Lincoln County leader., January 17, 1908, Image 7

The Roupell Mystery
By Aust'yn
CIIAPTEIt VIII. (Continued.) j
"I'm afraid, doctor, you would not
make a very good detective, Recollect
that in nine cases out of ten, the obvious
reason is always the wrong one. A smart
villain, who knows enough to carry glass
stilettos, and how to use them skillfully,
would not have unnecessarily alarmed
the household by firing a pistol in the
dead of night. Oh, no ! he would simply
hare smothered the woman, already insen
sible and unresisting, with a pillow, or
choked her to death."
"I see, I see," acquiesced the physi
cian. "Go on."
"Let us assume, now, that this un
known person entered the house through
the window in Monsieur Van Lith's cham
ber. While creeping through the room
he espies a case of pistols. He has come
unarmed, save with the Venetian stiletto.
Hut once in the house, his courage fails
him. He picks up a pistol from the case,
saying, 'This will protect me if I have
to proceed to extremities.' He passes on
to Madame Roupell's chamber, and falls
to searching among her papers. She is
a woman of large property, and must
have valuables. He is not after money,
for the diamonds which she wore to the
opera have not been taken. While thus
ngaged, he is interrupted by Madame
Roupell, who rushed forward to save her
papers. He jumps from his chair, over
turning it, and raises the siiiello; hue
turn and flees ; be pursued and stabs her.
3)o you understand, monsieur?"
"Yes, I understand everything, except
his firing the pistol into the head of a
woman whom he had apparently already
put out of the way of harming him. I
am assuming, of course, that his object
was not murder. Of course, Madame
Roupell may have recognized him, and he
snay have wanted to be sure she was
dead."
"Even that would not have warranted
his risking firing the pistol. Recollect,
as I have already said, he could easily
have smothered her without making any
noise,' replied Cassagne.
"True ! Then why did he fire the pis
tol?"
"It Is easy to conjecture," returned the
Frenchman. "He did it to direct suspi
cion from himself to the owner of the
Treanon."
"The diabolical villain '." exclaimed the
doctor, and apparently so impressed was
he with M. Cassngne's theory that he kept
reputing the phrase over and over again,
"'The diabolical villain!"
But M. Cassagne paid no heed to the
jaculations of the physician. He was
down upon his knees, running about on
all fours on the caret, totally regardless
of the injury to his pantaloons. His nose
was within an inch of the floor. At last
he stopped in the middle of the apart
ment, and exclaimed :
"Give me the knife."
The doctor handed it to him. He at
once proceeded to cut away the carpet,
and then to dig furiously into the wooden
flooring.
"What on earth are you looking for?"
inquired Mason.
"Never mind," replied Cassagne. "Wait
a moment, and you'll see."
He kept on digging away with the
knife as furiously as ever. At last he
topped, and, still on his knees, held
triumphantly aloft a small, oblong, black
object. Then he exclaimed breathlessly :
"All right ; I have got the bullet.
"If we only had Van Lith's pistol
here," said Mason, "the evidence would
be complete, but it is in Paris."
The detective arose and smoothed out
the knees of his pantaloons, which he had
sadly crumpled.
"We have got what is quite as good,"
he said. "Go into the next room and
bring me the other pistol. Ten to one
they wore mates."
Taking the pistol from the doctor's
hands, he pushed the bullet into the muz
ale. It fitted to a nicety.
"We have thus far," said M. Cassagne,
"established our theory successfully ia
regard to one very important point
Iseitber your friend Van Litb nor Mori
eieur Chabot had a hand in this murder.
It was committed by a third party
someone who entered the house unknown
to anyone, and who left it in an equally
secret manner. Let us see, now, how he
got away, and what means of escape pre
sented themselves. Ho could not have
made his exit by any of the doors, be
cause one. of them led to the room la
which Van Llth was hiding, and another
opened directly into the chamber occupied
by Monsieur Chabct. There is still, of
course, a bare chance that he retired by
the door leading into the corridor; but It
Is altogether improbable that he would
take such a risk, as that corridor was
thronged with people hurrying to Mad
ame Roupell's chamber at the Bound of
the shot." I
"That is so," acquiesced Mason. "Had
he attempted to escape into the corridor
he would undoubtedly have been seen
and captured."
"He must, therefore," continued Cas
sagne, "have gotten out of the windows.
