The Roupell Mystery
tfy Austyn
CHAPTEH VI. (Continue,!.,
The doctor and Emily Weldon contin-
oea to.siowiy promenade up and down
the terrace. United by that srrr hnnd
of sympathy which ofttinies brings two
natures together unconsciously, they ex-
icni-ucvu an inaeiinable comfort in each
other's society.
A aolitary figure, that of some wnrthv
burgher of Paris, attracted, doubtless, to
, Villeneuve by the sensational reports in
the newspapers, was the only living ob-
.jeci uiai was in view. Looking at him
the doctor observed :
"There is no gauging the depth of hu
man curiosity."
"That is so. There have been several
here sines " and she glanced up to the
earaeneo cnamber above, with a shud
der. "They walk in and out as if they
owned the place. He looks like a retired
tradesman of some kind. He is pretty
cool for a trespasser. See. he has seat
ed himself on the turf, and Is throwing
oreaa to tne swans."
"Don't disturb him," said tbe doctor.
"See with what care he spreads that red
handkerchief over his knees. He has tak
en out some sandwiches, and is evidently
enjoying tbem."
Miss Weldon again smiled. It was
really quite ludicrous to watch the old
gentleman from Paris. He appeared to
be totally oblivious of the presence of
the people on the terrace. Having eaten
his sandwich, he presently arose and
threw the crumbs adhering to his hand
kerchief to the eipeciaul anaus. Th
doctor laughed outright ; so loudly. Indeed,
as to apparently attract the attention of
tbe old gentleman who, glancing but once
in their direction with an Indignant air,
walked away and disappeared among the
trees.
A half hour more elapsed and still M.
Cassagne did not some. Hardly able to
conceal his irritation at the delay, Dr.
Mason at length retired to the library,
where be busied himself in some scientific
calculations in which he had been abrupt
ly interrupted by tbe startling news of
the murder of Mme. Roupell. For an
hour he remained oblivious to all else
save sines, cosines, tangents, secants and
cosecants. An abtruse trigonometrical
problem was before him, and to its solu
tion he was devoting himself heart and
aoul, when suddenly be became aware of
an obstruction of the light from the win
dow. Looking up, to his intense annoy
ance he perceived the inquisitive burgher
from Paris, his nose flattened against
the glass, staring vacuously into the
apartment
Anger was expressed In every feature
of tbe physician's countenance as he
v threw the French window wide open;
but tbe worthy burgher did not seem to
be at all disconcerted. On the contrary,
availing himself of the opportunity, be
fore the doctor could stop him, he stepped
over the low sill and entered the library.
"Sir, this unwarrantable Intrusion at
such a moment " began the physician.
"May perhaps surprise you," interrupt
ed the burgher; "but have you given or
ders about tbe truffles?"
The doctor stared with astonishment
and stepped back two or three paces.
"You are," hs gasped, "you cannot be
Monsieur "
"I am," replied the burgher, an Inde
scribable twinkle In his eye, as he noted
the doctor's amazement. "I am the per
son you are about to mention Alfred
Cassagne, the detective," and with a pro
found bow, he handed Dr. Mason his card.
CHAPTER VII.
Alfred Cassagne was the son of a
large contractor, who had accumulated
a considerable fortune in the construction
of those remarkable docks In the city of
Havre, which have helped to make that
place the most important harbor of
France. He lost his father when a mere
child. His mother, dying when he was
but twenty-two years of age, had left
him amply provided for. But be had
never married. Of quite a studious turn
of mind, he bad devoted himself to
books, and might possibly have degener
ated into a book worm, or have sunk so
low as to become an author, If an event
had not transpired which changed the
whole current of his existence.
He awoke one morning to find that the
cashier of a bank where he usually had a
large balance, had absconded with the
funds of that Institution. Where he had
gone, was equally a mystery to the police
and the officers of tbe concern. Having
considerable interest in the capture of tbe
1 fugitive, Cassagne set about making in
quiries on his own account From these
Inquiries he quietly deduced bis own the
ories, and one morning, to ths intense
astonishment of the chief of police, he en
tered the presence of that functionary
and stated his opinion on the case very
briefly. It was to the effect that the
president of tbe bank and the cashier
were In collusion, and that the cashier,
whom most people believed to be by that
time safely in America, that Mecca for
European rogues, would be found hiding
In the president's own private residence.
The chief of police had laughed at first ;
but Alfred Cassagne was permitted to
proceed. It was known he was a gentle
man of fortune; and men of means are
never snubbed very , badly anywhere.
