Secret of tbe Plundered Safe By EMILE CHAPTER XXIV. An hour later Mine. Fauvel ordered her rar ge, uud went out M. Fauvel Jumped .uto a hackney coach and follow ed her. "Ileavpn' grant that M. Verduret may reach there in time!" cried Nina to her self, "otherwise Mme. Fauvel and Kaoul are lout. Mme. Fauvel hastened to Vesinet, convinced that some new misfortune was in store for her. Her alarm was ground less. She found Kaoul more tender pnd affectionate than he had ever been. He anw the necessity of reassuring her, and winning his old place in her forghing heart, before making his disclosures, ne fcurceeded. The poor lady had a smiling and happy air at she sat in an armchair, with Kaoul kneeling before her. "I have distressed you too long, my dear mother," he said, in his softest tones, "but I repent sincerely; now listen my " ne had not time to say more; the door was violeutly thrown open, and Raoul, springing to his feet, was con fronted by M. Fauvel. The banker had a revolver in his hand, and was de.idly pale. It was evident that he was mak ing superhuman efforts to remain calm, like a judge whose duty it is to justly punish crime. -Ah," be said, nilh a horrible lnngh, "you look snrprised. You did not ex pect me? You thought that my imbecile credulity insured your aafety. Raoul had the courage to place him elf before Mme. Fauvel, and to stand prepared to receive the expected bullet. "I assure you, uncle he began. "Enough!" interrupted the banker, with an angry gesture, "let me hear no more infamous falsehoods! End this act ing, of which I am no longer the dupe." "I swear to you " "Spare yourself the trouble of deny ing anything. I know all. I know who pawned my wife's diamonds. 1 1 now who committed the robbery for which an innocent man was arrested and im- Drisoned." Mme. Fauvel. white with terror, fell UDon her knees. At last it had coin the dreadful day had come. Vainly had she added falsehood to falsehood, vainly lad she sacrificed herself and others; all was discovered. She saw that all was lost, and wringing her hands, she tear fully tnoanod: "Pardon, Andre! I beg you, forgive xne!" At these heart-broken tones the bank er shook like a leaf. The memory of his lost happiness was too much for the tricken man. He forgot the present in the past, and was almost melted to for giveness. "Unhappy woman!" he murmured, "unhappy woman!" For some moments nothing was heard but the sobs of Mme. Fauvel. "I came here," continued the banker, "with the Intention of killing you both. But I cannot kill a woman, and 1 will not kill an unarmed man. Defend jour clf!" cried the banker, raising his arm, "if you do not " But the horror of the scene was too much for Mme. Fauvel to witness any longer without interposing. She under stood but one thing her son and her husband were about to kill each other before her very eyes. Rushing up to Raoul, she threw her arms around him, and said to her husband: , "Kill me, and me alone!" At these words M. Fauvel glared at the guilty pair, and deliberately taking aim fired. Neither Raoul nor Mme. Fau vel moved. The banker fired a second time, then a third. He cocked the pistol for a fourth shot, when a man rushed Into the room, snatched the pistol from the banker's hand, and, throwing him on the sofa, ran toward Mme. Fauvel. This man was M. Verduret, who had been warned by Cavalllon, but did not know that Mme. Gypsy had extracted the balls from M. Fauvel's revolver. "Thank heaven!" he cried, "she Is un hurt." "How dare you Interfere?" cried the banker, who by this time had joined the group. "The villain shall die!" M. Verduret seized the banker's wrists In a vise-like grasp, and whispered in his ear: "Thank heaven, you are saved from committing a terrible crime; the anony mous letter deceived you. Do you know who that man Is that you attempted to kill? Her son." The words of this stranger, showing his intimate knowledge of the private aflairs of all present, seemed to con found and frighten Raoul more than M. Fauvel's threats had done. Yet he had sufficient presence of mind to say; "It is the truth!" The banker looked wildly from Raoul to M. Verduret; then, fastening his haggard eyes on his wife, exclaimed: "It is false! You are all conspiring to deceive me! Proofs!" "Yon shall have proofs," replied M. Verduret, "but first listen." And rapidly, with his wonderful talent for explanation, he related the principal points of the plot he had discovered. The true state of the case was terribly distressing to M. Fauvel, but nothing compared with what he had suspected. His throbbing, yearning heart told him 1 that he still loved his wife. Why should he puniRh a mistake committed so many yeurs ago and atoned for by twenty veiirs of devotion and suffering? For some moments after M. Verduret had finished his explanation M. JTauvel re mained silent. So many strange events had happened, rnnidl.v following each other In succes sion, and culminating In the shocking GABORIAU scene which had just taken place, that M. Fauvel seemed to be too bewildered to think clearly. But the sight of Raoul froze the words upon his lips. 