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About The news=record. (Enterprise, Wallowa County, Or.) 1907-1910 | View Entire Issue (Dec. 19, 1907)
f.. i 1 J; 1.11 ! II ! 1 The Roupell Mystery By Austyn Granville CHAPTER VIII. (Continued.) "I'm afraid, doctor, you would not make a very good detective. Recollect that In nine caws 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 Tiring a pistol in the dead of night. Oh, no ! he would simply have 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 Lilh'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. lie picks up a pistol from the case, saying, 'This will protect me if I have to proceed to extremities. He passes on to Madame Koupell's chamber, and falls to searching among her papers. She is woman of large property, and must have valuables, lie is not after money, for the diamonds which she wore to the opera have not been taken. While thus engaged, be is Interrupted by Madame Itoupell, who rushed forward to save her papers. lie jumps from his chair, over turning it, and raises the stiletto; she turns and flees; he pursued and stabs her. Do you understand, monsieur?" "Yes, I understand everything, except his firing the pistol into the head of a (Woman whom he had apparently already fut out of the way of harming him. I m assuming, of course, that his object was not murder. Of course, Madame iRoupell may have recognized him, and he tnay have wanted to be sure she was dead." "Even that would not have warranted Ills 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, "lie did it to direct suspi cion from himself to Uie owner of the weapon." "The diabolical villain I" exclaimed the doctor,' and apparently so Impressed was he with M. Cassagne'a theory that he kept repeating the phrase over and over agaiu, 'The diabolical villain!" But M. Cassagne paid no heed to the ejaculations of the physician, lie was down upon his 'knees, running about on all fours on the cariet, 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 'Dent, and exclaimed : "Give me the knife." i The doctor handed It to him. He at once proceeded to cut away the carpet, and then to dig furiously into the wooden flooring. I "What on earth are you looking for?" Inquired Mason. "Never mind," replied Cassagne. "Wait ,m moment, and you'll see." He kept on digging away with the knife as furiously as ever. At hist he topped, and, still on his knees, held triumphantly aloft a small, oblong, hlnck object. Then ho exclaimed breathlessly ; "All right; I have got the bullet." "If we only had Van Lilh's pistol here," said Mason, "the evidence would te complete, but It Is In Purls." . The detective arose end smoothed out the knees of his pautnlouus, which ho had adly crumpled. "We have got what Is quite as good," he said. "Go into the next room and bring me tlio other pistol. Ten to one .'they were mutes." Taking the pistol from the doctor's hands, he pushed the bullet into the muz ale. It fitted to a nicety. ' "Wo have thus fur," said M, Oassngne, "established our theory successfully In regnrd to one very Important point. Neither your friend Van Lith nor Mon sieur Clmbot 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 ho rot away, and what means of escape pre sented themselves. He could not have made his exit by any of the doors, be cause one of them led to the room in which Van I.llli was hiding, and another opened directly Into the chamber occupied by Monsieur Clmbot. There Is still, of -course, a bare chance that he retired hy the door loading 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 me Itoupvll's chamber at the sound of the shot." "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 tired 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. II would certainly not have leaped from the (window, because that would ham left footprints on the ground; you will look In vain for such. Yet he did get out of this very window." i "How can you tell that?" asked Mason, lln aiimsement. "It has been already In spected by the prefect of police. He has also searched carefully under the 'window, for I saw him doing It. If any- jone had passed through that opening he Kwotild surely have discovered it. "The prefect Is doubtlexa good offl car," replied Cassagne, "but If he had 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. Om was cowed with dust, the other sad been swept partly clean. M. Cassagne smiled with pardonable pride, and, saying that he had for the present nothing fur- her to examine in the bed chambers, led he way down stairs, first of all, however, replacing, carefully, the seals which he had 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 111 in to bring a ladder, and, placing it against the wall of the chateau, ascended it nimbly. I thought so, be called down to the doctor. '"Hie ladder will bear two of us. Come up, please." "What is it this time?" Inquired Ma son, craning his neck so as to be on a level with the window sill. Cassagne 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 he doctor. "This window is twenty feet from the ground, at least. Even If he had been In his stocking feet he must have left some impression, and you say he bad 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 islance with bis 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 is objective point. He caught it, and with the agility of a trapezist passed hand over huud down to the trunk. As he swung himself around