Year: 1869

ISLANDERS hastened to assist him. Finally,
by their united efforts, they succeeded in
withdrawing the body, from the narrow
tlue-a sad and frightful spectacle-the
mspgled and dlsfgured corpse Of poor
Ludmilla pEspsraye. h.'


Her face and neck were covered with
deep scratches and round purple spots at
regular intervals. There was no doubt Of
it, she had been strangled, and that by
some one possessed of superhuman
strength. The marks of the ten finger
nails were plainly visible. Yes, lit must
have been something more than human
strength that had dragged the poor girl so
tightly into the chimney that it required
the united efforts Of four men to draw
her body out again. sa,t


But what had become of her mother :
At least, where was her corpse, for no one
expected to fipd her alive.


Meanwhile, the police bad been alarmed
and were now hocking to the scene In
vain was the house thoroughly explored
from cellar to garret, Not trace of
either Madame rEsparaye or the muir
derer. ,..-


At length, on the pavement Of the back
yard or court, they found bloody, man
gIed heap, in which could scarcely be dis
covered resemblance to the humanform.
1t was the body of the miserable fortune
teller, crushed out of all shape, every limb
broken, and with frightful cash across
the throat-a cash that must have been
made by powerful hands, for as they has.
tened to lift the inanimate mass, the head
of the poor woman was found to have
been completely severed from her body.


The physicians summoned to examine
into the case declared that Ludmilla PES
parsye had been strangled by enc or more
persons, but that her mother had been
knocked down by powerful blows
from some blunt instrument, either
of wood or iron, and her head had then
been severed from her body, by a strong
and dexterous hand, with the razor found,
as before mentioned, in the unfortunate
woman's bed chamber.


Again and again the police explored
every nook and corner Of the house, but
not the slightest clue to the mystery of the
affair rewarded their efforts The famous
police OF Paris were for once completely
helpless The Rue Morgue, the quarter
st. Roche, indeed the entire city, became
feverishly excited over this tragedy, as in
explicable as it was terrible. 1r


The great question was, "Who is the
murderer" .....


New Madame pEsparaye for several
years past had had for her banker Mon
sieur Jules Migrand, of the firm of Mi.
grand g. Son, in the Rue Deloraine. The
police thought it necessary, therefore, to
take the deposition Of Monsieur Jules Mi
grand.


The banker deposed that Madame PES
paraye possessed fortune Of ten thousand
francs, and had been connected with him
in business for eight years; that she very
frequently brought her savings to him to
be added to her capital; and that three
days before her death she had come to him
and drawn out the sum Of four thousand
francsin gold She had not stated for what
purpose she wanted the money. He had di-
rected his clerk, Adolphe le Bon, to accom-.
pany her home with the money. He knew
nothing further in regard to the unfortu
nate woman.


OF course, the police now found in Mon
sieur lie Bon an object for their special ex-
animation. They determined to give that
young gentleman pretty thorough sitting.
The poor fellow, for the first time in his
life in the presence of the police, their
dark and sinister faces infusing species
of refined torture into their searching ques-
tiOns, turned pale with fright, and stood
with Chattering teeth and trembling knees
before the dread tribunal His answers
were given hesitatingly, but he finally
stammered out that he had accompanied
Madame l'Esparaye home, carrying two
bags for her containing four thousand
francs, and that at the door the madame,
thanking him, had taken one Of the bags
and mademolselle the other, and then
both had very politely bid him goodbye.
AS he hoped for salvation, this was all he
knew about the matter.


Now, the young fellow certainly
seemed innocent enough, and so tim.
orous that it was doubtful whether
he could have mustered up sufficient
courage to decapitate a chicken
Still, after certain preliminary huns /"
and "ha's," and various profound refec.
tions as to the depth of still waters and
the short-sightedness Of mankind in gen
eral, the police arrived at the satisfactory
conclusion that it could not result in the
least inconvenience to them if Monsieur
lie Bon were to be kept in close cOn6ne.
ment for few weeks.


And SO Adolphe was taken to prison
for further examination. In vain did the
magistrates torture him with sharp cross.
questionings; in vain did the police trace
out, step BY step, every act of,the clerk
on the day Of the murder; not the slight
est evidence, not even new ground Of
suspicion, could be found against him.


All at once the everopen and attentive
ears of the police became sensible of a
whisper foating about on the atmosphere
Of public opinion: "The murder must
have been committed by a chimney.
sweep; none but a chimney. sweep could
have entered the house, with its bolted
shutters and locked doors; none but q
chimney.sweep could have dragged the
body Of that poor girl so'far up the chin
ney,"


"Ah, those foolish people are wiser this
time than we pupils Of Monsieur Vidocq.
Why, of course, none but chimney sweep
could have done the murder Letus look,
than, among the most suspicious chimney
sweeps of Paris


And so saying, the police went among
the chimney;sweeps They found the
very one who had last swept Madame
PEspaTaye's Chimney-Franco Ramel.
He, they learned farther, had, ON the very
dag Of the murder, cleaned the chimney
Of house in the Rue Morgue, in the i'm
mediate neighborhood Of that occupied by
madame and her daughter. ~


Tie police we're in high spirits There
could be no doubt now They had vindi-
Gated their reputation. Arresting RaEnel,
they gave Adolphe le Bon his liberty.
They had amore promiaing candidate fol
the guillotine, fiH Hktr a


But their Triumph was destined to be
short lived. Nevertheless, every day they
discovered fresh grounds Of suspicion
against the chimney sweep On a close
examination Of his person, they found on
his arms and legs, but especially on biz
knees, many little scratched wounds
from the inger.nails of the victims Of hi
murdeTous frenzy aa


How did q You come by these scratches


They are not scratches every chin
ney-sweep has such marks always. w
get them from slipping and climbing II
narrow fnes where the SCOT is sharp


Bah that isa poor makeshift. Wha
were you doing at three o'clock on thi