'So this is your sou," he said to his wife "this man, who has plundered you and robbed me?" Mme. Fauvel was unable to otter a word in reply to these reproachful words. "Oh!" said M. Verduret, "madam will tell you that this young man is tho son of GaMon de Clameran; she has never doubted it. But the truth Is , "What?" "That In order to swindle her he has perpetrated a gross Imposture." CHAPTER XXV. Raoul had been quietly creeping to ward the door, hoping to escape while no one was thinking of him. But M. Verduret was watching him out of the corner of one eye, and stopped him JuBt as he was about leaving the room. Not so fast, my pretty youth," he said, dragging him Into the middle of the room; "it is not polite to leave us so unceremoniously. Let us finish the story. Clameron hastened to London, no had no difficulty in finding the farmer's wife 1 1 whom the old countess had Intrusted Gaston's son. But here an unexpected d'.ir.rfiTitmeTit greeted him. He learned that the child, whose nnme was regis tered on the parish books as Raoul Val entine Wilson, had died of the croup when eighteen months old. "Did any one state such a fact as that?" interrupted Raoul; "It is false!" "It was not only stated, but proved, my pretty youth," replied M. Verduiet "You don't suppose I am a man to trust to oral testimony, do you? He drew from his pocket several offi cially stamped documents, with red seals attached, and laid them on the table. "These are the declarations of the nurse, her husband, and four witnesses. Here is an extract from the register of births; this is a certificate of registry of his death; and all these are authenti cated at the French embassy. Now are you satisfied, youug man?" "What next?" inquired M. Fauvel. "The next step was this," replied M. Verduret "Clameran, finding that the child was dead, supposed that he could, in spite of this disappointment, obtain money from Mme. Fauvel; he was mis taken. His first attempt failed. Having an Inventive turn of mind, he determin ed that the child should come to life. Among his large circle of rascally ac quaintances he selected a yonng fellow to personate Raoul Valentine Wilson; and the chosen one stands before you." Mme. Fauvel was In a pitiable stxte. And yet she began to feel a ray of hope; her ncttte anxiety had so long tortured her that the truth was a relief; she would thank heaven If this wicked man was proved to be no son of hers. Can this be possible? she murmured; "can it be?" Raoul saw that the game was np. "You are a detective!" he ejaculated. The fat man smiled grimly. "At present" he replied, "I am merely a friend of Prosper Bertomy. It depends entirely upon your behavior which char acter I appear In while settling up this little affair." "What do you expect me to do?" "Restore the three hundred and f.fty thousand francs which you have stolen." "The money Is in this room." "Very good. This frankness Is cred itable, and will benefit you. I know that the money Is In this room, and also exactly where it la to be found. Be kind enough to look behind that cup board, and you will find the three hun dred and fifty thousand francs." Raoul tremblingly went to the cup board, and pulled out several bundles of bank notes, and an enormous package of pawnbrokers' tickets. "Very well done," said M. Verduret, as he carefully examined the money and papers; "this Is the most sensible step you ever took." Raoul relied, on this moment, when everybody's attention would be absorbed by the money, to make his escape. He slid toward the door, gently opened It slipped out, and locked it on the outside; the key being still in the lock. "He has escaped!" cried M. Fauvel. "Naturally," replied M. Verduret without even looking up; "I thought he would have sense enough to do that." "But Is he to go unpunished?" "My dear sir, would you have this af fair become a public scandal? Do you wish your wife's name to be brought Into a case of this nature before the police court?" "Oh, monsieur!" "Then the best thing you can do is to let the rascal go scot free. Here are receipts for all the articles which he has pawned, so that we should consider our selves fortunate. He has kept fifty thou sand francs, but that Is all the better for yon. This sum will enable him to leave France, and we shall never see him again." So saying, tho fat man took up his hat and quietly left the room, and jumping Into his cab, ordered the driver to return to Paris, and drive to the Hotel du Louvre as rapidly as possible. His mind was filled with anxiety about Clameran. He knew that Knout would give him no more trouble: the young rogue was probably taking his passage for some foreign land at that moment But Clameran should not es cape unpunished; and how this punish ment could be brought about without compromising Mme. Fauvel was prob lem to be solved. After long thought he decided thst an accusation of poisoning must come from Oloro. He would go there and work "And then!" faltered Prn-rer. open "public opinion," so that, to satisfy "Then Oil las avenej hiin.