Page:The Green Bag (1889–1914), Volume 01.pdf/46

near by to seek shelter from the shower, and also intending to eat there the lunch which she had brought with her in a basket. Suddenly she perceived before her the curious individual in the blue overcoat. The face of this man was frightfully pale, his arms moved convulsively, and in a hoarse voice which froze the very blood in her veins he said, " Your walk is almost ended" Seized with an instinctive terror, the mother tried to hurry on; but the man, approaching the younger of the two boys, struck him violently. The woman, believing that he had struck her son with his fist, attacked the man with her umbrella; paying no atten tion to the mother, the mysterious personage advanced to the other boy and also gave him a blow, and then turned and fled. Presently the poor mother saw her two children, one after the other, sink upon the ground; they were both dead. Uttering a piercing shriek, the unhappy woman fell fainting upon the earth. In response to her cry several persons walking in the vicinity rushed to the spot and beheld a mournful spectacle, — an uncon scious woman, and two little lifeless bodies extended side by side, both inundated with blood. Every effort was exerted to restore the wretched mother; and when at last life came back to her, she related all that had passed and described the murderer. Gen darmes on horseback were hastily sent in all directions, with orders to arrest any man whom they found alone in the woods. In the mean time the mother was taken to Vincennes and interrogated. She de clared her name to be Charlotte Herin, twenty-five years of age, a worker on lace, dwelling in Paris with her family. She de scribed fully all that had taken place in the woods. She laid so much stress upon the meeting with the woman dressed in red, whom she felt convinced must be an ac quaintance of the assassin, that immediate search was made for this woman in Vin cennes, and she was presently found. On being questioned she said that her name was Malservait, and that she was a dressmaker in Paris. She declared that the individual who had accosted her in the bois was an utter stranger to her, that she had never seen him before in her life. The news of the murder had spread through Vincennes with the rapidity of lightning, and at this moment one Dame Jean, who kept a small variety shop, came and stated that a man, who answered the description of the assassin, had stopped near her shop while the woman in red had entered to make a small purchase, that he had exam ined this woman attentively, and that on her going out he had followed her to the woods. Some time later he had returned to her shop and asked for a knife. Dame Jean had only assorted knives which she sold by the dozen only; the man refused to take a dozen and persuaded her to sell him one, offering more for it than the price of the entire dozen. As soon as this knife was delivered to him, the man again returned to the woods. Thus three persons were found, all of whom had seen the murderer, and they agreed perfectly as to his description. He was thin, tall, pale, and wore a blue overcoat carefully buttoned up. His hair and whis kers were brown, and his hat had a band of crape upon it. While these interrogatories and investiga tions were in progress, the gendarmes were beating the woods. In one of the paths a man was discovered talking quietly with a sportsman. The gendarme ordered him to follow him. " You take anotherfor me" said the individual, who evidently intended to say, " You take me for another" " I am perfectly willing to follow you, but you are only losing time and will let the real guilty one escape." The man arrested was very pale, and the sportsman stated that he had seen him com ing out of a thicket, very much out of breath. The prisoner, the gendarme, and the sports man proceeded to Vincennes. On the way the sportsman said that, at the moment of his arrest, the prisoner was asking him the