Within an Inch of His Life

the commonwealth attorney to bear him company. There was nothing now to be thought of, but the crime that had been committed, and the judge who was to punish the

atisfaction, up to his beard, cut and trimmed

of all, have you any objection

have made him suffer enough this last hour; and I shall directly begin again cuttin

must

ste; for the fever w

ot conceal his annoy

in, G

book and a pencil from his pocket, he drew up close t

ough, count, to an

perfe

ll you know of the sa

Seignebos, the count raised himse

very much like it. I said to myself, 'What can this be?' but I did not get up: I only was roused by a great noise, like the crash of a falling wall; and then I jumped out of bed, and said to myself, 'The house is on fire!' What increased my anxiety was the fact, which I at once recollected, that there were in the courtyard, and all around the house, some sixteen thousand b

interrupted h

t there is one point we must try to establish. Were you r

s,

he watch. He must have known that the fire would

is my impression,"

urned to M.

to do; and the fire is only an aggravating circumstance,-the means which th

ng to the cou

y go

ich the gun seemed to have been fired at me. I had not proceeded three yards, when I felt the same pain once more in the shoulder

ot seen th

ght I saw a man rush forth from behind a pile of fago

ou recog

N

as dressed: you can g

re was a veil before my eyes; a

ld hardly conceal

d, "we'll find him o

t shook

inted; and when I recovered my consciousness, some

nswers with scrupulous exactness:

ne them minutely. Now, however, it is important to know

ife,

ountess, no doubt, g

ad not gon

e he perceived that her costume was not that of a lady who had

he said t

he blanket, has the measles, and is suffering terribly. My wife was sitting up with her. Unfortunatel

s become aware of the accid

direct question, the coun

just then a second shot was heard. I left the room more astonished than frightened. Ah, sir! The fire had already made such headway, that the staircase was as light as in broad day. I went down in great haste. The outer door was open. I went out; and there

. Daubigeon trembl

Galpin, with an air of sati

place of safety; for the danger was increasing every minute. The fire was spreading with terrific violence, thanks to a furious wind. The barns were one vast mass of fire; the outbuildings were burning; the distillery was in a blaze; and the roof of the dwelling-house was flaming up in various places. And there was not one cool head among them all. I was so utt

these preliminary steps. The others, however, the mayor, the attorney, and even the servants, had har

ies! How petty

rner of the room, and amused himself with arranging the fifteen or twenty shot he had extracted from the count's wounds, in long

ou will let me have

nsed: there was reason enough, surel

your duties; but mine are, I think, by

O

be pleased, sir, to gra

n you that every minute henceforth m

which betrayed the bitterest animosity. They would surely not quarrel at the bedside

, I pray,

t stepped in, each addressing one of the two adversaries. M. Galpin was apparently the most o

ow were you standing, where and how do you think the murder

told you, on the threshold of my door, facing the courtyard. The murderer mus

the wounded man, the magistrate turne

ow to aid justice by telling us at what distan

dles," replied the

the right and the means to enforce respect. You are a physician, sir; and y

an laughed,

? Medical jurisprudence, no doubt,-that part of our profession whi

ir

o allow himself to be defeated a

know the opinions of a Devergie and an Orfila, I know even what Casper and Tardieu, and a host of others teach on that subject. I am fully aware that these gentlemen claim to be able to tell you by the inch at what distance a shot has been fired. But I am not

n reality, if not in form,

ion, sir," he replied. "Your real and carefully-considered profes

that is

ly, what you think of the nature

pectacles ceremoniously on

was lying in ambush behind one of the piles of wood, and at the distance which he has mentioned. I am also able to affirm that the two shots were fired at di

spent," broke in M. Seneschal, whom th

as in former days, only three or four kinds of guns. Did you think of the immense variety of fire-arms, French and English, American and German, which are nowadays foun

r, and was about to go to work once more when fearful cries were heard without;

t fallen in, burying under its ruins the poor drummer who had a few hours ago beaten the alarm, a

vors were unavailing. One of the gendarmes and a farmer, who had nearly succeeded in reaching the sufferers, barely escaped being burnt themselves, and were only rescued after having been dangerously injured. Then only it seemed a

he incendia

cautious peasants are, and how difficult it is to make them tell what they know. H

want it to be done, don't you? Well, it depends only on you. There must be some one among you who knows something about this matter. Let him come forward and tell us what he ha

d in the crowd; then

ne here who

ho

ho went and brought the children of the countess out o

heir fire-alarms; and at the first spark the neighbor cries, "Fire!" The engines come racing up; and water comes forth as if by magic. But it is very different in the country: here every man is constantly under a sense of his isolation. A simple latch protects his door; and no one watches over his safety at night. If a murderer should attack him

n among them, an

p, when he was hungry; not one of them had ever refused him a night's rest on the str

tunate beings who labor under a gr

is newly-built house. One of these men had seduced a girl in the neighborhood, whom he had bewitched by his long white blouse, his handsome brown mustache, his good spirits, gay songs,

ercome with grief, shame, and remorse, poor Colette wandered from farm to farm, begging, insulted, laughed at, beaten even at times. Thus it came about, that in a dark wood, one dismal winter evening, she gave life to a male

man help, as she had lived. They found her b

is wild looks, and his savage appearance, had been attributed to his wretched mode of life. But when people began to be interested in him, they found out that his intellect had never been aroused. He was an idiot, and, besides, subject to that terrible nervous affec

ame, and you sh

ork to utter, amid a thousand painful

o-co-

rly unable to do anything; and people ceased to interest themselves i

eignebos, on one of his visits, m

nce. He lost no time in seizing upon this admirable opportunity to test his theory. Cocoleu was sent for, and installed in his house. He subjected him to a treatment which he kept secret; and only a druggist at Sauveterre, who was also

which he had given to his patient, put it into his hands, pus

tion: he had forgotten how to go from door to door, asking for alms; and he would have pe

s; but they could never induce him to stay there. He was by nature a vagabond; and the instinct was too strong for him. In winter, frost and snow kept him i

a dog, even in the capers and cries with which he greeted her whenever he saw her. Often, when she went out, he accompanied her, running and frolicking around her just li

on a servant, or even carry a letter to the post-office at Brechy. His progress in this respect was so marked, that some of the more cunning peasants

ed several voices at once.

He was a youth of about eighteen years, very tall, quite beardless, excessively thin, and so loosely jointed, that he looked like a hunchback. A mass of reddish hair came down his low, retreating forehead.

h him?" asked the pe

iends," replied M. Seneschal,-"down there in t

" threatened his captors.