Lincoln County leader., February 07, 1908, Image 7

I
The Roupell Mystery
By Austyn Granville
CHAPTER XII. (Continued.)
Time was precious with the detective.
He thought of the prisoner then languish
Ing in the dungeons of La Mazas. lie
put both bills in his pocket, took up his
hat and arose from the table.
"Then I am to understand that madame
prefers to be cited to appear before the
tribunal. I think your witness' fees and
mileage will amount to about one-quarter
6f the sum I offer."
Either the threat or the sense of loss
It implied brought Mme. Beausantin to
her senses. The little beady eyes dilated
again, and she put her hand upon the
door.
"Don't go; I will tell you everything."
"That is more like business," remarked
-Cassagne. "Now tell me all you know.
You see I keep failh with you. Here
are your hundred francs. The othw
hundred are yours when you have told
your story." '
"I don't know much," said Mme. Beau
santin. "I knew Monsieur Graham only
as a customer. lie was a pleasant, civil
man, a little given to drink, I should
Judge. I should say nothing but his af
fection for his little son kept him from
going to the dogs."
"His son ! Was Monsieur Graham,
then, married?"
"You don't know much about him, evi
dently. I know he had a son. It must
hare been his son. He was very like
him."
"Do you think you would recognize
Monsieur Graham's portrait, if you saw
It?"
The detective drew out the locket and
placed it before her. Mme. Beausantin
took it In her hand, adjusted It to the
light of the shop window, and examined
It carefully.
"This is the portrait of a very young
man. The man I knew was older than
this. Where did you get it? Yes, It is
the portrait of Monsieur Graham. I
would know it by several things. He had
peculiar way of looking."
"What was that?"
"He looked downward, at a slight an
gle, habitually. He never looked one
straight in the face. He also wore an
eye glass, like the man in the picture."
The detective drew out the second note
and balanced It dexterously between his
fingers.
"Tell me where he lived, and this is
yours also."
"He lived at No. 29 Rue de Santin.
It Is an apartment house. The same
concierge is still there. He can tell you
morn than I can."
M. Cassagne handed the other note to
Mme. Beausantin, took up his hat, and
bidding the laundress good-day passed out
Into the street.
CHAPTER XIII.
The man in charge of the apartment
touse at No. 29 Rue de Santin was a
short, dumpy man, of the name of Gug
hatoff. Though he spoke French fluent
ly, even with the accent of a native, bis
high Tartar cheek bones, his oblique
eyes, and gutteral intonation when unduly
excited, sufficiently attested his Russian
origin.
In Gughatoff, the Russian, M. Cas
sagne found he had a far more difficult
person to deal with than the little laun
dress, pliant by reason of her excessive
greed. With Gughatoff, whose political
opinions now constituted his whole life
motive, mere gain was a secondary con
sideration. He devoted all his spare time.
which was considerable, as his wife did
most of the work, to the discussion of
politics. He was one of those men of
whom people say : "He would sooner talk
politics than eat."
The Parisian detective now felt that
while his progress so far had been satis
factory, the greatest caution on his part
was necessary. He had seen the most
likely cases ruined by too hasty conduct. :
He did not suffer himself to be unduly
elated by the extremely satisfactory out
come of his interview with Mme. Beau
santin. He went about his work with the
greatest deliberation. A man less a mas
ter of his difficult profession would have
at once excited suspicion, which would
have resulted in the Russian's closing
his mouth forever. M. Cassagne avoided
this fatal error by the very deliberation
with which he went about his work. His
first step- was to find out the kind of man
he had to deal with. In two days, he
had possessed himself of all necessary
Information. On the third he continued
to ingratiate himself with the janitor, In
regard to whose antecedents and pecu
Haritles he had been so careful to make
himself acquainted.
On the fifth day the morning train bore
the detective away from Blois, the richer
for some very Important Information. He
had shown the portrait in the locket to
Gughatoff, and the concierge, like Mme.
Beausantin, had declared it to be the
portrait of the American Henry Graham.
In addition he bad actually persuaded
Gughatoff that he had been all the time
entertaining in Henry Graham a spy of
the Russian government; that he, Cas
sagne, belonged to a friendly circle of
French co-operative Nihilists having Its
headquarters In Paris; that Graham had
been at one time a member of the circle,
and that he was about to betray his late
comrades. Gughatoff, to whom a spy
was as a red rag to a bull, had greedily
wallowed this remarkable fairy tale of
the detective's, especially when the latter
had produced a skillfully prepared docu
ment in Russian which not only com
mended him to the offices of all good Ni
hilists, but even gar a distinct account
f the object of hla mission and minutely
described his person for purposes of iden
tification. TuU"' Cas,!,l?n,' ws the author himself
of this useful paper and had forwarded it
o days previously to D'Auburon in
I ans, where It had been translated into
Russian before being returned to Blois.
