The Tabor independent. [volume] (Tabor, S.D.) 1913-19??, 1918-08-29
THE
TEETH OF THE TIGER
MAURICE LEBLANC
TRANSLATED By
ALEXANDER TEIXEIRA DE MATTOS

"iokS hiy uiuI tAAO
phials containing the poison, the
needles which I used. an ebony walking
stick. two letters from Inspector verot,
in short, anything that might save the
culprits. Then how can any one know?
No, nobody will know nor ever will
know anything.
unless-unless some miracle hap
pens-unless the bomb leaves the walls
standing and the ceiling intact. I'm
less. by some marvel Of intelligence
and intuition, q tai Of genius, un-
ravelling the threads which have
tangled, should penetrate to the very
heart Of the riddle and succeed. after
a search lasting for months and
months, in discovering this final letter.
1t is for this man that I write, we'll
knowing that he cannot exist. But,
after all, what do ] care? Marie and
~Sauverand will be at the bottom sof
the abyss by then, dead n doubt, or
many case separated forcver. And I
risk nothing by leaving this evidence
OF my hatred in the hands of chance.
There, that's finished. I have only
to sign. My hand shakes more and
more. The sweat Is pouring from my
forehead in great drops. I am suffer-
ing the fortunes of the damned and I
am divinely happy! Aha, my friends,
you were waiting for my death!
You. Marie, im%prudently let me read
in your eyes, which watched me
stealthily, all your delight at seeing
me so Ill! And you were both of you
so sure OF the future that you had the
courage to wait patiently for my death!
Well, here it is, my DEATH! Here II is
and there are you, united above my
grave, linked together with the hand
cuffs. Marie, be the wife OF my friend
~Sauverand. ~Sauverand, / bestow my
pouse upon you. Be Joined together
in holy matrimony. Bless you, my
children!
The examining magistrate will draw
up the contract and the executioner
will e the marriage service. Oh,
the delight Of It! / suffer agonies-
but oh, the delight! What a fine thing
is hatred, when It makes death a joy!
am happy in dying. Marie is in
prison. Sauverand is weeping in the
condemned mans cell. The door
| opens.
Oh, horror! the men in black! They
walk up to the bed: Castor Sauve-
rand, your appeal is rejected. Courage!
Be a mani" Oh, the cold, dark morn
ing-the scaffold! It's your turn,
Marie. your turn! Would you survive
your lover? Sauverand is dead: it's
your turn. See, here's q ope for you.
Or would you rather have poison? Die,
will you, you hussy! Die with your
veins on fire--as I am doing, 1 who
hate you-hate you-hate you!
M. Desmalions ceased, amid the
silent establishment of all those
present. He had great difficulty
in reading the concluding lines,
the writing having become almost
wholly shapeless and illegible.
He said, in a low voice, as he
stared at the paper:
"'Hippolyte Fauville.' The
signature is there. The scoundrel
found a last remnant of strength
to sign his name clearly. He
feared that a doubt might be en-
tertained Of his villainy. And in
deed how could any one have sus-
pected it,"
And, looking at Don Luis, he
added:
1T needed, to solve the mys-
terry, a really EXCEPTIONAL power
of insight to which we must all do
homage, to which / do homage.
All the explanations which that
mailman gave have been antici-
pated in the most accurate and be-
wildering fashion"
Don Luis bowed and, without
replying to the praise bestowed
upon him, said:
"You are right, Monsieur lie
Prefet he was a mailman, and one
of the most dangerous kind, the
lucid mailman who pursues an
idea from which nothing will
make him turn aside. He pur-
sued it with superhuman tenacity
and with all the RESOURCES of his
fastidious mind, ensiaved by the
laws Of mechanics.
Another would have killed his
victims frankly and brutally. He
set his wits to work to kill at a
long date, like an expsrimenter
who leaves to time the duty of
proving the excellence of his in
vention. And he succeeded only
too well, because the police fell
into the trap and because Nine.
Fauville is perhaps going to die
NJ. Desmalions made a gesture
of decision. The whole business,
in fact, was past history, on which
the police proceedings would
throw the necessary light. One
fact alone was of Importance to
the present: the saving of Marie
Fauville's life.
"It's true," he said, eve have
not a minute to lose. Nine. Eau