-elf In H the townspeople, the authorities would own way. He made the woman wl.n ', order a post-mortem examination of Me- serted him recosuize his Immense snpe Bout But this mode of proceeding re- j riority. Weak, timid and helpless, het quired time, and Clameran would cer- cousin was disgraced, and was falling tainly escape before another day pawed , over the verj;e of a precipice, when the over his head. He was too experienced I powerful hand of Caldas reached forth a knave to remain on slippery gromid, I and saved him. You understand all now. now that his eyes were open to the dan ger which menaced him. It was almost dark when the carriage stopped in front of the Hotel do Louvre. M. Verduret noticed a crowd of people collected lu groups, eagerly discussing some exciting event which seemed to have just taken place. What has happened T he demanded of a lounger near by. The strangest thing you ever heard of," replied the man. let, I saw him with my own eyes. He first appeared at that seventh story window; be was only half dressed. Some men tried to seize him, but with the agility of a squirrel he jumped out upon the roof, shrieking Murder! murder! The recklessness of his conduct led me to suppose The gossip stopped short in his narra tive, very much surprised and vexed; his questioner had vanished. "If it should be Clameran'. thought M. Verduret? "If terror has deranged that brain, so capable of working out great crimes! Fate must have Inter posed " While thus talking to himself he el bowed his way through the crowded court yard of the hotel. At the foot of the staircase he found M. Fanferlot and three peculiar looking individuals, stand ing together, a if waiting for some one. "Well," cried M. Verduret, "what Is the matter?" With laudable emulation the four men rushed forward to report to their su perior officer. "The matter is this, patron," said Fanferlot, dejectedly. '1 am doomed to ill luck. You see how it Is; this is the ouly chance 1 ever had of working out a beautiful case, and. paf ! my criminal must go and fiszle! A regular case ef bankruptcy!" "Then it la Clameran who " "Of course It is. When the rascal saw me this morning he scampered off like a hare. You should have seen him run; I thought he would never stop this side of Ivry; but not at all. On reaching the Boulevard dee Kcoles a sudden Idea seemed to strike him, and he made a bee line for hie hotel; I suppose to get his Dile of money. Directly he gets there what does he see? these three friends of mine. The sight of these gentlemen had the effect of a sunstroke upon him; he went raving mad on the spot The Idea of serving me such a low trick at the very moment 1 was sure or suc cess!" "Where Is he now?" "At the prefecture. I suppose. Rome policeman handcuffed him, and drove off with him In a cab." "Come with me." M. Verduret and Fanferlot found Clameran in one of the private cells re served for dangerous prisoners. He had on a strait-jacket and was struggling violently against three men, who were striving to hold him, while a pnystdan tried to force him to swallow a potion. "Helt)!" he shrieked: "help! Do you not see my cousin coming after me? Look! he wants to poison me!' M. Verduret took the physician aside. and questioned him about the maniac. "The wretched man Is In a hopeless state," replied the doctor; "this species of iusanlty is Incurable. He thinks some one Is trying to poison him, and nothing will persuade him to eat or drink any thing; and, as it Is impossible to force anything down his throat he will die of starvation, after having suffered all the tortures of poison." M. Verduret, with a shudder, turned to leave the prefecture, saying to Fan ferlot: "Mme. Fauvel Is saved!" CHAPTER XXVI. Four days had passed since the events just narrated, when, one morning, M Lecoq the official Lecoq, who resem bled the dignified head of a bureau was walking up and down hi private office, at each turn nervously looking at the clock, which slowly ticked on the mantel, as if It had no Intention of strik Ing any sooner than usual, to gratify thti man so anxiously watching its placid face. At last however, the clock did strike, and just then the faithful Janquille opened the door, and ushered In Mme, Nina and Prosper Bertomy. "Ah," said M. Lecoq, " you are punc tual." "M. Verduret gave us express orders to meet here In your office this morning and we have obeyed," said Madame Gypsy. "Very good," said the celebrated de tective. "Then be kind enough to wait a few minutes; I will tell him you are here." During the quarter of an hour that Nina and Prosper remained alone togeth er they