the branch, his 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- n g him. Placing in the physician's hand small gold locket, the detective ex- clnimed in a delighted voice : I'll have him I'll find him now, if 1 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 been immense, our reward ought to be proportionate," and the phy- siclnn led the way, and together they pussed Into the chateau. CHAPTER IX. Hardly had M. Alfred Cassagne swal lowed the lost mouthful of his breakfast, than his active mind reverted again to the mystery which yet surrounded the death of Mine. Roupell. Who was the man, at present unknown, who hnd crept like a thief in the night into the chateau, and as quietly stolen away when his foul work had been ac- 'omplished? And what was his motive in committing the crime? Was he In any w'uy connected with M. Chabot? Could t be possible that the prefect of police had stumbled on ,the real instigator of the murder in the person of Chabot, and that this unknown person was his con federate? Most likely at that moment, some oflicer 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 4o 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 Beries 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 ruhbed his hands violently together, M If he would Impart activity to his brain by the frietiou. He arose, thrust buck his cliair, aud 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's husband left her very well off, I should judge," he remarked at last "Very' replied Dr. Mason. "How loug ago did Mousieur 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 thee young ladies." "There were no other relatives except a brother, a dissolute character, who fol lowed his sister from America to this country." "And his name?" "As I recollect it, nenry Graham, believe. A man of fifty or sixty." "When did you last see this Henry Graham?" "1 never saw htin but once. lie came to the chateau, on some begging expedi tlon when I happened to be here. II pretended to be very affectionate. He was a poor looking creature, quite broken down when 1 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. lie was her nearest heir-at-law.' "But she had made ber will, she had disowned him, and utterly cast hint off, That will bequeathed all her property to her nieces. I witnessed it . I knew what was tn it" M. Cassagne began to grow more and mere Interested, lit no longer oast his eyes upon the wails and ceiling. But h' 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." "The first will was not written upon paper. The second contained some slight bequests to friends and to favorite ser- ants. I believe I was mentioned my self for some trifling amount. In other respects the two wills were Identical. The rat 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 house. It was engrossed 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. Where did you find this?" Inquired the doctor when he could sufficiently re cover from his astonishment to speaks I found it upstairs," replied M. Cas sagne. 1 put It in my pocket, because it was in a queer place for a scrap of parchment. I found it with fonr 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 torn from Madame Koupell'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 ranch hung on it Give me the scraps," he 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 had been engrossed by an English scrivener. Yea, 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. Ho 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 hiB object, If he could do .that, his sister, being ig norant of the fact that the will was de- troyed, would go to her grave believ ing herself testate. On her 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 nenry Gra- ham, lot us see what he knew and what he did. He must have heard of the nmk- ini 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 he may have been in collusion with some- body in the house ; but I don't know yet He was evidently well posted as to tne movements of the family, for he chose a time when, as he thought, they had gorte to the opera. It was a mere accident we don't know whether it was or not, nut we will assume so that Miss Harriet Weldon did not accompany the party.. , I ' am myself inclined to think there was some love affair between her and Van ! Lith, which accounts for his presence in i he house that night, ana wnicn aiso accounts for his silence. You understand what I mean. He won't speak for tear of compromising the young lady." The doctor nodded. "That is good," ht said, "very good, indeed; go ahead, Tti assassin was a little disconcertea at finding Miss Weldon and your friend in the chateau. Instead of entering the house from the front, which would be the world anything I could do for Mas comparatively easy, he was compelled to ter ganmej, DUt let the caterer bring his do so by the rear, running ine r.s oi being seen by the nJ Madame Roupell s chamber and proceed- 11 toZrch for the document. He ran- sacked the desk and then threw the pa- pera nbout. 