Catoctin clarion. [volume] (Mechanicstown, Md.) 1871-1940, 1915-08-05
NO. e..
leaving him to drop grad.

"By degrees the various members Of
the crowd separated from each other,
every one going in his own direction.
On my part / was careful not to allow
myself to be joined by any chance &C.
qualntance, so that / soon found my
self walking alone, though / fancied /
could hear the cautious footsteps of
Montalembert dogging me from be-
hind.
Carefully refraining from any back
ward glance, | pursued my way till
came to a long and rather narrow
street which led directly into the one
in which my house was situated. As
turned into it, saw something which
caused my heart to beat violently. Ad-
vancing towards me in the obscurity,
from the far end of the street, was the
figure of man. The next moment the
moon penetrated the clouds which had
muffed 1t. and / perceived that the
approaching figure was my cripple Of
the night of the murder.
"Peering up into my face with tho
one eye which was not hidden by the
bandage, the fellow commenced to, de.
mand money in the usual whine of his
class. l affected to hesitate, stopped,
and put my hand into my pocket. At
the same moment my intent ears
caught light, swift football on the
road behind me.
81 can hardly describe how the rest
happened. l felt something strike me
violently in the back, then came Q
crash of splintered steel, an oath, and
loud cry in Montalemberts voice az
he came running up from the rear.
Leaving him to deal with the ruftian
behind me, sprang forward and
clutched the one in front.
'As had anticipated. his lameness
was feint. Instead, found myself
engaged with an active, powerful man.
who let fall his crutches, and struggled
so desperately in my grasp that 1t was
all could do to prevent his escape till
Montalembert came to my assistance.
'The other man, it appears, had
been too quick for him. He had taken
to his heels the moment he heard Mon
talembert approaching, and being q
good runner, had soon made pursuit
hopeless Nor did ever find out who
he really was, though l imagine him
to have been a mere subordinate in.
strument.
with regard to his companion it
was different. BY our united efforts
we succeeded in securing him and
dragging him into the house a prison
er. There, his bandages torn off and
some false hair removed, his identity
was quickly disclosed. 1t was the
chief of police himself!
Il need not repeat the expressions
which | addressed to him, and which
he received with obstinate silence. But
it did not take me long to realize that
it was useless to talk Of Furnishing him
for his crimes. The only advantage !
could gain from my victory was to ex.
tort confession of the real authors
and motives of this villainy.
''As soon as had exhausted myself
in reproaches, therefore, said to him:
"'But 1t Is not you with whom l am
concerned, but those from whom you
received your instructions. Your fate
is in your own hands. Tell me the
whole of the circumstances frankly,
and you shall go unharmed: refuse.
and l will take you back to the spot
where you attempted my life and shoot
you down as l might have done at the
time
"He turned pale at this threat, which
he had evidently not expected. These
gentry who undertake to play fast and
loose with the lives Of others, always
attach an extraordinary value to their
own miserable existences.
"'M lie Baron, I swear to you that
am speaking the truth when I say that
know absolutely nothing Of this af.
fair beyond the orders which I re.
ceived. Those orders were to waylay
M. Starovitch and you, and If either Of
you should be wearing white thread
on his back, to kill him. You know
yourself that the first time, two nights
ago, let you 60, because my agent
failed to see the white thread; and I
have been severely blamed for 1t since.
The thread must have come or
"'Yes, l took 1t off that night, be-
cause it was not convenient to me to
deal with you then said, seeking to
impress him with the idea that knew
everything. But now you have not
yet told me from whom you received
these orders you speak Of
Il took out my revolver and laid Il
on the table.
"'Well, then, If must say it-from
Prince George himself
"'Thank you, that Is enough. Now
as soon as you have written that down
and signed 1t In the presence Of this
gentleman and myself, you may 60
home
Ten minutes later he had gone.
leaving me in possession Of a docu'
ment which / re gal ded as not less val
liable than the papers entrusted to me
by poor Starovitch.
Afterwards, the affair passed out
of my hands. You may imagine that I
had had enough of Russian diplomatic
methods to last me my lifetime.
simply gave Dourenski his packet,
with the seal upbroken, together with
the written confession of the chief Of
police.
"Dourenski went straight to the pal
ace. What exactly transpired between
the prince and him I cannot say. But
the following week Europe was
startled by the news that Prince
George had abdicated in favor Of his
son, a boy of thirteen.
Il have sometimes suspected that
the contents Of the packet were not po-
Iitical. and that this clever Dourenski