Hut happily the concierge was ignorant
of this deceit, and the plan had therefore
succeeded perfectly. Burning with hatred
for the supposed spy, Gughatoff had told
all he knew of his late guest, which was
as follows :
Henry Graham bad resided in Blois
some six or seven years, during which
time he had had correspondence with two
persons only. Gughatoff knew this, be
cause, latterly, Grnham, for fear of cred
itors, had rarely left his apnrtments, and
Gughatoff had mailed his letters for him.
The first of these persons was Mme.
Roupell, thus again establishing bevond
a doubt the identity of the Henry Gra
ham of Blois with the dissolute brother
of 'the late owner of the Chateau Vllle
neuve. The surname of Henry Graham's sec
ond correspondent had escaped the mem
ory of the concierge In the course of
years. He was positive, however, that
her first name had been Helene, and that
she had resided' at Belliers, a small village
in the department of the Loire.
This second correspondent had also
been a lady a .well-educated, refined
lady, he should judge, for he had been in
the habit of taking up M. Graham's mail,
and the envelopes had been fine and deli
cately scented, and had borne a crest and
monogram on the outside, such as were
only used by persons of rank.
As the train rushed across the land
scape, Cassagne relapsed into a medita
tive mood. The thought recurred to him,
was this woman, after a lapse of so many
years, yet alive, and would it be possible
to find her? If Graham was the murder
er, as he now believed, the person most
likely to know of his present whereabouts
would be this one the woman who, in
all probability, had been his wife. He fell
to studying how old this boy could be
now. He calculated he must be nearly
thirty years of age. For old Gughatoff,
the concierge, had given the child's age at
about ten when Graham had left Blois,
and a little more than twenty years had
elapsed since that time. If he could find
him, he perhaps might yet be in com
munication with his father.
When Henry Graham had left Blois be,
too, had turned his steps in the direction
of Belliers. For Gughatoff had forward
ed several letters to him at that place. It
was toward Belliers, therefore, that he,
Cassagne, must hasten, there to pursue
his investigations; but first of all he
would go to Paris. He must find out
what M. Lablanche had accomplished. He
must also receive the report of his as
sistant, who meantime would not have
been idle.
The first thing M. Cassagne did upon
his arrival in Paris was to hail a cab.
Jumping in, he bade the man drive to
the apartment of his friend and assist
ant, D'Auburon. in the Rue de Provence.
It was about noon when he ascended the
staircase and rapped loudly on the door
of the vestibule. D'Auburon came out
himself to let him in, rubbing his eyes.
"I have been up pretty nearly all night,"
he said, yawning terribly. "Wait till I
get a bath. Then we will have some
breakfast."
v "Confound the fellow," exclaimed the
Impatient Cassagne. "I never call on
him but he is either in the bath or just
about to take one. It Is the one thing
against his making a good detective. He
is too fond of water."
A minute afterward D'Auburon appear
ed in a loose dresing gown and Turkish
slippers, swinging two enormous Indian
clubs in a manner that threatened de
struction to the chandeliers and orna
ments. While he was thus engaged, Cassagne
had arisen. He was walking restlessly up
and down the room. The splashing of the
water bad given him a sudden fit of shiv
ering. The sight of his friend wasting
precious time on what he deemed a friv
olous exercise, also irritated him. Sud
denly his eye fell upon a card In the
receiver on the center table. It was a
very elegantly engraved piece of paste
board, surmounted with a coronet em
bossed in gold. Its inscription read:
"The Vicomte de Valiar."
"Ah," exclaimed Cassagne, "that's the
man to whom I procured you the letter
of Introduction. You managed to get
there?"
"Yes," replied D'Auburon, "and he call
ed when I was out and left his card. A
great financier he is. President of half
a dozen big companies. lie has made
one fortune and has twenty Irons in the
fire, all of which he manages to keep re
spectably heated "
"Never mind him for the present," in
terrupted Cassagne, Impatiently. "Tell
me of Chabot, above all. I want to know
what the prefect of police has accomplish
ed. How many men has he got on the
case?"
"Four 1"
"Who are they?"