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 " . ... ... .. ,t parchmeut wouiu Durn oetier n u was in small pieces. lie started to tear it up, when he altered his mind, and Instead of burning it then and there, put it in his pocket to be destroyed at some more fav- orable opportunity. Unluckily for him, In his hurry he did not pick up the scraps be tore off." (To be continued.) W'hr Ther Blabbered. "Did you notice that nearly every one tn the audience qbed tears during my groat death gceue?" queried the leading lady. . "Yes," answered the soubrette, "and I don't Maine thorn." "Why, what do you mean?" "They were next to the painful fact. tha your demise wasn't real," explain ed the soubrette. Comparisons "Why do so many of onr ablest men turn their bnoks on the pA'ullc and de vote their talents to the service of great corporations?" "Well," answered Senator Sorghum, "I shouldn't be surprised if It was be cause a corporation generally stands by a man who has worked for it and the public gouornlly doesn't" Washington Star. Strikes Gold Every Wfk, American tourist in Engniul, seeing a farm laborer digging a deep drain : "What are you digging here for?" ask ed, the tourist. "tlold, guv-uor," replied the laborer. Tourist When do you expect to strike it? Laborer One o'clock on Saturday. 1 DlaeoaraSjed. Lovely Fiancee Oh, George, I some times think I would rather die than be married ! George What, darling ! Rather diet Lovely Fiancee Yes, you don't have to rehears half a. docen timet for tint. you know. Cnlcage Tribune, EETHLEM I I i Sam's Christmas j BY JOHN W. RYAN It was the night before Christmas, and he was coming home. From the far West he telegraphed that he would come East to see the Yule log blaze : and the festival candle burn, "Let me have some of that potato- pake that nrtrlret used to make." he nut t th d f h, alsDatch. and the . ,.. ,hen tM. WIla 10 "er v . . " "" i body better nor that, the crachture, after being out for a year among those Philippines, who live In the swamps ana alt rice six days In the week, besides Sunday." , g h . Brldeet" replied the home-mother, Mrs. Thurston. "We'll have a little surprise party for him, and have all his relations and Intimate friends within call to welcome him." "That'll be folne lntlrely, ma'am, and I'll have to begin me cooking right off, to that there'll be lashlns' of every thing to alt and drink." "You can save your strength for the Christmas dinner, Bridget, but for the Christmas-eve gathering we'll have a "u mm mm ouvu juu a jiwi deal of trouble." , "it wouldn't be the lalst trouble in ,ce crame8 and hl8 gherblts, and his swale-cakes, and I'll give the boy' ' -omethlng fit to alt : the . next day some- tnIn lstantlal tUnt'll make hlin for- get ne was ever nungry among mim yaller dwarfs that he wlnt out to tache." n(j n0w the ngnt na(j come when hIg arrval wa8 anxiously expected, h M agsenlble nnd nt . . . . P"?1" f0OtS, " aVisinf fhro ha la" hnt na tho onnnil -- passed and died away in the distance, there were little sighs of dlsappolnt- ment from brothers, sisters and cousins, .ni the comnanv returned to their -omewhat forced merriment honing ithaf tha tm flftppn mInntM would bring a welcome ring of the door bell. Nine o'clock came, and the ex pected prodigal son, as some one so Jocosely called him, did not appear. "Oh, these Western trains are al- ways late the night before a holiday," I said Uncle Arthur, who bad been a "and - great traveler and knew all about the haps and mishaps of railroad wnnage I. L ment. ' great traveler and knew all about the I "So they are, so they are," echoed Sam's father, who hnd never been a hundred miles from bis native city, and could no more decipher a time-table than he could read hieroglyphics on a pyramid. And "So they are, so they are," mur mured every one else, though the fes tivities In which they were engaged seemed like the play of "Hamlet" with the Danish prince left out. Ten o'clock struck and still the ab sent oue had not returned. "rerbnps he won't come until morn ing," remarked Mrs. Moulton. "Of course be did not know you would all be here, and he may have stayed over tn New York to see some old college chums.' "That wouldn't be a bit like Sam." returned his father. "He's a good deal like me. When be says he'll do a thin?, he does it." "Yes, he's a chip of the old block," whispered one of Sam's sisters, "though father did promise to mall a letter for me last month, and kept It In his pocket for a week." "Well," asked Sam's younger brother Tom, "why can't we begin on the eat ables? The toe cream has been dished lip this half hour, and It wilt be only fit to drink. U we wait much longer." LAUD. lair the n.ght in Bethlem land, Sweet the songs of angel band; Fall snow so lightly I Jesu, born of Mary maid. In an oxen-stall was laid. O star, shine brightly! Three men rode from out the wild. Came to greet the Christmas Child, Fall snow so lightly I Caspar, Melchior, Baltasar, Magian pilgrims from afar. O star, shine brightly I Rustic shepherds in a row, Knelt beside the cradle low ; Fall snow so lightly! Told of all the angel song They had heard their sheep among. O star, shine brightly ! Spice and myrrh and gold of kings, w Offerings rare of far-brought things; Fall snow so lightly! Gold for joy and myrrh Frankincense for altar. O star, shine brightly! Nowell, Nowell, sing we all, Jesu, save our souls from thrall t Fall snow so lightly! Goodwill comes from God above To all those who Christmas love O star, shine brightly ! "I never saw such a hungry boy In my life," said Aunt Prlscilla from the country. "When he comes up to the arm be keeps me baking all the time. I call him the great American pie eater." "Yes, he's one of the kind you'd rather board for a week than a fort night," said Mr. Thurston. "Oh, I don't begrudge him what he puts into