Evening star., 1930-05-04

name was Clement Pascal and agreed that noe
o moment was to be lost.
Getting out his motor cycle, Guyvallet told
Bachelet to jump on behind, and away they
went at full speed, in the darkness of the night
and amidst torrets of rain, in the direction OF
the Wood of Verneuil.
On reaching the macadamized road which
skirts the Chateau de Verneuil they dsmounted
and by the light of the motor cycle lamp sought
for the distinguishing marks referred to in the
"DOrgeval" letter-no very easy task in the
pitch darkness and driving rain. At last, how
ever, they came upon the painted chalked
white band and the crosses they sought.
Following the trail for some 800 yards, con.
tinually stumbling over tree-rootS and stones,
they came at last to an open space, with ditch
and rudely made paths such as builders men
make when cutting up an estate into plots.
And, indeed, this was building lot, one of a
number in that part Of the Wood of Verneuil
known as the "BoiS de la Justice"
Searching around with the aid of the lamp.
they presently came across the grave. There
could be no doubt about it, for out of the newly.
turned earth at their feet protuded the pipe,
communicating with the coffin.
Bending down to the mouth of the pipe.
Bachelet called out in loud voice:
Clement Can you hear me? :. :. Clement!
Answer, man, for heavens sakei E. Clement!
Clement"
Twenty times the agitated man shouted, but
there came no answer. Guyvallet began to
moan and tremble, and BacheIet, in q broken
voice. expressed the fear that it was all over
with poor Pascal. It was no use wasting any
more time, he added; the best thing to do was
to jump on the motor cycle again, seek out
the nearest gendarmerie-station, that of Ecque.
Willy, and give information concerning the
abominable crime that had been committed by
persons unknown.
BY the time Bachelet and Guyvallet had
dragged the chef de brigade Of the Ecquevilly
gendarmerie from his oed, made the astounded
officer acquainted with the details of the situa.
tion and returned to Justice Wood" with an.
other gendarme. armed with pick and shovel,
day had just begun to dawn-a gloomy, rainy
day, in the pale light of which they began their
lugubrious task.
HARDLY had they removed few shovelfuls
of earth from the grave before a number
of builders laborers, working in the neighbor.
hood, were attracted by the unusual noise in
that part of the wood and Joined them. Thanks
to the joint efforts of the whole party, the
coffin was reached within a quarter of an hour
When the last traces of muddy earth had
been scraped away this coffin was found to be
roughly-constructed box of white wood
fastened together with screws and long nails.
1t was so cumbersome and heavy that the
laborers had great difficulty in moving it, and
only succeeded in raising it to the surface of the
ground by means of their picks and long iron
bars.
The coffin lid was ripped OF in trice, re-
vealing the dead body of a man dressed merely
in shirt and socks, and with pair of trousers
under his head as pillow. Above his head was
the mouth of the pipe which led from the
coffin to the out air. In addition to this means
of keeping him alive for a certain time the
rescuers found traces of food, including some
sticks of chocolate, which the damp had re-
duced to semi-liquid mass.
In one of the pockets of the dead mans
trousers was found his photograph, bearing the
Continued on T,Denty- second Page