Within an Inch of His Life

hundred rooms which it contained, hardly more than eight or ten were furnished, and this only in the simplest possible manner,-a sitting-room, a dining-room, a few guest-chambe

guided by old Anthony, the ma

no

ately a youthful, hearty v

is th

e faithful servant

evil!" broke

t,

gistrate, becoming impatient, pushed the servant aside, and, seizing the door

Boiscoran: open,

in!" replied the

speak

st. Just give me time to veil my Apollonian

mself, his hair dishevelled, his eyes heavy with sleep, but looking b

appy inspiration you had, my dear Galp

o M. Daubigeo

ing our excellent commonwealth attorney wi

aubigeon's icy face, and amazed at M. Ga

what is the matte

er been stiffer in his

ions, sir. It is not as a friend I

; but not a shadow of trouble app

," he said, "if

in," said

ssed the door, Mechinet whisp

innocent. A guilty man would

attorney, however much he was probab

to the smallest details. The prevailing disorder showed clearly how hastily M. de Boiscoran had gone to bed the night before. His clothes, his boots, his shirt, his waistcoat, and his straw h

which shows that a man thinks a joke has been carried far enough, "wil

ving. As if the question had been addre

se show us you

crimson; and his eyes assumed an

e said, "it has perhap

M. Daubigeon thought it better

tion is a most serious one. D

guish on his face. Near the fireplace, the clerk had improvised a table, and put his paper, his pens, and his horn inkstand i

and white: the long nails

ands?" asked M. Galpin, after

s face brightened up; and, breakin

ly caught me. I was on the point

s been brought against you. And it may be, that on your answer to my question,

or which the law inspires even in the best of men, when they find themselves su

against me, and you, M. Galpin,

magistra

I should have defended you till absolute, undeniable evidence should have been brought forward of your culpability; and even then I should have pitied you, remembering that I had esteemed you so highly as to favor your alliance wit

nd his perfect control over himself. He did not move when the terrib

the water you used

still there, in

of charcoal. On the top, mixed with the soapsuds, were swimming some extremely slight but unmistakable fragments of charred paper. With inf

h you washed your hands la

ther with an air of

g charcoal, or some i

t you

nt, he was certainly a marvellously cool and energetic man, or he was carrying out a long-premeditated plan of action; for every one of his answers seemed to t

that

ly, correcting himself every now and then to substitute a better

sir. You were o

s,

at eight, you returne

r mid

ook yo

s,

re i

e Boiscoran pointed at it in the

re i

relled, of unusually fine make, and very elegant. On the beautif

fire this gun?" a

r or five

at

rabbits who inf

he chamber, and found that the gun was loaded. Each barrel had a cartridge in it. Then he put the gun back in its place, an

recogniz

a case of one of the cartridges which I

only one in this country w

k it: I am qui

se, have been at a spot where such a c

n seen children pick up these

faces. He was too well acquainted with lawyers' tactics not to understand M. Galpin's policy perfectly well,

e game," he s

rate had t

of how you spent the evening after eight o'clock: do not hurry, cons

s within, which may break forth, no one knows when. This warning, and, even more so, the tone in whic

do you want of me? W

d not stir.

er my question, and believe me in your own inter

know? I wa

is no

ut with no specific purpo

on your

gun: my servant

oss the Sei

N

hook his head gr

ot telling

ir

d speak against you. Where does the mud

round Boiscora

deny it. You have

ut

the moment when you we

coran made

going?" asked

ccused,-the embarrassment of a man who suddenly sees an abyss opening bef

oing to

wh

l this year's wood. I did not find him

topped him

t so," he s

O

r went to

your

ven o'clock, you were hurriedly cr

I

r trousers torn to pieces by the thorns and bri

elsewhere as well

but you wer

wh

ld tell us in what a bad humor you were. You were very angry.

jacket, which was lying on a chair not far from him. He sea

see, Gaudry has

rywhere," said M. de

ut a sack of flour on her ass, which she could not lift alone. Do you deny it? No, you are right; for

ng his head. The m

st night, between ten and e

ir, I

ust shown you was picked up at Valpinso

ndred times children pick up these cases to play with? Besid

ull height, and said in

tween ten and eleven, Valpinson was set on

O

t Claudieuse was

at G

reasons to think, that you, Jacques de Bois