Year: 1876

"My GOdp she cried, burying her
face in her hands, shave l betrayed my
self after all p


Cabrion made no reply, and allowed
her passion to spend itself in silence.
At last she spoke, nervously and with an
accent of intense supplication..


Il see, Monsieur, that you know all ;
but beg and pray you to listen to my
side Of the story before judging me.
You who have Tisked your life to save
mine, and who have treated me with
such generous kindness, will not surely
turn your back upon poor weak woman
without lending her hearingw


Certainly not"


"What l am about to tell you is, as
sure you, the truth in every detail. l
am the murderess of Etienne Lang
laume."


81 thought So"


"My name is Charlotte Couchois. /
was milliner, and lived at No. Is Rue
de Temple, where Langlaume first met
me at ball at Sceaux. He offered me
money, prOfessed love, and promised to
marry me. What followed you may
guess.


Three months ago my child, his
child, was born"


The speaker laid her face in her hands
for moment, and then went on.


Up to the birth of the child we lived
together four days out of the seven. The
others, he alleged, were spent on business
in the country. After the child was born
he disappeared, leaving me destitute and
in debt, so much so that l was compelled
to resort to the streets for food for myself
and comforts for my child.


"Last month the child fell ill, and l
went in search of its father to obtain
money for medicine for it. did not find
him until the night of the Goth of
October, when I met him going into a
house in the Rue de Rivoli with lady.


81 asked the porter who they were, and
he told me M. Langlaume, the great
restaurateur, and his wife. His wife! l
staggered away sick and faint. Badly as
he had treated me l had loved him until
now-but now!


II returned home to find my baby
dead. l had not sufficient money to bury
the poor waif, and as last resource went
to the Rue du Rivoli, and demanded to
see M. Langlaume. He denied ever hav-
ing known me, defied my threat to ex-
pose him to his wife, and ordered me out
of his house.


"That night met rich Prussian at
the Mabille, whOgave me sufficient money
to bury my poor dead baby. Next night
l met him again, and we drank and
rioted, as if my heart had been anything
but the lump of lead it was, and my
4hAn 90 hnt mi ha
little grave in the gloomy cemetery under
the cold rain. At midnight we parted.
He to drive to a gaming house on the
Boulevard, to go home.


MY way led me through the Rue de
Rivoli, and as passed has house grim
idea took possession of my maddened
brain. / caused the fiacre to stop, dis
missed the coachman, and returned to
the house where the monster who had
ruined me dwelt. l had no trouble in
passing the porter, who recollected me
from the day before, and probably fancied
me some new mistress of his employer,
and was soon in the room where l had
parted with Langlaume yesterday.


He had evidently spent the evening
abroad, for he was lying on the lounge,
fully dressed, and breathing heavily, like
q drunken man. What followed is very
indistinct to me. remember noting the
glimmer of weapons in cabinet in one
corner of the room, and my next recol-
lection is of standing with smoking gun
in my hand, and the smell of powder in
my nostrils. The sound of the report had
deafened me, but had not aroused him.
He lay Just as he had when / entered.
He must have been instantly killed


"Thls is my story" Charlotte Cauchois
resumed after pause. "What followed
you know better than l. l have concealed
nothing from you. and care not what use
you may make of the knowledge. You
can imagine, from what you saw of me
few days ago, that life is not of much
value to me-"


Cabrion rose, with respectful bow.


"You have nothing to fear from me,
he said. 81 have two thous-
and francs, which are entirely at your
service, and passport, which was made
out two weeks ago for my sister, who ex-
pected to leave Paris for business visit
Germany. She is too i'll to travel. 1t
would be pity that the passport should
be wasted, especially as a train leaves at
ten o'clock tonight"


After dark that evening a cab drove up
to the door of the Hotel de POdeon, and
received gentleman and lady, closely
veiled, who drove to the terminus of the
Railroad, at Neuilly. Few
words passed between them. The gen.
tleman purchased ticket for Kehl, and
installed his companion in first-class
carriage. AS the whistle sounded for de-
parture, he put his hand in at the window
and bade her farewell.


"Adieu, Monsieur. How can ! ever
thank you, generous, noble heart"


"By not thanking me at all. You
served the rascal right"


With rush the train was off, and
Cabrion turned away. Two days later he
was arrested for assisting a felon to escape,
for the murder had been traced to
Charlotte Cauchois. He made no effort
to conceal his guilt, but told the story of
the woman as she, now safe across the
border, had told it to him. The Judge
was interested, and the jury 80 moved
that they returned verdict of "not
guilty" without leaving their seats. AS
Cabrion left the Courtroom he was met
by two of the Judges who shook him by
the hand.


The case was an orthodox nine-days
wonder in Paris, and Cabrion was for
that time lion. His salary on the paper
was doubled, and he gained the entree of
more than one great mansion. OF
Charlotte Cauchois he never heard
again.