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A CRIME IN AN OMNIBUS.

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[ALL MOBTS RBSBRVED.] A CRIME IN AN OMNIBUS. A STORY OF PARISIAN LIFE. r DY FORTUNE DU BOISGOBEY Translated from the French- CHAPTER IV. 1 "My dear fellow," he began, as soon as she had disappeared, I have made more discoveries in one day than the most illustrious navigators have ever made in a century, and the last is the most curious of them alL I have just ascertained that this lis tie goat-herd, transplanted from the mountains, is madly in love with you. She cried because she thought the pin in your pocket had been forgotten ty your mistress. She is jealous; therefore she adores you. Refute my reasoning if you dare, and if you can." I will refute nothing at all, but I declarc if you go OIL much longer we shall quarrel." But I say, where does it come from, this spit, that might be served up with a franc's worth of kidneys in any restaurant ? Is it a keepsake from the woman you love ?" Binos, my friend, you are unreasonable, and I would not answer you at all but that one must take pity on fools. I do not mind telling you that I found this pin last night in the omnibus, and that I kept it as a souvenir. Most likely it fastened the hat of the poor girl who died on the road." What; Is it so? But this is an ornament in use among cooks out on a Sunday, and I tell yon that the lovely creature at this moment stretched on a^slab at the Morgue, never trudg-e1. with a market basket. I should think it more likely to have been dropped in the omnibus by cne of her neighbours'" Then I will make you a. present of it," said Freneuse. I accept it," cried Binos. It may form cir- cumstantial evidence. Sometimes the slightest thing, no matter what, suffices to convict an assassin. A mere nothing a paper, a sleevelink dropped on the scene of the crime. In a melodrama that sort of thing is called the finger of Providence." t There you are, off again." "Chaff as much as you like; an idea has just struck me, and I am going to try an experiment an under your very nose. Where is Mirza ? Come here, Mirza I Mi mi! mi! called Binos in caress- ing tones. What are you going to do to the cat ? I must beg you not to torment him." Mirza, nllured by Binos' manner, advanced towards him slowly and composedly, as becomes a cat that has a good opinion -of itself. Do not go to him, Mirza," said Frencuse. "That ypung gentleman is mocking you; he has nothing to give. M I have not Drought him any cat's meat, certainly," grumbled Binos. "I don't pretend to keep my neighbour's cats; but I may be allowed to stroke them. Mirza is a distinguished personage: he likes me for mv own sake. Do ullow him to show his affection." So, keeping up a running fire of talk to divert "hia frien l's attention, the mischievous scoundrel seated himself on a siool and held out a treacherous hand to the confiding Angora approaching hinV with Measured steps. Freneuse, although h8 was watching Binos' move- ments, had not noticed that he held the gilt pin inhis hand so well was it concealed that only the pi oin ■came beyond the end of his thumb—a point as sharp as a needle. Mir-a saw it; but he was curious and fond of ?'unties—common faults with cat-sin high life—and drew near to _smell at what his master's familiar ^nend was offering him. His nose came in contact with the instrument, Dinos seized the moment to prick the poor beast, ^hich made a su Iden rearward movement. Its head back, its long silky hair bristled up, its back became arched, its legs stiffened, its jaws fell apart, t\nd its ejes were fixed; but it neither moved nor £ r,od; a sudden convulsive trembling passed over its *?°dy, and in twenty or thirty seconds it dropped dead and rigid. What have you done ?" cried Freneuse, rushing forward to raise his unfortunate pet; but he had no "sooner touched it than he saw it was dead. Yes, Mirza has died like the girl in the us'' obspryedBinos composedly. TV°^ have killed him," retorted the artist angrily. -This is beyond everything. Leave the room, and never let me see you here again." You drive me away ?" "Yes, and you richly deserve it, for you injure **111 care for. You have not been here half-an- hour, and have done nothing but mischief. You Sent Pia off in tears, and there was nothing left for you but to kill a poor animal that was the joy of my ttudio. On my honour, if you were not three parts of a fool I would not merely shut my door upon you, but demand satisfaction for your odious conduct." I. "That would be odd," sneered BinoB-cc exces- lvely odd! Call me out, and give me the pleasure a nice sword-thrust because I saved your life *»ell, that beats all!" Saved my life What are you talking about?" €( Just that, my friend neither more nor less." I should like to know how. Do you mean to Tt cat was mad ?" • Ko, Mijza was a healthy Angora, and, if ever sinned—as, for Instance, in tearing