Very soon, moreover, the official grew
serious. . By a system of logical deduc
tion from circumstances already known,
Cassagne established his theory on a basis
so Ingenious as to excite the chief's warm
est admiration. Subsequent search dis
covered that ths state of things Cassagne
had believed to exist In theory, was really
tree.
Ursa Cassagne night now possibly
Granville
-a.e tu forty years of age, though when
Dill HtUffllf.nJ - : ...
j --. uwiug 10 nia smoothly
" race. appeared to be younger.
He was rather above the middle height,
sad though somewhat narrow across the
shoulders, the great depth of his chest
made ample ameuds for this deficiency.
His hair was cut very short to permit of
his more readily wearing the various wigs
by which he frequently concealed his Iden
tity. His mouth was well cut, the lips
thin and somewhat pursed together, as
is often the habit with men who pass
much time In thinking. His nose was
large and very prominent His hands
and feet small and rather delicate. His
voice singularly soft and gentle ; his man
ner that of a man entirely at ease, and of
one who thoroughly understands his busi
ness. He sat quite still In the easy chair to
which Dr. Mason had motioned him on
his arrival. It was not until the latter
had given him the outlines of the case
that he spoke at all, and then he said :
"We will begin by premising a certain
state of facts. Madame Roupell has been
murdered. Who did It? Public opinion
says your friend Van Llth. I always mis
trust public opinion. The prefect of po
lice is not at all sure but Monsieur Cha
bot had a hand in It I sometimes mis
trust the prefect of police."
'Tou mean to imply that both may be
wrong?" Inquired the doctor.
"Yes, and if I am right It leaves us
confronting two alternatives."
"And they are?"
"Either that ths unfortunate woman
committed suicide while of unsound
mind, or that ths crime is the act of a
third party to us at present unknown.'
"I can dispose of the first of those sup
positions immediately," said tbe doctor.
"Madams Roupell's mind was as sound
as yours or mine Is at ths present mo
ment." "Let us proceed to an examination of
the body. I have provided myself with a
written permit to break the seals," said
the detective. "Lead the way, please."
They entered the chamber of death.
Nothing had been disturbed since the visit
of the prefect. Alfred Cassagne took a
rapid survey of the room. He advanced
to tbe bedside, and commenced a minute
inspection of ths body of the murdered
woman. -
He carefully removed the bandages
from the wound in the head ; be turned
tbe body over so that the light from tbe
window fell full upon the face of the dead
woman, revealing in the strong sunlight
each line and shadow already showing
in their marked change of the lineaments
the Inevitable approach of decay. Taking
out his penknife, Cassagne carefully re
moved one of the clots of blood which had
accumulated near the entrance of the
wound, and walking to the window ex
amined It through a small magnifying
glass which he took ' from his pocket
Presently he said:
"Doctor, look at that blood!"
Dr. Mason took the magnifying glass
and the penknife and gazed steadfastly
upon the little red gout.
"Do you see anything peewHar about
it?" asked Cassagne. "Do you not no
tice an entire absence of natural crys
tallization?" The doctor's face turned pals as a
sheet ; his lips twitched nervously.
"This crime grows more horrible and
more mysterious than ever. It is impos
sible to mistake your meaning. This
wound was inflicted after death," he ex
claimed. "The blood Is certainly what
we call in the profession 'dead blood.' "
"And is that not often the case where
a wound is Inflicted when a person Is In
a comatose condition?"
"It might be," replied the physician.
"I have known the phenomenon of total
suspension of the circulation in comatose
bodies."
"And In such case, would blood flowing
from a wound crystallize or not?"
"It Is possible that it might crystallize
somewhat, if the person wounded, while
in a comatose condition, was young and
healthy. In the case of an old and fee
ble woman, like , Madame Roupell, I
should consider it extremely doubtful. In
the present Instance, by means of the
glass, one can plainly discern that no
crystallization has taken place."
"In fact that this wound was Inflicted
after the wound which produced either
death or Insensibility?" said ths detec
tive. "Exactly so," replied ths physician.
"The question now is, where Is that
wound?"
"We will find It" said Cassagne. "Give
me your help here."
"We bad better look for a contusion
of some sort. Insensibility could be pro
duced by a sharp blow on tbe back of ths
head, or under the ear," remarked Dr.
Mason. '
"I am not of that opinion," replied
Cassagne. "I have already looked there.
There is no swelling of any kind on ths
back of the lead, and as she Is dressed in
demi-toilette, it Is easy to see that no
injury has been inflicted to the upper
part of the spinal cord."