"Vougeot, Remoul, Villeroy and Cou
tinet" "None of them Is up to much except
Vougeot," mused M. Cassagne, to whom
the detectives named were we)l known.
"Vougeot Is a pretty smart fellow. What
Is he doing?"
"He is shadowing Chabot So far he
has accomplished nothing."
"Now tell mo what has happened. This
man Chabot. Ii monsieur le prefect still
serious In his belief that he Is In totae
way implicated in thia crime?"
"Assuredly, but there Is a more absurd
phase to It than that. Whom do you
think. In addition to Chabot, monsieur le
prefect has placed under surveillance?"
"Oh, I can't tell. The man in the
moon, perhaps." '
"No, not so bad as that. But, deterj
mined to cover all points, I suppose, be
nas placed a watch upon tne movements
of the American, Dr. Paul Mason. That's
not all. Poor, honest Pierre, the butler
at the chateau, a man whom you yourself
examined and said wouldn't hurt a fly,
has. also been included. It Is positively
shameful to permit such bunglers as La
blanche to squander the secret service
funds in such fooleries. Another fellow,
I understand, has been haunting the park
at Villeneuve, and was nearly shot by
one of the keepers, who took him for a
poacher. . They hauled him before the
mayor down there, and the man had to
tell his whole story to clear himself. The
prefect was raving when he heard of It.
He discharged him from the force."
"More bungling," remarked Cassagne.
"Who was It?"
"Little Trifflet"
'Hunt him up. Pay him well, and tell
him to keep his mouth shut. He may
know just enough of the prefect's plans to
be a very useful man for us. Meantime,
what have you found about this Mon
sieur Chabot?"
'He is an adventurer, one of the de
caj-ed gentleman class; belongs to a cou
ple of clubs ; has the entree Into some
very good and also some very question-.
able society. He has become affiliated i
with the vicomte and his set only within
the last year or two. They are in several
schemes together. Lately he hag been
making some money.
"And the vicomte, yon say, is an able
financier?"
"Very, I should say. He floated the
City and Suburban Messenger Company,
and was shrewd enough to withdraw be
fore it went under. He Is, as I told you,
president of the Mutual Credit Com
pany, and a large operator on the Bourse.
He appears to have been very successful.
His wife, the vicomtesse, has doubtless
been a powerful factor in the making of i
his fortunes'. Ah, but she is charming.
You should see her. It was her influ
ence, doubtless, which secured the co
operation of Monsieur Colbert-Remplin,
the banker of Rue Hauffmann, In that
deal. He was a haughty old fellow and
never would have entertained the busi
ness proposition of de Valiar if It hadn't
been for the vicomtesse. She sat next
to him at dinner. The next day the
prospectus of the Montainbleau Charcoal
Company was issued, and the name of
Colbert-Remplin was on the board of di
rectors." "Who told you all this?"
"ToJd me? Why, I was there myself.
They put me in as well. Look, here I aa
In big type. See !"
"M. CHARLES D'AUBURON,
"Capitalist"
Cassagne's eye gleamed with delight
He felt proud of his pupil. He sat and
listened while his pupil rattled on, think
ing deeply, as was his wont. Presently
he pulled out his watch.
"It is two o'clock," he said. "My trail
leaves at three-thirty, and I have a few
matters to attend to before I start If
you have occasion to wire me you can
find me at that address."
He wrote upon the back of a card ;
"Baptiste Goulet,
"Care Police Headquarters,
"Belliers, Dep't of Loire."
"That will be my name for the next
two or three days; at any rate, as long
as I may find It necessary to stay at
Belliers. Don't telegraph unless my pres
ence is absolutely necessary. I leave that
to your discretion. Keep an eye on Mon
sieur Chabot, and procure a man at once
to keep track of Dr. Paul Mason's move
ments. Totally unnecessary, you say?
Not at all. He may be the deepest villain
of them all, and have called me In merely
to keep the other side from retaining my
services, thinking that by such a step he
could best secure the impossibility of my
being put upon his own track."
Chnrles D'Auburon lost sight of the
sublime egotism of his leader in his ad
miration of the manner in which he left
no point uncovered. His movements in
the case were to be compared to those
of a skillful general, who, before the bat
tle actually commences, disposes of his
men to the utmost advantage. What' In
other men would have been vanity was In
M. Cassagne simply an expression of con.
fidence born of his self-reliant nature.
(To be continued.)
No Circa for Johnny,
Johnny "Can I go to the circus,
pa?"