The man I have in my mind's eye at the
present moment would have been smart
enough to raise the window before he
fired the shot He would be particularly
careful not to leave any clew that he
had been In the chamber, for that would
exonerate the owner of the pistol. He
would certainly not have leaped from the
window, because that would have left
footprints on the ground; you will look
In vain for such. Yet he did get out of
this very window.
"How can you tell that?" asked Mason,
In amazement "It has been already In
spected fay the prefect of police. He
Q r a n v i 1 1 e
has also searched carefully under the
window, for I saw him doing it. If any
one had passed through that opening he
would surely have discovered it"
"The prefect Is doubtless a good offi
cer," replied Cassagne, "but if he bad
looked closer, he would have seen that in
climbing through the window the man
blushed the dust off this geranium leaf
with his coat."
The doctor bent down and placed the
leaf Indicated alongside one that had not
been touched. The truth of the detec
tive's discovery became then convincing.
One was covered with dust, the other had
been swept partly clean. M. Cassagne
smiled with pardonable pride, and, saying
that he had for the present nothing fur
ther to examine in the bed chambers, led
the way down stairs, first of all, however,
replacing, carefully, the seals which he
bad removed.
Taking his hat from the rack in the
hall, and inviting Dr. Mason to accom
pany him, he passed quickly around to
the rear of the chateau. A man servant
was shaking some carpets on the back
lawn. He ordered him to bring a ladder,
and, placing it against the wall of the
chateau, ascended it nimbly.
"I thought so," he called down to the
doctor. "The ladder will bear two of us.
Come up, please."
"What is it this time?" Inquired Ma
son, craning his neck so as to be uu a
level with the window sill.
Oassagne directed the physician's at
tention to a slight abrasion of the stone.
"That was caused by the man's shoe
when he leaped from the sill," he explain
ed. "But where did he leap to?" Inquired
the doctor. "This window is twenty feet
from the ground, at least Even if he
bad been in his stocking feet he must
have left some Impression, and you say
he had shoes on."
"He reached the ground another way,
that is all," replied Cassagne. "Most
likely he jumped into that tree. Let's
see if it is possible."
With the agility of a sailor ascending
the rigging of a vessel, he climbed up
the rest of the ladder, and stepped on to
the window sill. After measuring the
distance with his eye for a few moments
he said :
"It was a desperate leap for a man
to take in the night time ; but recollect,
he was a desperate fellow."
Then gathering himself together, and
exerting his enormous muscular strength,
he sprang from the window. A project
ing bough nearly a dozen feet away was
his objective point. He caught it, and
with the agility of a trapezist passed
hand over hand down to the trunk. As
he swung himself around the branch, bis
eye fell upon a small, glittering object
stuck fast in the fork of the tree. He
picked it up, and .slid rapidly down to
the ground, where the doctor was await
ing him. Placing in the physician's band
a small gold locket, the detective ex
claimed in a delighted voice :
"I'll have him I'll find him now, If I
have to hunt for him all over France."
Just then one of the servants approach
ed. "It was twelve o'clock. Would the
gentlemen like breakfast?"
"The gentlemen will have some break
fast by all means," replied M. Cassagne
"Our labor has beou immense, our reward
ought to be proportionate," nnd the phy
sician led the way, and together they
passed into the chateau.
CHAPTER IX.
Hardly had M. Alfred Cassagne swal
lowed the last mouthful of his breakfast,
than his active mind reverted again to
the mystery which yet surrounded the
death of Mme. Roupell.
Who was the man, at present unknown,
who had crept like a thief in the night
into the chateau, and as quietly stolen
away when his foul work had been ac
complished? And what was his motive in
committing the crime? Was he in any
way connected with M. Chabot? Could
it be possible that the prefect of police
had stumbled on the real Instigator of
the murder in the person of Chabot, and
that tljis unknown person was his con
federate? Most likely at that moment,
some officer from the prefecture was en
gaged in closely watching Chabot's slight
est movements. There might be some
thing In the prefect's theory, after all.
Mature reflection convinced M. Cassagne
that It would not do to dismiss it with
a mere shrug of the shoulders. Chabot's
accomplice might be the man they were
looking for. Anyhow, it would not do to
leave the point uncovered.
"I must write at once," he said, pres
ently, "to Cliquot Cllquot is my assist
ant We must have him keep watch of
this Monsieur Chabot's movements."
