Year: 1866




asked the Sub Prefect if he had any
suspicious He answered that all the
suspicious he had, were fastened upor
Juan Fontaix, the innkeeper. Nearly
all the murdered men had stopped al
his house, and he must have known
something of the business.


/ bade the officer to keep perfectly
quiet, not even to let one of his own
men know of my presence. Then ]
turned toward the inn, and finally en-
tered into conversation with my host
upon the subject of the mysterious
deaths. He pronounced it wonderful
and assured me that it had injured him
more than he could tell a..t f. =a


Parbleun' he muttered. &C they'll be
suspecting me next, if they have not
done so already" ~, ...s.,....-


1 was soon satisfied that Juan Fon-
talk knew nothing Of the guilty party,
He was very fearful, and sometimes
blanched and trembled at the very
thought. Most people would have seen
in this signs of guilt, but ! thought diff
ferent1y.


I spent all the next day in the town,
ostensibly engaged in business with the
factories, but in reality hunting after
some clue to the object of my mission.
Night came again, but / had found no.
thing new. 1 was perfectly satisfied
that the murderer had laid his plans so
deeply, that no circumstantial clue
could be found IF I would find him,
[ must catch him with the guilt upon
him


I had given an assumed name at the
inn, and stated that I belonged to Tou-
lon. On the next morning called for
my bill, and informing my host that /
was off for home Then ] went to the
fruit preseryers and told him the same,
stating that | must confer with my
partner before I concluded my bargain.
After this | went to the woolen factory
and saw the business agent. His name
was Louis Cazaubon, and he had come
to Castellane about a year before He
seemed to be ightforward busi-
ness man, and yet he was the only man
whom thought of suspecting In con-
versation about the murders, he had
been little too free and handed,
treating the subject more cody than
a man with heart would be apt to do.
But still I had been unable to prove
anything against him. On the present
occasion [ told him, as / had many
others, that I must return to Toulon.


" If you have not money with you,
we can give you credit for it" he said.


told him that I had plenty of money
but was not fully prepared to pay the
prices he demanded He said, very
we'll :" and added that he should be
very happy to sell me when I came
again. / bade him good day, and then
departed AS soon as I was alone,
began to suspect Mons. Louis Cazau-
bon in earnest. When l told him that
l had money, but did not wish to pur-
chase, why didn't he banter me ? Sim
ply because he wished me to leave town
with the money in my pocket At least
so it appeared to me. This was suffi-
cient ground for me to work upon, and
I resolved to watch the man a little
while. SO rode to an out Of the way
place and left my horse, and then re-
turned and concealed myself i'll a posi-
ton where / could watch the move
ments of Louis Cazaubon.


In a few moments, he came out of
the factory and walked away. His step
was hurried and eager. I felt sure that
he was not the man that had done the
direct work of death. The plot was
deeper than that, or he would have
been discovered ere this. So [ resolv-
ed to wait while and see if he return
ed / would have followed him if I
could have done SO with safety; but he
might have detected me, and that would
not do. However, in less than fifteen
minutes he came. He walked with a
sober innocent air.


I saw Cazaubon at his desk, and then
returned to my horse. / knew that
/ had a risk to run now, but l was
ready for it. If the factory agent was
at the bottom of the crime, and meant
to have me robbed, he had already set
his machinery in motion, and the next
development would be upon the road.
1 examined my pistol and then left the
town, taking my road along the river,
toward the Alps.


At the end Of half an hour, came to
the slopes of the Barjois mountains,
and soon afterward entered the wood.
/ now began to be careful, and kept my
eyes about me. I will not say that ]
was wholly without fear for the mys-
terious manner in which the murders
had been done, verged SO closely upon
the marvellous, that sort of supersti-
Gus dread attached to it. Had the vic
tins been shot or run through with a
sword, or had their throats cut, I
should have had no sort of dread
But this was new ground. Death had
come here nobody knew how. Itmight
have come from an invisible hand and
in dead silence. Yet when / reas-
oned upon the subject, l felt sure that
the murderer must approach very near
to his victims ere the blow was struck,
since it must be some direct and pow
erful agent that could produce death
in so strange a manner.


/ had crossed the little cascade of
Saint Esprit, and was decending short
steep hillside when saw a young man
by the road side, at the foot of the de-
cent, engaged in whipping a mule
He was slightly built fellow, and his
coarse garments were covered with
meal. I knew that there was a mill
upon the branch of the Verdon, not far
back, and supposed he might be the
ra;llor,s hoy Is came nearer ] SAW