THE SUSPICIOUS PACKET

Lake Wakatip Mail, Issue 2138, 1 January 1897, Page 3

THE SUSPICIOUS PACKET

On the 15th of January, ISOI, there •rrived «t the depot of the Lyons railway, coming from Grenoble to Paris, and marked "to be called for," a wooden box of rather hVrge dimensions and tightly nailed. A card was pasted on the cover, with this name written on it: -Alfred Jolybcte." No other address. Otherwise the box was like any Mher. It was put in a shed with other package* ana remained there 'six days. On the seventh das the head ware- - houseman VaR seated in the shed earing "his ranch and readfeg his paper, when a smell of spoiled cheat made him sod-; denly raKe his he*3. He called an employe: "Is there any game here? There was .none. Strange. He went, around the shed, snielled the packages; one after the oVher and finally came te the conclusion \hat the smell came from the wooden box. Really some sort of ■animal matter was being decomposed there, and tin rise in temperature •succeeding nner;i)ectedly to a long period -Of cold, bad brought ahont tais putrefaction in the >,ox. The chief warehouseman was first astonished a\ the peculiarity in the method of sending it. Generally, willow hampers were used for the shipment of I venison; it was surprising, in amy case, a; bo* containing perishable matter I /-should have been sent as an ordinary

r package, with no indication of the contents. .T.)d more surprising still that it (should not have been called for in a week.

For this mind in which a vague anxiety was awakened, this was the point of departure for a series of In all probability this M. Joiybois. whose! name figured on the address.-did not intend" to have his residence known, since the -package was marked "to be called fori" On the other hand, tbe shipper seemed equally desirous of preserving Ms' incognito; he was an M. Louis at <srenoble, but everybody is called Louis. Peter. Paul. He was no further along. Everything considered, nowever. this surname all alone Without any family name added a presumption of mystery *o all those which this enigmatical package gave birth to: perhaps the box contained prohibited game; perhaps nlso the brief mention of the office of shipment disguised an irregular delivery, some poacher's shipment. -' This conclusion did not wholly satisfy the head warehouseman. A-shipment of game is not surrounded by such precautions. To hide himself so carefully, the sender must have-a grave motive. A crime explained everything. But the supposition of a crime is not yielded to as readily as a common hypothesis. The worthy man forced himself to go ' ick from this slope on which be felt Jmself slipping. Useless effort; his ragie supposition ended by mastering "Urn.

Everybody still bad in their mind the box at a railway station In one of the Principal cities of Europe, in which was Jotmd the body of a woman-cut to pieces. Now, the odor, the mystery, the insuffiriency of the marking, the box itself, long, narrow, its boards hardly planed. amply sufficied rn ims actual case, to c waken the memory of that horrible discovery.

The honest.warehouseman was just In -ft'ty J**" '"* perplexity, when the station sub-agent was passing. Without weighing too much on them, and so as to leave to his superior the responsibility of definite suggestion, he made him auqrainted with his suspicions. The sub-.igent made a start. It is true, in fact The BerH." And without delay he summoned the commissary of police. The conference was decisive; the commissary ordered the box to be opened ; and a workman having torn off tae cover by means of an iron bar, something horrible was seen. , Lying flat in the sawdust, without lands, without feet, a form which had no more than a vaguely human-appear-ance, so much had mutilation made it snrecognizable, occupied the bottom of the box. No head; it bad been cut off. A horrible detail; the body had been scorched and stretched out there naked, a man of wine-colored flesh, with large charred spots. At the upper part of the chest, a gaping wound, in which a .flood of black blood had coagulated, still retained the form of the knife which had been plunged into it. This great corpse was horrible to look at.. The crime seemed to have been committed eight or ten days before. The commissary had the box taken at once to a special warehouse and telegraphed to Grenoble. "Do you know an M. Jorybois?" "No."

I "Do yon know an 31. Louis?' I "No." It was formal. Xo doubt could exist before such evidence, or rather before such obscurity. Nothing is such a revealer as the night, in which great crimes are covered up. And here by an infernal trickery of murderers, the darkness had the thickness of a wall about this bloodshed, this lugubrious homicide. They were in presence of a monstrous crime committed in the midst of the most mysterious circumstances. At the same time that he telegraphed to GrenoWe. the commissary sent to notify the public prosecutor. * But the news bad already spread: travellers thronged in the approaches to the police commissary's office: at one moment even a posh must have broken the door in: officers were compelled to use fovee to -disperse the crowd. Some said that it was believed that the ■corpse of one of the principal merchants ■of Grenoble had been recognised: others * spoke of a grandfather assassinated by ft his grandson: one thing especially seemed to be clear, the corpse was that of an aged person, naturally enfeebled and very obese. Meantime, despite the discretion of ■the employes and the measures taken by the police to prevent an uproar. :ue Trastle was Increasing in the railway sta•don. Groups became rough. Some individuals taunted the officers. It was necessary to seize them by the collar. • Silence succeeded to this great effervescence: a little man with spectacles.an important and reserved air. bald, had Just entered with another person, this latter very tall and very thin, into the office of the police commissary. Their names flew from month to month: in an instant everybody knew that they vr«r« the procurenr of the republic and , hirfViei'k, and the mysterious door closed on them, repelling the still increasing wave of the curious. Attention was so wonderfully directed in this way that a gentleman who alighted from the Lyons train and desired information was compelled to repeat his question three times to the eager officekeeper. "Well, after «11, will you answer me?" -What?" "I ask you if you have not received a box to be called for? " "What box? - *A box shipped at Grenoble six days •«o." • The clerk gave a start. "Hey! Grenoble! six; days!" And from over the four or five bristling beads darf-lb-"P glances on ihe questioner. fcnows? Perhaps it was the a=f &** fc** lf - fho. stupidly, by one of to which