did not exchange a word. Finally a door opened and M. Verduret appear ed. Nina and Prosper eagerly started to ward him, but he checked them by one of those peculiar looks which no one ever dared resist. "You have come," he said, severely, "to hear the secret of my conduct I have promised, and will keep my word, however painful It may be to my feel ings. Listen then. My best friend is a loyal, honest man, named Caldas. Eigh teen months ago this friend was the hap piest of men. Infatuated by a woman, he lived for her alone, and, fool that he was, Imagined that she felt the same love for him." "She did!" cried Gypsy; "yes, she al ways loved him." "She showed her love in a peculiar way. She loved him so much that one fine day she discarded him. In his first moments of despair Caldas wished to kill himself. Then he reflected that It would be wiser to live and avenge himself," do you not? The woman is Nina, the cousin is yourself, and Caldas Is i Ui a quick, dextrous movement he threw off his wig and whiskers, and stood before them the real, intelligent proud Lecoq. "Caldas!" cried Nina. "No, not Caldas, nor Verduret any longer; but Lecoq, the detective." M. Lecoq broke the stupefied silence of his listeners by saying to Prosper: 'It is not to me alone that you owe your salvation. A noble girl confided to me the difficult task of clearing our reputation. I promised her that M. Fau vel should never know the secrets' con cerning his domestic happiness. Yonr letter thwarted all my plans, and nade It Impossible for me to keep my prom ise. I have nothing more to say." He turned to leave the room, but Nina barred his exit "Caldas," she murmured, "I Implore you to have pity on mel I am so mis erable! Ah, if you only knew! Be for giving to one who has always loved yon, Caldas! Listen!" One month later was celebrated at the church of Notre Dame the marriage of M. Prosper Bertomy and Mile. Made leine Fanvel. The banking house Is still In the Rue de Frovlnee, but as M. Fauvel has de cided to retire from business and live In the country, the name of the firm has been changed, and Is now: PROSPER BERTOMY & CO. (The end.) HAVE ODD IDEA OF ANATOMY. Chine Bits Outlandish Notions H- arardlaa; Human Frirn. No Chinese representative of the healing art baa ever dissected any por tion of the human frame. According ly their Ideas of anatomy and physiol ogy are matters of faith confirmed by image which have been reproduced during untold centuries. Their osteol ogy teaches that the skull la formed of one bone; so Is the pelvis; the number of ribs varies with the individual, nd at the Junction of the arm with the forearm la placed a cubital patella. Ac cording to Chinese Bplanchology the small Intestine communicates with the cavity of the heart, while the colon, after describing sixteen circumvolu tions, terminates by opening into the lung. The heart governs the vital pro cesses In co-operation with the cavity of the stomach It supplies all ideas and all pleasurable sensations. The liver Is the habitat of the soul, and it Is from this gland that all noble and generous sentiments emanate. The gall bladder Is the receptacle of courage, Its ascent In the body Is the cause of a fit of anger. They have an Idea of the continuous motion of the blood, but It seems to be the product of an Imagination more riotously Ori ental than even that which created the other items of their physiology knowl edge. They do not know the pulmo nary circulation; they, naturally, know nothing of the valves In the veins; they do not even appear to have quite grasped the motor function of the heart Itself; but they nevertheless pro fess to differentiate no less than seventy-four varieties of pulse simultane ously recognizable on the person of a single individual. In Its ultimate struc ture the body Is composed of five ele ments: Fire, water, earth, wood, and metal. Each of these elements Is In a harmonious rapport with the corre sponding members of Ue series of five planets, five metals, five solid viscera, five colors, and five tastes. All dis eases originate from disturbances of the primary and essential quintlc har monies of these correlations. Shang hai Times. Beauties of Architecture. A dusky couple, evidently on tholf honeymoon, were heard discussing the beauties of the Louisiana Purchase Ex position. "Dese heah," snid he, with a lofty wave of the hand, "am what dcy calls de fine Art Bulldin's." "Don't look so turrlble fine to me," objected the bride. "De Libble Art Building looks finer." "It do that" asserted the groom. "What Is libble art, anyway?" she Inquired sweetly. ne drew himself up and gave her an impressive look. "Libble art," he began, and then pondered a moment "I don't know as I can give a correct; Idea of libble art, honey. I know what It Is, but I disremember. But It's a mighty One bulldln'. All dese heah bulldin's, you know, am in de style of de French Reminiscence." ' Ways of