my trousers 0 sharpen his claws, his death absolves him; he ftas died to save his master, and in order that a gttat crime may not go unpunished." Ct Have done with your nonsense!" Will you hear me before you turn me out ? I 081c only ten minutes to prove that if I had not had inspiration of genius, something dreadful must come upon you." ■ Yery well. Ten minutes, and then-" Then you shall do what you like. So shall I. *ou see this pin ?" es> and if I had known you were going to put • through my cat's heart „ have not looked at him. There is not a drop Of blood on all his white fur. I scarcely pricked his «ose, and he fell stiff and stark." j! E? you not begin to understand now what took Place in the omnibus last night ? «< *° understand ? "What do you mean ? j The poor girl who is at the Morgue was killed st as I have killed Mirza, only they pricked her in With this pin ? Good Heavens! Yes, of course That was quite nough, and 'her agony lasted no longer than the Poor brute's here, and was as silent." What ? Then the pin is v Poisoned, my dear sir, and you carried it in keUr, 6Tcat coat pocket. In feeling for your hand- aR.r«^n °r y°ur tobacco-pouch, your fingers would tifTr kave encountered the point of this beau- 111 little tool, and at the coming Salon there would eon one picture and one medal less. It is a miracle •t L am alive," continued Binos. If 1 had taken hold of the point instead of the gilt knob at the:'other end, I should at Jthis moment have been stretched out on the floor of your studio, and you "Vvould only have had to bury me. My death would be no great disaster; art would not lose much by it; out still I prefer that the accident should happen to your cat instead." "¡And so do I," answered Freneuse, who was so uch moved he scarcely knew what he did or said. fo "^ank you for that kind word," said the good- ^-nothing, making a grimace. I perceive you j^ £ Ve n° longer a spite against me for saving your r •e' and I congratulate you sincerely on having "Will little instrument in the vehicle. It u me ™ finding out those who usedfit." ««r,18 'ncT-cdible A pin charged with death! u The fact is evident." AI But these instantaneous poisons -that sort of lng only exists in novels or in melodramas." And among -savages, my dear friend. They Prison the tips of their arrows when they hunt or s to war, and all wounds inflicted by these arrows aortal-it is well known," K Xh> ^es" ^ave read that, but th the poison they employ is known also; it is curar'> said to be made from the venom of the uJv811^-6' anf^ when dried it can be kept for any rv6' See here look at this little bit of Vw;IT^h' 9°vering|the end of the pin. dftJV i 1 ° „emical production which would destroy a whole regimentjof Prussians in less than £ ve minutes ..1 always regretted that our oayonets in the siege "Do be serious. This is no subject for jesting should your supposition be correct. ,4 Can you still be in doubt ? To convince yourself You have only to examine Ajirxa. He was perfectly ^.U; the slightest possible prick sufficed to extin- guish his life, and you saw that he died noiselessly. "ere was scarce! r any preceptible trembling—one stant of rigiditj*, then he dropped and all was over. e?y ^ie sccnG of the omnibus." H'L Quite true. She gave but one feeble cry, then grew stiff." 111'1 And her head sank on to her neighbour's Otilder. She moved no more-the deed was done!" 1:11 I You mean to say the wretch who 'sat on her lfit j have Stay. I will dpscribe the'whole affair. YoucaE 1116 ou^ yGU l;^e when I have finished." J0 reneuse made a gesture showing that he no hai^er thought of expelling his friend, and that he forgiven him the murder of Mir/a." he TWs instrument," began Binos, <!must have 1 PrePared and brought by the man who mounted ^0"wr"+ roof. A woman would not have known Woijij0 manipulate the poison, and also, probably, have dared. Just examine it. It is diffi- •: to imagine anything more ingeniously contrived. ran no^' t? a11 i,Prr'aTance a hat pin—an the i.0ent looking article an l had it been seized in ha.,r ^*nds of the wret h who used it, no one would hn0i. -^eii it for what it is. At one end there is a bein that one can press hard upon it without Urt! it is short enough to be hidden in thic.i' y^t suflScientlv long and sharp to penetrate the V'ctim garmen-. though, as it? happens, the little Scarp?] ^'as ]'n a mi.