"For what kind of wound shall we
search? It must be a small one, Indeed,
to escape tbe examination of so good a
surgeon as Monsieur Crolzet"
"Unfortunately Monsieur Crolxet," re
plied Cassagne, with a curious smile, "Is
a surgeon only. He Is not a detective.
He is good at generalizations ; he falls
in particulars. The wound ws must look
for, since you sound Monsieur Crolzet's
praises so highly, must be no larger than
a pencil point Have you never heard of
ths Venetian stiletto?" '
"No, I cannot say that I have,'
swered Dr. Mason. !
"It is an Instrument made of tough
ened glass, no thicker than a knitting
needle. When plunged Into a victim, it
an be broken short off in the flesh which
closes around it, so that It is hard to tell '
liow death supervenes. Many such deaths
have undoubtedly been charged to apo
plexy, and other causes. "
"Is it possible?" ejaculated ths physi
cian. "Not only possible but more than prob
able. Let us instantly begin our search !
for such a weapon. There will not be a I
drop of blood visible. - Death generally !
ensues from Internal hemorrhage, unless
the stiletto reaches the heart when, of
course, the victim dies instantly. Turn
her over on her fare," said the detective,
"She may have been wounded in ths
back."
This was done, and they carefully ex
amined that portion of the body. For ths
first time Dr. Mason's blind faith in ths
skill of the man he had employed began
to show signs of wavering Hs little
knew Cassagne's marvelous resources,
The doctor had left the body and was
standing over by the window, again ex
amining the blood on the penknife through
the magnifying glass. A slight exclama
tion from the bed caused him to glance
In that direction.
He could hardly repress a cry of sur
prise. He held bis breath almost, so anx
iously did he await the result of an ex
periment that Casagne bad put in opera
tion. With his eyes closed and with his
head raised very much after the style of
a blind man reading from a raised-letter
book, the detective was moving his fingers,
soft and delicate as a young girl's, over
the cold, stiff body of the murdered wom
an. Dr. Mason knew in an instant that
he was about to depend upon his senss
of touch to find the tiny wound that his
eyes had failed to detect
For over a minnte the two men remain
ed in their relative positions. Then ths
voice of Cassagne was heard, breaking
the silence, which had grown almost pain
ful in its Intensity ;
"I am right Madams Roupell was
stabbed in the back."
CHAPTER VIII.
Dr. Mason, In his agitation, dropped
the penknife and ths magnifying glass
and rushed to the bedside.
"Where is the wound?" he ejaculated.
M. Cassagne, cool, calm and collected,
still held one tell-tale finger, which, like
a living eye, had detected a slight In
equality in the surface of the flesh, firm
ly pressed down upon a spot no larger
than a pin's head.
"Take it easy, doctor," he said, smil
ing at ths agitation of the physician,
"and if the magnifying glass is still un
broken, I will trouble you for It. Ths
penknife also, if you please, doctor.
Now," after he had gently pushed back
the flesh with the point of the knife, "look
through the glass, and tell me what you
see."
"I see a rough, glistening surface."
"Try it with the point of the penknife."
i The doctor took the knife, and scraped
upon tbe bard surftcs thus exposed to
view.
"It is glass,' hs exclaimed. "I haven't
a doubt of it"
"It is the wound which caused death.
Tou see it has penetrated the lumbar re
gion. Death has been caused by two
things. Shock and Internal bleeding.
Have you a small pair of pincers here?
No? Well, then I must use my fingers."
M. Cassagne having enlarged the open
ing of the wound by dilltation, plunged
his finger and thumb Into the orifice and
drew out though not without much diffi
culty and after repeated failures, ths
broken piece of a small, sharpened glass
stiletto. Its withdrawal from ths wound
was followed by a few drops of blood,
which the doctor, who notwithstanding
his professional experiences was greatly
auecteu oy lue spectacle, was huuui tu
wipe reverently away, when he was stop
ped by the detective.
"Don't do that That blood has a tale
of Its own to tell. I wish to examine
it through the glass.".
He took up some on the point of ths
knife and the two men as before went to
the window. Notwithtsanding that It
had not been exposed to the outer air,
the blood was strongly crystallized.
"One thing Is proved, and almost con
clusively," exclaimed Cassagne. "It Is
the wound which caused her death. See
bow ths blood is crystallized. Now to
discover the assassin. The prefect's the
ory is that Madame Roupell was sitting
at her desk writing, when ths crime was
committed. In support of that, he points
to the scattered papers and ths overturn
ed chair. Now notice which way ths
chair has fallen."
"It has fallen toward ths desk," said
Dr. Mason.
