Essex County herald. [volume] (Guildhall, Vt.) 1873-1964, 1915-12-10

uDOn your courage" said the prince
with asperity. Prey recollect your
compact, and that you have had ample
time to make your dispositions"
He placed a pistol in the captains
hands-not, however, until he had
handed the other to Won Lindorf.
AT twelve PAGES" he said. You
would prefer to measure with me?'
he continued, turning to me.
Il am satisfied to leave the matter
to your h~ighness,' | answered.
Twelve PAGES were measured off,
and we took up our positions with the
moonlight favoring both equally.
They are hair triggers. gentle
men, said the prince. when all the
arrangements had been completed
You will face each other and fire at
the count of three. Are you ready?"
They raised their pistols. The
counts IA aimed steadily at the
F~renchman's heart, but Paradis'
weapon described a wavering circle.
"One!" said his highness.
l stepped from my principals side.
The pistol pointed anywhere but at
the count; the captains distress was
dreadful to contemplate. | saw him
moisten his dry lips furtively.
Two"
Paradis seemed to pull himself to-
gether, and his pistol covered the
count almost as steadily as Won Lin
DORIS covered his heart.
Three"
The shots rang out together. fhe
count remained motionless where he
stood. The Frenchman uttered a mirth-
less laugh, fell on his knees, looked up
at US with all the elimination of his
despair upon his face, and then fell
forward.
HE is dead" said the crown prince
solemnly as he rose from his side.
The pistol ball had penetrated the
heart and come out upon the right side
of the body. The crown prince
plunged his hand under the clothes
and pulled out what looked like a
lump of a shattered by the ball,
but retaining certain cOnformations
like those Of the impression of a huge
key.
In the center of this amorphous
lump was the pistol bullet, The
crown prince extracted it, looked at
the broken lump of wax, and put it in
his pocket.
A lantern light flashed through the
trees, shouts were heard, and two men
n a woman burst through into the
place where we were standing. The
woman was Fraulein Wedenkampf.
One of the men was Weisknopf: the
other | recognized later as Herr EN-
merich, the director of the giant gun
foundry.
They came forward, stopped. and
stared at his highness, at me, at the
body upon the ground, and at the
count, who, standing silent, with
folded arms, stared at the mar whom
he had killed.
Here is what you sought. Herr EN-.
merich,' said the crown prince, plac.
ing the lump of wax in his hands.
The director looked at it. and burst
into historical EXPLANATIONS.
1T is useless, your ~highness," he
shouted. with anger in his voice. 1t
is useless to us. All has gone fol
nothing"
Yes, all has gone for nothing" re,
peated Fraulein W]edenkampf stonily
| maryeled at her self-control. in the
presence of the body of her lover.
The crown prince took Herr EN-
merich by the arm.
"A short explanation may be in or
der he said. Herr WeisknOpf,
wish you good evening"
For the second time the fnancier
taken abacl, looked utterly mortified
Il wish you good evening, meir
herr" his highness continued. And
Weisknopf, with a snort OF rage, de
liberately turned his back on the
crown prince and withdrew.
You will have the goodness to &C
straight home, mein herr" the prince
called after him. Now listen, Herr
Emmerich-Or perhaps | should rather
address you, Herr Graf. since yor
know nothing OF this affair. That lumI
of wax was an impression of the ia
nous French clavette, the key to the
seventy-tiye mn. Creusot machine
gun"
Count Won Lindorf raised his dull
eyes to the princes face. So" HI
observed.
And that gave me the key to the
situation.
So greatly did this famous gun out
class that made at the Wedenkampi
works that the possession of a mode
by the German government would al
most bring the much-dreaded wal
upon the stage.
Measuring but 80 inches at the muz
zlo, this deadly little weapon. OF
which some twenty-five thousand were
known to exist, had terrorized the
German government. and fabulous
sums had been spent in the eudeavol
to discover the secret of its manufac
ture. One of the features which char
acterized it was the entire absence
of recoil, due to its glycerin jacket.
Its most remarkable feature, how
ever was this; Whenever, upon the
field of battle, it might become nee
essary to abandon it, by moving {
small key, called a %"clavette," the
piece dropped apart in such a manner
that the secret of its construction
could not be discovered.
This was the secret which Paradis
was bringing to Fraulein Weden
kampf.
Captain Paradis received one hun
dred thousand marks from Herr Weis