The Bridgeport times and evening farmer., 1919-08-25
Special Correspondence.)

dONlse you 10 make peace with your Saints. if that be possible for such as you. The Court orders that you shall be shot"
 Those terrible words were address ed by the President of a Court Mar
 tial at Lille to Louis Richard, a young Frenchman, who confessed to l betraying so of his countrymen, who were shot by the Germans. | Mons. Delaubier, director of the | French Red Cross Society in Roubaix | told how, in 1915, Richard went to his office, how he asked for particu- | lars of the secret organization for l assisting fugitives to escape from the occupied territory. He came to my office" said Mons. Delaubier, "and | asked me to tell him of the commit
 tee. organized by Mons. Jacquet, the | schoolmaster, who was shot by the Germans. He told me that he wanted | to aid a fugitive, and I, God forgive
 me, I believed him. told him certain
 things and Mons. Jacquet was ar rested and shot"
 I Am Guilty!
 Richard could stand it no longer.
 Rising from his feet in the dock, he
 flung out his arms, and with dis | torted features, almost screamed at the Judge, Mons. le President, 1t is true that I am guilty of betraying l these people. but I was forced to do it. The Germans beat me with whips until I agreed to do their bid | ding. I confess my guilt "I deny you were forced to do this | work. You volunteered for it." The | words rang out cold and clear in the 1 little Court, which was crowded with 1 people.
 "Mons. le President, I swear I was | forced"
 once again, I deny the truth of that. The court has before it your | own letter to the Germans. offering to do this work for payment" It was | Major Schoeffer, the Prosecutor, who spoke. You lie as you have ever l lied" he continued. You volunteered to do this foul work"
 Telling of how the prisoner betrayed | Mons. Jacquet, a witness said-"Mons Jacquet was the organizer n --ff1e of the Secret Committee for Aiding Fugitives. Mons. Jacquet acted with |. Nurse Cavell. and Richard was or dered by the Germans to attempt to discover the secret organization and those connected with it. His first step
 was to interview Mons. De1aubier in Roubaix. to whom he posed as a pa trfotfc Frenchman anxious to aid his country.
 Against Nurse CaveH. Mons. Delaubier gave Richard a let ter addressed to Mons. Jacquet in Lille Ultimately the spy succeeded in making Mons. Jacquet believe he was loyal Frenchman, and allowed
 him to have possession of certain facts concerning the organization. Richard reported these things to the Germans. and he was instructed to continue to play the role, and there cannot be little doubt but that this
 scoundrel was largely Instrumental in arousing the suspicious of the Ger mans against Nurse Cavell. In letters | and reports Richard made to the Ger mans Nurse CavelHs house in Brus- sells was mentioned several times. On one occasion a number of fugf- l tives were to be conducted from the Lille district, and it had been ar ranged by the Committee that the men should. at various spots, meet guides, who would conduct them to places of safety Richard knew the whole plan, betrayed it to the Germans, and the fugitives, with Mons. Jacquet. the heroic schoolmaster of Lille, and three of his helpers-Mons. Martens,
 
 rested. All the heroes were condemn
 ed to death, and two days later were led out for execution.
 Kaiser Intervenes.
 "On the day after these noble sons of France died" said the witness,
 ''Richard was walking about Lille,
 wearing new clothes, ana spending money in cafes. He made no secret he had received payment from the
 Germans"
 Tn the towns of Roubaix. Maubeuge, and Hautmont he caused the arrest of no less than S5 persons. Many ot these victims were shot, while others were sentenced to long terms of inn prisonment.
 Not content with drawing a month- ly salary of s25 from the Germans. together with the payment of 20 to SO francs for every person he de- nounced. Richard levied blackmail upon his intended victims and resort ed to robberv. From one man in Hautmont. whom he attemptec 70
 blackmail. he stole 1000 francs. The man immediately reported the rob bery to the Germans, with the result
 that the spy was arrested and tried. He was sentenced to six years inn prisonment for the crime of 1916, and was aken to Germany to serve his sentence.
 While in prison Richard wrote an appeal to the Kaiser. In this he pro- tested his admiration for Germany and the Germans, told of his services to the German cause, protested his loyalty to Germany. mentioned the names of many of his victims whose deaths he had brought about, and finished up with an appeal for par don and permission to be naturalized as a German. He was granted a par don, and again entered the service of the Germans.
 Attempted Assassination.
 Once free. he hunted loyal French citizens relentlessly, redoubling his eff forts for the Germans. He worked in Belgium. but the BelgianS suspected him of treachery and an attempt was made upon his life in Brussels. He. however, escaped uninjured. and fled from the city, to turn up as a French policeman in Roubaix, where. however, he was too well known to be of any great service to the Ger mans. After the German retreat Rich ard had the audacity to Rturn to Lille. where he was arrested.