M. Cassagne wrote out a series of In
structions, particularly cautioning his as
sistant to keep track of M. Chabot, and
under no circumstances, If he ran across
any of the people from the prefecture, to
let them really know who he was. Then
he appeared to be engrossed in thought.
He rubbed his hands violently together,
as if he would impart activity to his
brain by the friction. He arose, thrust
back bis chair, and began to walk rapidly
up and down the room, stopping occasion
ally to examine the pictures on the walls,
with the eye of a critic.
"Madame'i husband left her very well
off, I should Judge," he remarked at last
"Very," replied Dr. Mason.
"How long ago did Monsieur Roupell
die?"
"About fifteen years.'
"And then she took up with the
nieces"
"Not Immediately. It was not until
the death of their parents that Madame
Roupell went to America to fetch them."
"Tell me what relatives Madame Rou
pell had besides these young ladies."
"There were no other relatives except
a brother, a dissolute character, who fol
lowed his sister from America to this
sountry."
"And his name?"
"As I recollect it, Ilenry Graham, 1
believe. A man of fifty or sixty."
"When did you last see this Henry
Graham?"
"1 never saw him but once. He came
to the chateau, on some begging expedi
tion when I happened to be here. He
pretended to be very affectionate. He
was a poor looking creature, quite broken
down when I saw him, and not at all the
kind of man to commit a daring crime."
"Recollect that the moment Madame
Roupell died he had an interest in her
estate. He was her nearest heir-at-law."
"But she had made ber will, she had
disowned him, and utterly cast him off.
That will bequeathed all her property to
her nieces. I witnessed it I knew what
was in It"
M. Cassagne began to grow more and
more interested. He no longer cast his
eyes upon the walls and ceiling. But he
looked the doctor straight in the face.
"On what was that will written? Try
your utmost now to recollect that; a
great deal depends on It" I
"The first will was not written upon
paper. The second contained some slight
bequests to friends and to favorite ser
vants. I believe I was mentioned it
self for some trifling amount. In otheT
respects the two wills were identical. The
first one was drawn up by Madame Rou
pell's lawyers. She kept the second will
at her banker's. The first one remained
in the houae. It was enjrosed on parch
ment." "On parchment," repeated M. Cassagne.
"Was it anything like this?" and he
handed a scrap of the article In question
over to the doctor. I
"Where did you find this?" Inquired
the doctor when he could sufficiently re
cover from his astonishment to speak, j
"I found it upstairs," replied M. Cas
sagne, "I put it in my pocket, because
it was In a queer place for a scrap of
parchment. I found It with four other
pieces, in the fireplace of Madame Rou
pell's bedroom. Of course, I have a the
ory, now, how they came there. First of
all, however, before I come to that, tell
me if you are certain that the scraps
were ton from Madame Roupell's will
the first will, I mean the parchment
one?"
The physician did not Immediately re
ply. He fully realized the importance of
his answer, and how much hung on It
"Give me the scraps," lie said. "If
there is any writing on them I should
be able to tell by that. It was a very
peculiar hand. It looked as if it bad been
engrossed by an English scrivener. Yes,
the handwritings are identical."
"It is enough," muttered Cassagne,
sweeping the pieces of parchment up
from the table and putting them carefully
away in his pocketbook. "Now for my
theory. Henry Graham is the man we
want to find. Mind you, I don't say he
committed the murder, but you'll see he
is implicated in it in some way or other.
He had everything to gain by Madame
Roupell's death, provided she died intes
tate. He must have learned in some way
that his sister had made a will disinherit
ing him. To gain possession of what he
thought was the only will was his object
If he could do that, his sister, being ig
norant of the fact that the will was de
stroyed, would go to her grave believ
ing herself testate. On ber death her
brother could have come forward and
claimed the property."
It was clever reasoning. The doctor
listened with breathless interest as the
detective continued :
"Assuming that it is this Ilenry Gra
ham, let us see what lie knew and what
he did. lie must have heard of the mak
ing of this first will, and somehow or
other he must have learned of its con
tents. He was Ignorant of the making
of the second instrument Now let us see
how he acted. He gained an entrance
to the chateau. How he did this it is im
possible to state at present. Probably
lie may have been in collusion with some
body in the house ; but I don't know yet
He was evidently well posted as to the
movements of the family, for he chose a
time when, as he thought, they had gone
to the opera. It was a mere accident
we don't know whether it was or not but
we will assume so that Miss Harriet
Weldon did not accompany the party. I
om myself inclined to think there was
some love affair between her and Van
Lith, which accounts for his presence in
the house that night, and which also
accounts for his silence. You understand
what I mean. He won't speak for fear
of compromising the young lady."