&erav.lo dress of worn material that »?olYj y prote- te l her better than a cobweb. In a had been foreseen by this man who f scoundrel of fhe first order nd the woman k to carry onfc the plot." Why ? Was the brute too cowardly to do it nimself r" No, but he calculated that the Tfoman would attract less attention among the other passengers. They would have thought it odd for a girl to rest her head on a strange man's shoulder, but a woman's shoulder was a different matter." Then he guessed she would sink like that?" Certainly, my dear fellow. The effect of curari is as well known as that of arsenic. Hundreds of experiments have been tried with it at the College de France. The creature that is pricked stops short, leans to one side or the other, and falls if no one is by to offer support. The plan then was to support the dead girl until an opportunity should occur for slipping away from her without danger. It would have been impossible to leave her at once; she would have fallen headlong, a scene would have ensued, and the murderess would have found herself in an awkward predicament." Then you think the man kept her place for her in the omnibus ?" I not only think so, I am sure of it." Were you in the omnibus before him ? Did you Bee him get in ?" "I was one ofJhe firstpassengers to arrive. The girl was already there and I had scarcely seated myself opposite to her, when the man got in." "Ah, of course; and he settled himself beside her Yes, although he could have sate'sewhere. For an instant I almost thought he knew her, but 1 soon canv they did not speak to each other." "Well the villain managed this; he watched her come to the station, and his accomplice, who had her orders, kept a little further off." "You think they knew the girl would take that Omnibus;" Probably; but how they knew, is a point I can only clear up when I have traced the wretches," t Then you. do hope to trace them ?" "Parblcu Yes. I tell you the man only got in BO as to occupy the seat next the girl. His accom- plice waited till the omnibus was full; then they played the:r little pre concerted comedy the woman was in despair at not being able to go the man gallantly offered her his place, and I bet you she hesitated to accei t it ?" Yes, at first for form's sake. A few compli- ments passed before &he climbed in-- She even accepted his aid, and put her hand in his—a pretty hand, I swear, and neatly gloved. I fancy she left it longer in his clasp than was necessary." Good! Iam satisfied." You mean that proves they understood each other ? Well it is very likely." It is certain especially as they left the omnibus almost at the same moment. The man got down at Rue-de-Ia-Tour-d'Am-ergne, and the woman at the Eue de Laval. But the hand shaking proves one thing more, my friend." t" What r" I The man also had gloves, had he not ?" Ye?, thick gloves lined with fur. He must have bought them in some English shop. I remember thinking so as I remarked the circumstance." You might well, for those gloves are dear, and you say the man did not look opulent." Not so very poor, neither." "K eYer mind. He wore those gloves for fear of getting pricked." W ny P' "Because he held the pin. stupid, and he passed it on to the woman in pretending to press her hand. They both know the least scratch would be fatal." Then, according to your notion, the woman re- ceived the pin and used It ?" Yes, and very skilfully, as no one noticed any- thing-. She waited for an opportunity, and it came near the Pont Neuf. There was a jolt. She was thrown against her neighbour, who seized the moment to prick her in the arm." "True," murmured Freneuse; "all these facts appear to follow naturally, or else you have the knack of stringing them together." It is no knack it is reasoning." Then just exp'ain how this horrible woman came to forget her poisoned pin." You may depend she did not forget it. The pin must have si pped out of her hand, and she dared not stoop to pick it up--first for fear of pricking her- self; and, secondly, because she had to support her victim. When it was time to get down she longed to escape, and went off as they say without asking for her change." ° But she must have foreseen that this tangible proof of her guilt would be found." Pah! She hoped the man who swept out the omnibus would throw it away—she did not care for consequences. What did it [matter to her if the pin killed half a dozen other people ? A fiend of that dye does not stick at a death more or less." The fact is, the woman is a monster to kill a poor child she did not know; to commit a murder in cold blood without provocation What! cried Binos. You fancy she killed her for the pleasure of killing, or perhaps to make a trial of her pretty plaything ? In fact much in the same way that the Marquise de Brinvilliers distributed poisoned cakes to the poor who begged for bread, just to try the effect of the various poisons she employed." Freneuse, my friend, you are going too far. That sort of thing is out of fashion—it was found too dangerous. This creature knew very well what she was about. She wished to put an end to that particular girl, and to no one else." But why-what can the poor thing have done ?" It I am not prepared to answer that question. It will take time to find out, but I will get at it. For the present I can'only assert that the crime was not without a motive. There is always some reason for getting rid of a woman — vengeance, jealousy, cupidity But this crime-why should it be committed in an