Father "No Indeed, I wouldn't
think of letting you see such a degrad
ing exhibition."
Johnny "Then won't you please
take me to the menagerie? Teacher
says we ought to see the animals."
Father "What! Pay full price to
see only half the show? I guess not"
After Twenty Years. .
Mrs. Hardnpple (at play) "Thai
thar leading lady looks the same aa
she did In the last act?"
Mr. Hardapple "Yeas, and twenty
years are supposed to elapse between
the last and this one." f
Mrs. Hardapple "Do tell 1 And to
think she didn't wash her face one
In all that time."
He Was Immune.
"Aren't you going in bathing?
asked Miss Pepprey.
"No," replied Cholly. "You know,
they say there's a huge shark lurking
around the beach these days."
"Yes, but why should that alarm
you? Thay say ( It's a man-eatin,
hark, you . know." Philadelphia
Prasa,
illflftVentionl1
i
New nnphthn springs and a large
naphtha lr.ke have been discovered
about eight miles from Nabilskaya
Bay, In the Russian portion of the Isl
and of aghallcn.
A diamond drill bore hole 0,700 feet
deep wai put down In Upper Silesia
in 1900. Another deep hole was put
down on the Rand, South Africa, In
1905, the depth being 0,304 feet.
Autogenuous welding Is successfully
applied by Robert Hopfeldt. a German
electrician, to the soldering of alumi
num wires, a direct union of aluminum
with aluminum being reudlly obtained.
Bricks made of sand and lime and
hardened In the air are used largely
In districts where there Is no clay from
which clay brick can be mmle, but
where an abundance of sand can be
found.
It Is stated that so much hnd been
learned by the flight of "Xulll Soeun
dus" to Loudon that its use will bt
abandoned and that a new ship with
considerable alterations, based on thi
experience of the flight, will be iiunie
dintely put in band.
According to J. Dybowskl, a progres.
slve desiccation of the nlr and soil la
manifest in the region of the Smlnn,
the underlying cause being the destruc
tion of the original forests. Cnpe Verde
is cited as an example. In the eigh
teenth century the botanist, Adanson,
described It ns covered with n vnst for
est, whence Its name. Now the forests
are gone, the rivers are diminished,
sheets of water have disappeared, and
the productiveness of the soil Is fall
ing, until In many pluees the region
has become almost sterile. The native
began the destruction of the forests Ig
norantly; white men continue It for im
mediate selfish ends.
At a recent meeting of the French
Academy of Sciences, the apparatus of
Dr. Fortln for rendering visible the In
ner structure of the human eye was de
scribed. A very brilliant mirror Is illu
minated with a Cooper Hewitt tube,
and the light Is reflected Into the eye,
after traversing two thicknesses of blue
glass and being concentrated by a largo
lens fixed In a screen. The (-observer
places his eye behind the lens nt such
a distance that the whole field appears
uniformly Illuminated. Whnt he sees
Is a reflection of the Interior of his
own eye. The circulation of the blood
In the minute vessels' Is visible. When
a screen pierced with a pinhole Is pass
ed rapidly to and fro between the eye
and the lens, the structure of the fovea,
the minute spot on the retina which Is
the most sensitive part of the eye, Is
revealed. The apparatus Is designed tc
aid Investigations by oculists.
SCOOP THAT WEIGHS.
Does Awr with the Necessity of
Employing Counter Scales.
Every grocer cau scoop up sugar or
coffee, etc., from the storage bin and
rery closely gauge the correct quantity.
Y'et he would not be willing to give It
to the customer ns the full weight to
be purchased without first testing It on
INDICATK8 WKIUIIT.
the scales. A Texas man has hit uhb
the Idea of having the scoop indicate
the weight of the contents, eliminating
Hie necessity of transferring it to the
scales. Ills weighing scoop Is shown la
the accompanying Illustration. Tim
pan for gntherlng up the article to t
weighed Is pivoted to the handle and
operates a pointer, which Indicates the
welgt of the contents on a scale. If n
pound of sugar Is wanted, the grocer
dip's enough out of the bin to swing the
pointer to the pound mark. The sugar
Is then transferred directly to n bng,
doing away wlh the necessity of welgli
Ing on the scales.
ProRresH.
"Whither are we'drlftlng?" asked the
platitudinous orator.
"We ain't drifting anywhere," said
the man In the back row who fears
the corporations. "We're being push
td." Washington Star.
If you are idle, your excuse for call
ing on a busy man Is, "I will not takl
up much of his time." But the busj
man will ha" other callers during thf
day.