The doctor nodded. "That Is good," be
said, "very good, indeed ; go ahead."
"The assassin was a little disconcerted
at finding MiBS Weldon and your friend
in the chateau. Instead of entering the
house from the front which would be
comparatively easy, he was compelled to
do so by the rear, running the risk of
being seen by the servants. He gained
Madame Roupell's chamber and proceed
ed to search for the document. He ran
sacked the desk and then threw the pa
pers about Unconsciously he stayed
longer than he Intended. So absorbed
was he in his search that he was surpris
ed by his victim, ne drew the stiletto,
stabbed her, and quietly resumed his
search for the paper. After a time, he
found it He was about to destroy It
by fire, when It occurred to him that a
parchment would burn better if It was
in small pieces. Ho started to tear it
up, when he altered his mind, and instead
of burning it then and there, put It In hit
pocket to be destroyed at some more fav
orable opportunity. Unluckily for him.
In his hurry he did not pick up the scran
b tors off."
(To be continued,)
J
Marvelous, j
Quaint and Curious.
Ancient Ploughing- and Threshing-
The ancient plough was light the
draught comparatively easy; but then
tho very lightness required that the
ploughman should lean upon It with
his whole weight, or else It would glide
over the soli without making a single
furrow. "Unless," said Pliny, "the
ploughman stoop forward, to press
down the plough, as well as to conduct
It, truly It will turn aside."
Oxen were anciently employed In
threshing corn, and the same custom Is
till retained in Egypt and the east
ANCIENT MODE OF PLOUGniNO,
This operation Is effected by trampling
upon the sheaves, and by dragging a
clumsy machine, furnished with three
rollers that turn on their axles. A
wooden chair vls attached to the ma
chine, and on this a driver seats him
sef, urging his oxen backwards and for
wards among the sheaves, which have
previously been thrown Into a heap of
about eight feet wide and two In height
The grain thus beaten out, is collected
In an open place, and shaken against
the wind by an attendant with a small
shovel, or, as It Is termed, a winnowing
fan, which disperses the chaff anf
leaves the grain uninjured.
ANCIENT GOLD MINES.
Working- at Solomon's Tims Still
Yield Precious Metal.
Rhodesia, British Zanibesia, rank
among the chief gold-bearing countries
of the world. The ancients mined and
carried away enormous quantities ol
the precious metal, but under the scien
tific mining systems of the present day
their operations will be greatly sur
passed, says the Baltimore Sun.
It has been suggested that perhaps
Rhodesia was the ancient land of
Ophir, the land of the mysterious King
Solomon's mine, but the theory is
strongly combated by some Investiga
tors. The auclent gold workings are
the basis of modem operations. For
every ten square miles of Rhodesia
there was one ancient mine ; that Is,
there are 75,000 old holes, which means
that stupendous wealth was dug out
of the earth tefore the days of Cecil
Rhodes and his companions. Much of
this wealth must have gone to the
north and east; It was probably
wroucht Into the crown of the Queen
of Sheba and filled the coffers of Sol
omon. The ancient smelting furnaces are
still easy to recognize. They are sunk
Into the floor. The furnace blow pipes
are made of the finest granite powder
cement and the nozzles of the blow
pipes are covered with splashes of gold.
The linings of the holes are covered
with specks of gold. When the first
lining became worn by the heat n fresh
lining of cement of nn excellent qual
ity, which has outlasted time, was
smeared round on the top of the old
lining.
Apparently the ancients wasted gold
lavishly. The yellow metal has been
found In large quantities In the forms
of pellets ns large as buckshot In the
vicinity of the furnaces and also
thrown away on the debris heaps out
side of the old buildings.
The tools of the ancient workers
Which have thus far !een discovered
Include a small soapstone hammer and
burnishing stones of wuterworn rock,
to which gold still adheres. Thirty-five
thousand dollars' worth of gold orna
ments have been taken In the last seven
or eight years from the ruins of Mata
beleland alone.
The Helping; Hand,
The company had been discussing
the social rise of a man of millions
who had begun life as a laborer.
"He owes It all to his wife," declared
one of the number.
The others regarded her inquiringly.
