. She left early this morning"
The count looked puzzled. We
walked little way down the road,
and then l said:
Il had my doubts about that girl
from the start; she is a bungler, a
novice in the business Fancy her
suspecting me, a native of Brittany, of
being a Russian Nihilist Political
spying is dirty work; but if you do it
you must do it well or it becomes dan
gerous, especially to the spy. And
that is why ] tried to knock the fear
into that young creature by reading
out that paragraph last night"
Yes, about those unfortunate girls.
Poor things!"
Reserve your pity for another oc-
casion, count. | invented that story. =
m. Guibert!" he cried, Il compli-
ment You on your perspicacity. May
| ask what your profession is?"
Il am a commission agent"
Well" he laughed, you would have
made a fine detective"
You are very kind. But for every
body's sake it will be we'll not to men,
ton this affair"
The count nodded assent.
After the spy incident the count be-
came very friendly and talked freely
to me on many subjects
The countess undoubtedly neglected
her husband. 1t was plain that a cool
ness existed between the couple; the
head waiter, who occasionally hon.
ored me with his confidence, informed
me that the lady was of humble ex-
traction. The count had met her
while she was companion to a widow
and had fallen violently in love with
her.
! Visitors kept pouring in, many of
| them members of the so-called smart
set" | did not like the appearance of
| several Of the newcomers, and | was
: glad my cure was drawing to an end
Then a remarkable incident occurred
The countess had gone on one of
| her excursions with her male and fe-
male followers, the organizer of the
party, as usual, being Rene Soudier.
Bright, witty, excelling in all sports,
Soud r was adored by the. women and
popular with the men, except with the
count. The latter Gisliked him cor,
daily, and rarely or never spoke 10
| him.
The party had left after luncheon,
and was not expected back before Z
O'Clock. At three in the afternoon, as
| returned from a walk, | saw the
count walking up and down in front
of the hotel. Something evidently had
gone wrong. The moment he saw me
he gripped my arm and led me to
| secluded spot in the garden.
/ m. Guibert," he began in an ex-
cited tone which he tried hard to con-
troll; m. Guibert, you proved yourself
very shrewd when you dealt with that
Russian girl. Allow me to apply to
you for advice. My wife's pearl neck
4