TACTS ABOUT GRAPE JUICB.
Refreshing BeTerase, Made with
Without Water Its Ise.
The popularity of the grape Juice
both as a bevege and a fla'vorlng has
certainly increased during the last few
years, says the New York Tribune.
Some women, who years ago began to
prepare It to use at communion Insfead
of fermented wine, have found it dell
clous In desserts, as well as a refresh-
j Ing drink, made festive with sprigs of
mint and slices of lemon. Here are sev
eral good ways to prepare unfermented
grape Juice: Pick the grapes off the
terns, put them In a covered stone Jar
and set the Jar In a pot of boiling wa-
it-i. ijci uie water do l arouna uia inr
for half an hour, or until the grain's
ore well cooked. Strain the Juice from
the grapes and let It stand In a cool
place over night In the morning bring
the Juice to the boiling point and let It
boll for twenty minutes. Add sugar to
suit the taste. Fill heated fruit Jars to
the brim and seal tightly. This rule Is
an old Tribune recipe and Is very rich,
as no water Is used when cooking the
grapes. It should be diluted with a
little Ice water when used as a bever
age. Here is a rule for unfennented grape
Juice In which water Is used : Pick over
the grapes, rejecting all unsound ones.
Put in a porcelain lined kettle and al
most cover with cold water. Heat
slowly, mashing the grapes and cooking
until all the Juleo Is out. Drain in a
Jelly bug and meosure the liquid,
adding one-third of a cupful of granu
lated sugar for each quart Boil for
four minutes, then bottle and seal.
The following recipe was sent by a
Tribune subscriber some time ago. Its
special advantage Is that the measure
ments are exact and little is left to
one's Judgment, an advantage which a
young or Inexperienced preserver will
appreciate :
"To twelve quarts of grapes, stemmed
and washed, add three pints of water.
Boll them in a porcelain lined kettle
until soft; strain and to every three
quarts of Juice add a pound of sugar.
Heat to the boiling point and seal la
air-tight cans."
An old housewife who has had much
experience In making grape Juice for
Church purposes gives the following
points, which may be of use to those
who have had little experience. She
says that she finds cheesecloth the best
thing for straining the Juice and that If
the stems of the grapes are left on the
Juice seems to strain out better, as they
break up the thick mass of cooked
grapes, making It less compact. She
uses ordinary gloss fruit Jars. She
puts them In a pan of hot water with
hot water In them and a granite pla
plate on the stove with water In it
Stand one hot Jar, empty, at a time on
the pie plate; put its rubber ring on It
Fill to overflowing with boiling hot
Juice ; seal at once as tightly as possi
ble. Before you put away the Jars test
them by corefuly turning them upside
down. If Juice begins to exude put the
contents Into the preserving kettle
again. Try another top and fill to over
flowing with water from the tea kettle.
If, when filling the Jars, there is not
quite enough Juice for the Inst Jar, al
ways fill up with ordinary boiling wa
ter until It overflows. This last jnr
will-not be quite so rich In quality as
the others, but It will keep, as It would
not were the Jar not completely full.
Do not put the Jars where there Is a
possibility of their freezing, but keep
in a cold place.
Vindicated at I.nst.
An up-Stute eorresNrnlcnt hat fotind
in an old scrap book a bit of verse that
hears out the theory advanced by Con
gressman Roberts of Utah, that Adam
was the most chivalrous of all men,
and only ate the forbidden fruit be
cause he would not be separated from
Eve. Seeing this mentioned In Inst
Tuesdoy's Nosegay column he seut on
a copy of the verse. It rends:
Daughters of Eve, your mother did not
wen.
She placed the apple in your father's
hand.
Adam was not deceived, nor yet could
stand ;
For love of her he gave his throne,
With her could die, but could not live
alone.
Philadelphia Record.
Much Impressed.
Professor of Natural History (at the
Zoo) In the animal creation, some of
the works of nature fill us with awe
and admiration for their stupendous
size and weight, and the colossal pro-
portions on which they are modeled.
Here, for Instance, Is the hippopotamus
Giggly Pupil Ain't he cute? Bait
more American.
It Pays.
"How do you find things out thia
way?" asked the stranger.
"By advertising for 'em," wns the
prompt reply of the native. Detroit
Free Press.
Getting Friendly.
"When you told papa that your sal
ary was $100 a week, did he consent to
our marriage?"
"No, but he Invited ma to Join hla
poker club,