criminals yield, had just thrown himself into the jaws of the wolf. The employ* requesting the stranger to follow him, made him rapidly cross the crowd which was stamping at the door of the office of the police commissary, and suddenly pushed him into the room: "This is the gentleman who has just called for number 2775," he cried, panting for breath. The person thus introduced was a man of tall stature, hffs beard long, a swarthy complexion. •* resolute look: bo wore a cape, and his habits told of the habits of society. A certain hesitation sorted him at sjght of the people who filled the office and everyone of wttom had their eyes fixed on bin. However, be made a few steps and m the deep attentive silence of the persons present, reiterated the question be had pet. to the employe, but this time in a less assured voice.

It was the pnblie prosecutor himself who answered him. "Was'it a box maSe of boardr?" "Just so." "Ann vou have <rome to claim it?" "Yes." "Yen are. then. 'Mr Alfred " "Jdlybois. I bEve that honor."

Although an imperceptible shade of Impertinence accompanied these last words, as if he had wished to react against the solemnity of the examination, a visible uneasiness appeared in th% stranger's 'bearing. His looks, but now directed towards the prosecutor, were wandering, anxious and furtive as though Ik- feared a surprise. Perhaps he felt that he was menaced: perhaps be was looking for a way of escape.

The commissary nodded; the doors were at once occnied by the officer. This manoeuvre did not escape the man with the cape, who from this moment literally lost countenance; a nervous irritation which he could not repress 'contorted his lower lip. while a vague trembling agitated his hands. "Yon are growing pale," said the magistrate to him. He made an effort. "Not at all. monsieur: but tins odor?" "This odor, monsieur, comes from your box." "From my box ? Have they opened it?'

This exclamation, which surprise, terror, remorse, shame seemed to tear from his lips, was received by the audience as a verv confession of the crime.

How could there be any doubt? His contracted eyebrows, the discomposure of his features, the startled looks he cast around him. all betrayed the murderer.

The box was in the comer of the office; with a quick movement the public -prosecutor led him there. "Come, monsieur." "I protest." But the magistrate interposed: "Violence can only aggravate your situation. Answer my questions calmly.. You acknowledge that this box is youre?" "I have already told you so:" "Allow me. You are in the presence of justice. Let us proceed logically, if you please: do you also know the victim?" "I flatter myself that I do. It was 1 who did the deed."

"State precisely. In what circumstances?' "I was at Braincon. We iuad an old account to settle together; already for a long time. I had been watching for him. One day I met him at a turn in the road in the mountain. He ts coming towards me: I aim at him: I miss him the first time. The secon dshot my bullet only grazes him. Already he is on me. he clasps me in his arms, he is about to choke me. "Fortunately, I succeeded in putting my hand on my knife, and while looking into his eyes. I plunge the blade up to the hilt in his belly. That wonnd which you" see, monsieur, I made it for him. He rolls over on the ground. I pick myself up: he was dead" (sneering). "I had this box made: they laid him in it. and I left. I expected to I)e in Paris at the same time as the lx>x. Unfortunately, circumstances bave detained me on the road, and there it is. His self command had comeback, and he employed the boasting of an assassin virtuoso in detailing the events of the crime; rarely has such impudence been seen; perhaps they were having to do with a madman.

"So. then, you confess." said the magistrate, "but your rage must have been absontely blind to allow you give yourself up to the horrible mutilations of the still warm corpse, the sorrowful sight of which we have liefore our eyes." "Rage! Why monsieur, the head would not go in the box. We had to cut it off." "This butchery was not enough to slake your thirst for vengeanee. You have had even the heart to skin him." "Bless me!" A shudder ran over the faces at this interjection uttered with the sombre joy of a vile act of cruelty gratified. "Justice will appreciate it. I will put you one last question: his name?"

"His name? That is not serious, monsieur?" "Be decorous. What is his name?" "I give you my word that I never cared to ask him." "Yon have, then, stabbed a being whom you scarcely knew ?"

"Ton would have done as I did." "At least, had he done you any injury?" "None personally." "However, one does not kill his fellow i>oing without a reason." Alfred Jolybois broke out into a nervous laugh, which chilled the persons present. 'This conduct is unseemly.'" said the magistrate. "Monsieur Cominissary.arrest this man."

"Not ar all! not at all! I will not have it." exclaimed the gentleman of the package. "There is a misunderstanding." "Misunderstanding?' "What yon take for my fellow being

"Well?" "No, truly, it is too much. I shall burst." "But yet?" "It is a bear." —■" Michigan Farmer."

A remarkable march by Russian troops is recorded. After a inarch of nearly a year's duration, the 4th and Sth battalions of the Line of Eastern Siberia, as well as the 2nd and 4th batteries of the Artillery Brigade of Eastern Siberia, arrived in their new encampments in the Amnr district in the middle of June. These troops traversed 7000 versts (say 4700 English miles), of which 4000 were by land and 3000 by water. During the whole of the march the losses were only two officers and four soldiers dead. Two officers and twenty-five men were left behind in the hospitals along the route. The batteries lost twenty-nine horses.

INJUDICIOUS ADVICE. Living Skeleton (only one in America at dime museum): "These folks make me tired." Sympathetic Visitor: "In what way?'

"Here I am earning five hundred dollars a week as the greatest living skeleton, yet hour after hour, day in an' day out, one old woman after another stops an' chins an' chins at me about the things I ought to eaf to get fat' *