"As soon as he was worth a million,"
she explained, "his wife set about ex
changing his union card for a coat of
arms; by the time he was worth two
millions she had made the trade. The
rest was easy."
A Girl's War.
Patience Do they have to bee Peccv
to sing when they have company?
Patrice Yes; but they have to bet
harder for her not to sing when they
haven't got company. Yonkera States
man. Every other man you meet claims
that at one time he thought of being
preachaa.
A method of shaft sinking has been
tried in France in which cement slurry
Is forced through boreholes In soft-fissured
strata in order to form a wall of
concrete In which sinking can be per
formed. In reference to the height of ele
phants, 10 feet in males and 8 feet 8
Inches in females vertical height at
the shoulders, measured as a horse
are very rarely attained, and not ex
ceeded by 1 animal in 500.
The use of egg shells as gas mantlew
Is an Idea from Germany. The contents
are drawn or blown out, the ends are
neatly cut off, and the body of the shell
Is fixed In position like the regular ar
ticle. The light thus obtained is very
good, while the new form of mantle Is
much more durable than the old.
The production of metallic cadmium,
which has hitherto been confined to Bel
gium and Silesia, has been undertaken
by a chemical company of Cleveland,
Ohio. The ore of the Joplln district is
stated to be richer in cadmium than the
ore of Silesia, but under the conditions
of zinc smelting In the United Statea
It has not been considered worth while
to attempt to save cadmium as a by
product It results from the careful measure
uieuts of level recently made by Lieu
tenant Colonel Parlisky along the line
of the Transcasplan railway that the
level of the Caspian Sea Is 83 feet be
low the level of the oceans. If the
Caspian Sink were filled with water
up to ocean level, the town of Kras
novodsk, which stands on Its shore,
would be submerged, for the mean ele
vation of that town la between 63 and
64 feet below the ocean level.
It is not only Insects that serve for
the pollination of flowers, but several
species of birds perforin a similar of
fice for certain flowers. Among these
are humming birds and sun birds.
With their long tongues these blrda
procure nectar, and with It pollen, from
flowers which are practically inaccessi
ble or distasteful to Insects. The pol
len Is distributed to other flowers dur
ing the successive visits of the birds.
There are some tropical plnnts which
I flourish only If these birds abound.
City people who aro occasionally
startled by seeing a manhole cover
blown from the pavement generally as
cribe the blame to leaking gus mains.
But there are probably many other
sources from which dangerous gases
find their way into sewers, nnd one
of these Is Indicated by an Investiga
tion recently reported to the American
Chemical Society by Prof. A. A. Brenqr
man. lie showed that the entrance of
a mixture of gasoline and soap Into
drains and sewers from garages, fac
tories and other places where such ma
terials are employed for woshlng, la
sufficient to account for the liberation
of much combustible vapor, which may
play a part In sewer explosions,
CAR FOR ROYAL CHILDREN.
The Princes of Wales Ha Designed
I u Plcnlo Antnmohlle.
The rrincess of Wales has her own
Ideas about how an automobile should
be built. A car embodying some of her
own pet features has Just been com
pleted for her by a prominent firm of
English builders. Like the king, she
has shown her preference for the British-built
article, snys tho Kansas City
Star.
An attempt has been made to make
the new car a picnic vehicle. It Is de
signed for the youngsters and a folding
table Is a feature. This can be put in
position In a few moments for the serv
ing of tea and light refreshments.
In designing the car her loyal high
ness stipulated that the two diminutive
seats Intended for the children should
bo placed as far as possible from the
door, so as to obviate the posslbllty of
Injury In case of accident. In addition
to the two seats for children there la
room for three people In the compart
ment. The car Is of medium power, 28-38
horse-power. Its color Is nn unusual
shade of green and her roynl highness
hand Is In evidence there also. She la
said to have hit upon the peculiar
shade In a unique manner. While strol
ling In the grounds of York College,
Sandrlngham, the princess was struck
by an unusual mingling of greens on a
fir tree. A bunch of tho leaves waa
obtained to match It The princess la
Bald to be delighted with the result
The young princes and princess are
overjoyed with the Idea of having a
big car which can be said to be tbelra
alone. An unusually large window In
the back of the car enables them to
look out at the rear, a further delight
especially In1 fast traveling.
The Jury.
"When I goes to de co'thouse," said
Uncle Eben, "It sometimes looks to ma
like de jury was a committee to award
a prize to de smartest lawyer." Waul
tngton Star.