"Precisely ; and that proves to me that
It was ths murderer, not Madams Rou
pell, who was engaged In ths examina
tion of the papers."
"Why?",
"Because, had Madame Roupell been
surprised from behind and stabbed, as ws
now believe to be the case, she would
have fallen forward, and the chair would
have been thrown backward or away
from ths desk, not toward it Madams
Roupell surprised this unknown person,
perhaps while he was rifling the contents
of her desk ; springing to his feet bs
overthrew ths chair, drew his stiletto,
and advanced toward ber. She doubt
less turned to flee, too frightened to
scream, and hs then stabbed her In ths
back."
"I see; and having no other weapon
than ths stiletto, and that having been
broken off short In the body, he fired at
her to make sure of his work."
(To be continued.)
Tbe total area of tbe British empire
Is nearly 11,400,000 square miles, or ,
rather more than one-fifth of tbe '
earth's surface. j
vjSfevenfionl
According to the evideuce given re
cently by Dr. R. T. Williams, an Eng
lish physician, in a London police court,
he distinguishes seven Btuges of drunk
enness irritable, mellow, pugnacious,
affectionate, lachrymose, followed, if
the total doses were large enough, by
collapse and death.
That the finest stone buildings and
monuments of many cities are disinte
grating through the action of the sul
phuric acid produced by the combus
tion of coal is asserted by a writer In
Cosmos (Paris). In London, especially,
It has been estimated that no less than
half a million tons- of acid are thus
discharged into the atmosphere yearly.
Scientists In Germany say that a sub
stance has been prepared which shows
the same radio-activity as that of
radium bromide. It is said that the
substance Is uranyl molybdate. The
molybdate Is formed by adding am
monia molybdate to uranyl nitrate
when a white amorphous powder sep
arates. This Is dried In the dark and
apparently must be kept there, as It Is
unstable. Report says that It gives radio-active
effects which are practically
as Intense as those given by radium.
Though costly namely, about $110 an
ounce the price Is not so enormous as
that of radium, which has reached
many thousands of dollars for the same
Quantity. ,
In countries I1k Frnncn, where roads
are good and cross-roads numerous,
travelers by automobile have frequent
occasion to consult road maps, because
they go so fast and change direction
so often that topographical Information
Is, for them, a continual necessity. To
meet this an automatic chart has been
Invented, which unrolls In step with the
advance of the carriage, so that the
chauffeur has always before hlra a
map of the route he Is to pursue. When
the road Is about to turn sharply, an
electric bell gives warning 800 meters
In advance. Another attachment to the
chart registers the distance traversed
The whole apparatus is moved by gear
lng connected with the wheels of the
automobile.
Last winter Prof. E. E. Barnard pho
tographed a most singular object In the
constellation Taurus, the appearance of
which suggests the term "dead nebu
la." It Is a long, straggling mass,
which seems to shut the stars behind it
All round It the stars are strewn thick'
ly, but within Its boundaries very few
appear, and Prof. Barnard suggests
that these may lie on this side of It
At one point there is a small, bright
nebula, which gradualy fades out. "The
feebler portions of the nebula would
almost suggest," says Prof. Barnard,
"that a large nebula exists here, but
that the major portion of It Is dead or
non-luminous." In some places the
dark object Is manifestly darker than
the starless parts of the sky round It.
The green coloring matter contained
In leaves and other parts of plants,
and known as chlorphyl, serves as a
light-screen through which only certain
spectral colors are able to penetrate
and to affeet the Internal organism of
the plant A somewhat puzzling fnct
is that some insects, such ns the green
grasshopper, possess a similar color
ing matter, and the recent Investiga
tions of Podlapolsky have shown that
this Is Identical In physicn! properties
with the chlorophyl of plants. That
its chemical construction Is the same
remains to be demonstrated. It Is also
a yet unsettled question whether "ani
mal chlorophyl" serves, like that of
plants, as a color-screen to shield the
Inner orgnnlsm of the Insects protect
ing It from the influence of certain
colors.
Phases of the National Game.
There pre two sides to almost any
thing, and the national game Is far
from being an exception. From the
standpoint of the baseball enthusiast
"our town hns a club In the league."
From the standpoint of the profession
al player the league has a club In each
city. In the heurt of the baseball pa
triot our club Is a band of heroes, go
ing out to conquer other cities and up
hold our honor. In the mind of the
man with soul so dead they are stock
companies properly financed. To the
excited partisans at a game each play
er is an earnest contestant for his side.