Two Husbands His First: Jenkins By the way, Jones, bow old is that baby of yours? Jones (promptly) One year two months and eight days. His Sixth: Jones By the way, how old Is thnt youngest baby of yours? Jenkins Oh, hanged If I know. A yenr or two. Ask my wife. Pittsburg Bulletin. Cattle Raising Profitable. Cattle raising Is at present the only profitable business In the African re gion where the Germans are at war with the Hereroa. An entirely new mammal In the British Isles Is the astonishing dis covery of J. G. Millala. It is a vol Micro t us orcadensls and It is total ly distinct from the common short-tailed Oeldmouse and all other known forms. A singular method of protecting rolls of butter from deterioration due to outside Influences Is practised In Ger many. It consists simply In coating the butter with a glaze of melted sugar laid on with a soft brush. ' The surface of the butter Is slightly melted and a protective varnish Is formed. The process has recently been employ ed on a large scale In England. Protective mimicry has a curious Illustration in an Insect of British East Africa described by Frofessor Gregory. Soma Individuals of each sex are bright pink and others are bright green, and as they sit motionless foi hours sucking sap, the pink ones col lect on the lower part of the stem, where they look Ilka drooping flowers, while the green ones take a place fur ther out and are mistaken for foliage. The grippe and excessive meat eat ing are the causes to which Lucai Champlonnlere attributes appendicitis. ne has found that cases not preceded by an attack of grippe are very rare, and that tbey are practically unknown In the vegetarian districts of France and other countries. The few cases he has known among vegetarians have been- Insignificant, recovery taking place In a few days without opera tion. The world's greatest geyser seems to be that of Rotorua, In New Zealand. A recent visitor, J. A. Warnock, statei that It plays about twenty-two tlmea each month, the "shots" often reach ing a height of nine hundred to 1,200 feet, and the basin covers about 2Vi acres. One theory Is that loose stonei fall Into the neck of a tunnel filled with hot water, closing the passage until the rising steam pressure forcibly ejects them. The latest report to the British Home Office on the mineral pro duction of the world shows that the United States stands second to the British empire In the production ol gold, but far ahead In the production of sliver, copper and lead. In coppei our superiority Is the greatest, mors than one-half of the world's entire sup ply coming from mines in the United States. This country also stands first In the amount of coal produced, and Great Britain Is second In the list The British coal, however, Is sold for a considerably larger aggregate price. In the production of elnc Germany stands first and the United States second. After the failure of many inventors to carry out a similar Idea, It Is claim ed that a French electro-motion com pany has produced an electric carriage In which the use of pinions, chains and gearing for transmitting motion to the driving-wheels is entirely dispensed with. In this new machine the motors and the wheels are described as being one and the same thing. The axlei receive their motive power directly from the accumulators. The weight of the carriage la thus reduced, and It Is asserted that these "live-axle" machines can travel twenty to thirty per cent farther than those of ordi nary construction because of the sav ing of energy. The appearance of th new carriages Is Improved, except thai the wheels have a clumsier look. How Par Dtd He Ride? Top" and Edward" watched t laughing girls and "grown-ups" too, as they swung round and round, perched on the backs of mettlesome horses, fierce Hons and awe-inspiring, long-legged giraffes, on the merry-go-round. "Pop," turning to comment upon a small-sized youngster astride a bug tiger, noticed the serious look on his heir's usually smiling countenance, and said to him: "Son, what makes you look so thoughtful?" "I was Just wonderin'," replied Ed wnrd, who had Just enjoyed a ride on the merry-go-round, and having a tick et In his pocket entitling him to an other ride was anxious to use it to the best advantage, "whether I would get a longer ride than I hud on that horse In the Inner circle if I rode one of ths lions on the outside row." Location of the Uee. Ab! What delicious honey we hnd for luncheon to-day!" chirped the fluf fy girl from the city, who was enjoy ing the hospitality of Farmer Sum merboard's brown old home. ' "I pre sume you have your own bee here on the farm?" "Yes, ma'am," replied the horny banded hired man, who was a pro nounced pessimist during fifteen and one-half hours out of every twenty four. "It's In the old man's hat lie wants to go to the legislature." What are you called ofteuest behind your back? Smart Aleck, do you sup, pone J