his stomach, but If he doesn't end up by becoming a confirmed dys peptic, my name is not Prlscilla." "All right, Aunty," answered Tom. "'Sufficient unto the day Is the evil thereof.' Just take my arm and I'll show you how a fashionable caterer spreads a feast at so much a plate. I'm not allowed to give the price, but It's enormous, like my appetite." There was a general movement to ward the dining-room nt this, as the hostess and Uncle Arthur led the way, and soon the edibles began to disappear before the attacks of the guests whose hunger had been sharpened by delay. Eleven o'clock rang out from a neigh boring steeple and still no Sam. "Too bad, too bad," murmured Grandmother White, who had sat up long past her usual hour- for retiring. "I knew something disagreeable was going to happen. I dreamed that I lost a tooth last night, and that always means misfortune." "I didn't know she had one to lose," remarked Tom behind his napkin. "I thought all her masticators were bouglrten on a plate." . And the old lady, oblivious of the fact that her personal belongings were be ing criticized, went on to relate how a dream of hers had once come true, and got her hearers into such a melancholy condition that they neglected the good things spread before them, when sud denly to counteract the prevailing gloom, Dick Chester exclaimed : "Here's to the health of my old schoolmate, Sam Thurston," and followed up the tonst by starting the chorus, "For he's a Jolly good fellow." This was In full blast when a cry outside hushed the song Into silence. It was piercing, In sistent, often repeated, and bore this message : "Extra Evening , Mercury, train wrecked on the T. and W. road; all the passengers believed to have been killed." The people around the board sat with blanched faces. No one dared speak until Mrs. Thurston sobbed: "That's the train my poor boy was on." The father said nothing. He put on his hat and went out Into the night, he knew not where. He only felt that he must do something, bring some light out of the darkness, some hope out of de spair. Tom followed him, for men must act while women weep. And the girls gathered around the stricken mother, and one of them -crept closer than all others and said : CHRISTMAS ARMY EN KOUTE TO STOCKINQVILLE. 'It is not true, It Is not trae!" But still the cry of disaster, now growing fainter and fainter, was heard along the frozen streets, nnd even the late revellers from the closed saloons hushed their noisy ribaldry ns the mes sage of death was borne upon the air to their dulled and bewildered1 senses, and one cried : "Shut up, fellows! It may be our turn next, so let us respect the poor chaps that are gone. They may have been better men than we with people to love and care for." Then with uncertain steps they went on silent as the tomb to the poor den in some cheap lodging-house that they called home. Within the house there were tears where there should have been laughter. and the poor words of comfort and sym pathy, though well meant, seemed com monplace in the face of a great sorrow. Twelve shocks of sound came dismal ly across the square, yet no one in that little group wished another a "Merry Christmas." Up the plank-walk of the yard at the last stroke there was a sound of heavy footsteps crunching the snow, and then a pull at the bell. All this was omi nous In the stillness of this early morn ing, and each one hesitated to answer the summons, until, at last, the girl who was nearest to the weeping mother arose to meet whatever evil was to come. The door swung back and then a Joy ous voice cried: "Why, Faith, are you here?" "And la It really you, Sam?" came In answer, as two young figures were locked In a long embrace. "Oh, stop that nonsense," shouted Tom, gleefully, who was behind with his father. "Let somebody else have a chance to welcome the returning hero. Here's mother." And then Sam had his arms around the little woman who had given him birth, and Mr. Thurston exclaimed: "That's right, my boy. You can have lots of girls, but only one mother." Then some one said "Merry Christ mas," and the shout went from one to another as they thought of the God-man who had raised the widow's son from the dead. ' "It seems like a miracle," said the grandmother, when she came in for her share of the unexpected greeting. "Oh, there Is nothing miraculous about my being here now," said Sam. "I missed the train on the 'T. and W.,' and had to take one two hours later on the 'X. and V.' " "Well, Providence was watching over my boy, anyway," said the mother, as Faith sat down at the piano and began a Christmas carol with the words : "Un to thee a child is born." New Year's Et, HiSS P. M. He rose to go. 'Twas New Year's eve. "One kiss," he begged, "my. dear.". She coyly said, "You cannot have Another kiss THIS year." ' Trees on the Tables. - For the royal family in Germany Christmas trees are placed upon tables of different heights. That for the Em- ' peror is the highest, the Empress' table is. next In size, and the smallest is for the baby of the family. Carp Is served for the Imperial dinner, a traditional dish for the Christmas feast throughout Germany. 1 k 'Friendly Advice. ; "Can you suggest something for mi to get for my wife for Christmas?" he ssked of the shopkeeper. "You'd better get her a box of cigars, I expect," said the shopkeeper. "She was in here this morning and bought a lace parasol for you." Baltimore American. MM,w's