omnibus before fifteen people, instead of—■—" "Instead of waylaying the victim at a street corner, or going to kill her at home, or enticing her into some house to strangle her ? It does seem queer at first, but admits of easy explanation. A murder in a house is a perilous performance. Sup- pose this woman, or her accomplice, had gone to the girl's lodgings, the concierge or the neighbourswould have been sure to remark it—a risk they would not have cared to run. Suppose on the contrary that the girl had gone to them and not reappeared. That would have been worse. What would they have done with 'y the corpse—the stumbling-block with all assassins ? To manage the business in the street was simpler, provided it was under cover of darkness. But pro- bably the victim seldom went out at night. Again, she would have to be alone, and the street de,erted. How do wo know that the girl was not accompanied to the omnibus station by some friend ? It was no doubt then that the two wretches, who had probably followed and certainly watched her, resolved to make the omnibus the scene of their operations. Given the ingenious instrument with which they 'had pro- vided themselves, and nothing was easier. The diffi- culty would be in quitting the vehicle before anyone saw that she was dead—and you kno w how success- fully they manoeuvred. But you might search Paris over and you would scarcely know them again if you saw them." I might perhaps recognise the man," answered Freneuse; and yet I saw so little of him but the woman I saw nothing of her but her eyes through a veil." That is not enough to go by. It is true you heard her voice ? Yes; a nicely-modulated voice, rather deep-toned, with a pure Parisian accent as far as I could make out; but if I could scarcely recognise them, I should like to know how you, who have never seen them, flatter yourself you can put your hand on them ? Oh, I have my system. I proceed from the known to the unknown, like the mathematicians. When I am certain who the girl was, I shall find out her most intimate friends, and those she visited, and I shall be very dull if I don't discover to whose interest it would be to do away with her." Yo forget that the man and woman were un- known to her, as she did not address them; so she would not have visited either of their houses." » They were acting for others." That is a rash supposition, and the very founda- tion of your plan is weak; for the name and dwelling of the dead girl are undiscovered." "Pardon me. She is exposed -at the Morgue, and ( 1 "That only shows that nothing is known of her." True. I inquired of the superintendent^ and I was going to relate my conversation witii that functionary when you thought fit to interrupt me on the pretext that I was frightening Pia. He told me they only found in her pocket a worn purse, con- taining fourteen sous, and a little bunch of keys on a steel ring. There was no mark on her linen, and no visiting cards—which is not astonishing-nor a Bc^aPS'f writing of any sort." „ Writmg! Ah, that reminds me I picked up an end of paper in the omnibus." about °it?"°Und a paper, and have said nothing about it? '«WW f7 WOrd'1 did nofc think of it." « Of y°U been thinking of, then ? that is to sav- and J0U ought to think of yours; £ ? 5"u are ^• p^f Be quiet, do You are always talking shop. I possess the genius of discovery, which is altogether wanting in you. ° Yes, altogether." "Sol shall go to work single-handed. If you help me, it will be without knowing it. Now, what have you done with this paper ? You have not burnt it i hope f f No but I may have lost it." Sg Where did you put it ? "-In the pocket of my overcoat with the pin." And the painter sighed as he looked at his unfortu- nate eat. Bines still had the dangerous Implement in his hand, &cd as he gesticulated much in speaking, Frencnse watched him with some uneasiness. Oblige me by putting down that horrid thing," said he," or we shall have some other accident, fit is bad enough that you have killed a poor innocent beast." "Do not be alarmed; I know what I am about," replied the young hare-brain but nevertheless, bs thought it as well to comply with his friend's request. He placed it carefully on the top of the stove, and went to where the overcoat hung. He plunged his hand into the open pocket, and brought out a crumpled paper. (To b« mtiinvud.) i

GOSSIP ON DRESS.

HINTS FOR THE HOUSEHOLD.

[No title]

THE MYSTERIOUS POISONING CASE.

THE CHARGE OF SHOOTING A BOY.

AN ATTEMPTED SUICIDE.

THE PRINCE OF WALES AT BRISTOL.

DISASTERS AT SEA.

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I PUBLIC MEN ON PUBLIC AFFAIRS.

THE FOREIGN CORN TRADE.

FUNERAL OF THE LATE HERB !…

The CAPTIVE CREW of the "NISERO."

SHIPWRECK AND LOSS OF LIFE.

SAD CASE OF ATTEMPTED SUICIDE.

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:SINGULAR CASE OF IMPOSTURE.

IAYOOB KHAN, THE AFGHAN REFUGEE.

ITHE TENIMBER ISLANDS.

[No title]