The Oakley herald. [volume] (Oakley, Idaho) 1908-1961, 1922-02-10

'hAohoiJ cNchiuS- III an duCleu'
mansion in the Rue de Grenelle
and each one had his story. his sto-
~ which he affirmed to be true.
Then the old Marquis de la Tour
Samuel, who was eighty-two years
old, rose, and went and leaned up
en- the mantle-piece. He said, with
voice which shook a little:
81 too, l know a strange story,
so strange that it has simply pos
sessed my life. 1t is fifty-six years
since that adventure happened, yet
not month passes without my Sec
ing it all again in dreams. That
day has left a mark, an imprint of
fear, stamped on me, do you under
stand? Yes, for ten minutes l suf-
fered such horrible terror that from
that hour to this a sort of constant
dread has rested on my soul Unex-
pected noises make me tremble all
over; objects which in the shades of
evening l do not well distinguish
cause fe a mad desire to escape.
The fact is, | am afraid of the night
mo. l admit that / should new
er have confessed this before arriv-
ing at my present age. But l can
say what like now When a man
is eighty-two years old it is permit
ted him to be afraid of imaginary
dangers. And n the face of real
ones l have never drawn back, !
mesdames.
"The affair so disturbed my spir-
it, and produced in me so profound !
so mysterious, so dreadful a sense
of trouble, that l have never told I
recesses of fly heart, in that corner
where we hide our bitter and our
shameful secrets, and all those I'M
speakable stories weaknesses
which we have committed but when
we cannot confess.
Il shall tell you the tale exactly
as it happened, without trying 10
explain it. Certainly it can be ex-
plained-unless we assume that
was mad. But no, was not mad.
and | will give you proof of it. I'm h
agine what you like. Here aret he !
plain facts:
1T was in the month of July. y
1927. l found myself in the garri- '
son at Rouen. z
zone day, as l was taking a walk +
upon the quay, I met man whom y
thought | recognized. although n
did not remember exactly who he
might be. l instinctively made a ],
motion to stop. The stranger no. q
ticed the gesture, looked at me, and
fell into my arms T
1T was a friend of my youth a
whom l had once loved dearly. The =,
five years since / had seen him SEEM o.
ed to have aged him fifty His hair a,
was quite white; and when he
walked he stopped as if exhausted
he understood my surprise, and told
me about his life. He had been h,
broken by a terrible sorrow. >,
HE had fallen madly in love !,
with a very young girl, and he had
married her with kind of joyful GO
scstacy. But after one single year
If superhuman happiness. she had h,
died of a trouble at the
leart, slain. no doubt, by love
tself. =,
He had left the chateau the We &c
Y day of the funeral, and had
ONE to reside in his hotel at Rou-
n. He was now living there, sol
Lary and desperate, preyed on by tn
nguish, and so miserable that his nv
My thought was suicide. SCI
Now that I've found you
gain, said he, I shall ask you to wi
o me great service 1t is to go in.
ut to the chateau and bring me
ome papers of which l stand in ur-
emit needs They are in the secreta- yol
Z of my room. in our room.
lnnot intrust this commission to lea
! inferior, or to a man of business, roc
scause l desire impenetrable dis
elton and absolute silence. And
to myself, I would not so back rag
that house for anything in the
orld YOU
I will give you the key OF that
amber, which | closed myself
hen | went away And will
We you the key of the secretary. -
,sides that, you shall have line 80
I'm me to my gardener, which will a., -.
Ike you free of the chateau But 80
me and breakfast with me tomor- :.
W, and we can talk about all that
II promised to do him this ser
e. 1t was inded a mere excur- :"
n for me, since his estate lay on first
about five leagues from Rouen, l D;
i could get there on horseback and
an hour. apal
Il Was with him at ten o'clock and
next morning. We breakfasted say,