To the man who is from foreign parts
It would be nn Important fact that
they are hired men, employes with sal
aries set by companies that all belong
to the same corporation, and that they
get their pay for playing and not for
winning. To the public It Is a game.
To the president of the company lit
may be a good or bad "performance."
Century.
Conscience.
"You can't alius gib a man credit fob
a clear conscience," said Uncle Eben,
"because he looks cheerful. Dar Is
some people dat smiles de hardest after
dey has put through de crookedeC
deals." Washington Stsx
AT TUB FA TRY GODMOTHER'S
Girl Gained Impressions that ProT4
Precious In After Years.
To reach the fairy godmother's you
went down the street to the still brown
house, and up three flights of stairs,
where you felt as If shivery things
might happen, although they never did,
and then suddenly the open door and
flood of sunlight golden-green through
the geraniums and Ivies and wandering-Jew
that grew on shelves across the
window and the fairy godmother her
self, her whole tiny figure aglow with
welcome.
There were wonderful things In the
frlry godmother's room of course,
how could It possibly be otherwise?
There were carved Ivory Jack-straws,
and a pen-wiper with apple-seed mice,
on bags of meal, and a marvelous pic
ture of "Crowning the May-Queen"
worked In worsted and cross-stitch,
and entrancing amber beads with,
which one could "dress up," and a bas
ket full of shells from the West In
dies, and a sandalwood fan whose fra
grance set one dreaming of palms and
breadfrult-trees at that time one's
sole assets In the way of tropic scen
ery. There were other things too less easi
ly Inventoried, although no less per
ceptible to a chd'r quick Insight a
sense of peace, golden-green, one fan
cied, like the light In the room a sim
ple happiness gathered fresh each day,
a lovely trust In the goodness of every
human being.
The fairy godmother slipped away
one night She left behind her the
Jackstraws and the fan and the amber
beads, and the child put them among
her treasures. She remmnherpd al
ways the shock with which certain dis
coveries came to her later.
"Why, she was poor !" she said aloud
one day, It was true, undoubtedly, In
spite of the amber beads and the pen
wiper. And she must have been lonely
often, she knew It, after meeting, years
later, the brother with whom the fairy
godmother had lived; and frail, the
bright remembered face revealed be
fore unconsidered marks of pain. Ths
girl stood still, thrilled by a rush of
tenderness.
"Oh, she was brave !" she cried ; but
even then she only dimly understood.
Years later, In the midst of her own
difficult battle, she happened one day
upon the amber beads. Life had not
been easy oh, It had been hard
hard! There were little bitter lines
deepening about her mouth. She had
not discovered them yet, but they were
coming. Now suddenly her eyes soft
ened and filled with tears.
"I have the beads," she said. "Can
I not inherit, too, the courage and the
trust? I will. If she could, I can and
I will."
And so she took possession of her
great heritage. Youth's Companion.
BREEZES F.OB THE OPERATOR.
Tan Attachment (or Sewing Ms
chines Operated br the Treadles.
At the time It was first Introduced
the fan attachment for rocking chairs
was considered a novel Idea. The pos
sibilities of employ
ng such a device
for other purposes
has been recog
nized by an Indi
ana Inventor, as
shown in the ac
companying Illus
tration. He con
ceived the plan of
providing a similar
bun by pedals, attachment for sew
ing machines, whereby the operator can
have the full benefit of balmy breezes
while running the machine. The attach
ment is extremely simple, the fan being
pivoted on a bracket secured to the
back of the machine. Tbe end of ths
handle of the fan connects by rod to the
treadle. As the latter Is worked up and
down the fan Is forced to do likewise,
directing the breeze directly at the oper
ator. The bracket supporting the fan Is
adjustable and can be clamped to tbe
table In any position desired. This sim
ple accessory would undoubtedly be
welcomed by tbe thousands of girls op
erating sewing machines in factories,
There conditions are not of tbe best
Good Gronnd (or Complaint.
"See here," grumbled the Inmate of
murderers' row, "ain't there a law agio
crool and onusual punishment?"
"Yes," answered the warden.
"An' ain't I goln' ter be hanged next
week?"
"I'm afraid you are."
"Then what d'yer mean by sendln'
me a bunch of story papers to read
that ain't got nothln but continued
stories In 'em?" Cleveland Leader.
Kvery One an Old Friend.
The Wife What luck?
The Husband ( wearily )f-None what
ever. The Wife Were there no servants
In the Intelligence office?
The husband (sadly) Lots of them,
but they had all worked for us before.
Woman's Home Companion.'
Just for variety, try to make some
tat happy besides your salt