Beadle's New York Dime Library, No. 10 — page 27: what you’re looking at

Machine-transcribed from the original scan — historical spelling and the odd misread are preserved.

Vidocqg, the French Police EE captain was stooping over a large basin which he had placed to receive the blood; he put on his cravat hastily, opened the door, and fell dead in the effort of speaking. A naval officer who commanded a brig laden with powder, act fire to it, which communicated to unother brig, which also blew up. ‘The earth shook for several miles round, and all the windows in the lower town were broken; the fronts of severa! houses on the harbor were shaken down; pieces of wood, broken masts, and fragments of carcasses, were hurled to a distance of eighteen hundred toises. The erewe of the two ships perished, One man only was saved, and that most miraculously. He wasa eommon suilor, and at the time of the explosion in the main-lop, the mast to which he clung was carried almost to the clonds, and then fell perpendicularly into the basin of the hurbor, which was dry, and planted itself to a depth of more than six feet. The sailor was found alive, Lb « had lost both sight and hearing, which he never after recovered. At Boulogne, these coincidences were the theme of gen- eral conversation. The doctors pretended that these eimultaneons suicides were the result of a peculiar affec- tion emanating from the atmosphere. They appealed, by way of proof, to an observation made at Vienna, where the previous summer, a great many young girls, impelle by asort of frenzy, had thrown themeelves into the river on the same day. Some persons thought they could explain what ap- ared most extraordinary in this circumstance, by say- fa that most commonly one suicide, when very gener- ally talked of, is followed by two or three others. In fact, the public understood the cause the less, inasmuch as the lice, which feared to allow anything to aypear that could characterise the opposition to the imperial regime, designedly circulated the wildest reports; and precau- tions were so well taken, that in this instance the name of Olympien was not once pronounced in the camps: but the real origin of these tragic events was in the denuncia- tions of M. Bertrand. Doubtless, he was recompensed, although I know not in what manner; but what appears most probable is, that the minister of police, satisfied with his services, continued to employ him; for, some ears afterwards, he was in Spain, in the regiment of semnbourg, where, as a lieutenant, he was no less thought of than Montmorenci, Saint-Simon, and other offsprings of some of the most illustrious houses of France, who had been placed in this corps. A short time after the disappearance of M. Bertrand, my company was sent to St. Leonard, a small village, at a leiguetrom Boulogne. There our duties consisted in guarding a powder-magazine, in which was kept a large quantity of war-like stores and ammuuition. The ser- vice was not arduous, but the fort was thought danger- ous, as many sentinels had been murdered on a and it was thought that the English had a design of blowing ap this depot. Some such attempts, which had tuken place fn various posts, left no doubt on the matter; and we had sufticient reason, therefore, for exercising unremit- ting vigilance. ne night, when it was my turn to keep equard, we were suddenly roused by the report of a musket, and every one was instantly on foot. I hastened, acco-din to custom, to relieve the guard, who wae a conscript, o whose courage there was some doubt; and, on being questioned, I thought, from his answers, that he had been needlessly alarm I then went round the magazine, which was an old church; € had all — and places ex- amined, but nothing was observable—no trace of any person. Pursuaded, then, that it was a false alarm, I reprimanded the conscript and threatened him with the bluck hole. However, on the return of the relief-picket, I interrogated him afresh; and, from the assured tone with which he asserted that he had seen some one, and by the details he gave, I began to think that his terror was not so causeless as I had imagined, and I consequently went out, and going a second time towards the magazine, of which I found the door alae, I pushed it open, and on entering, my eyes were struck with the faint glimmering of alight which projected from between two rows of boxes filled with cartridges. I dashed along the pasion, and on reaching the extremity, I saw a eee lamp be- neath the lowest cask, the flames of which already had smoked the wood, and a smell of turpentine pervaded the place. There was not a moment to lose, and without hesitation I overturned the lamp, and stamped out all the other appearances of eparks, &c. The Bean darkness that ensued, guaranteed to me he certainty that I had prevented the explosion, but I was not at ease until the smell was en- tirely dissipated, and then I went away. Who was the incendiary ? This I knew not; but there arose in my mind strong suspicions of the ae er, and to arrive at the truth I went forthwith to his residence. His wife was then alone, and told mé that, kept at Boulogne on business, he would sleep there, and would return on the next morning. I asked for the keys of the magazine, but he had taken them with him; and this removal of the keys confirmed me in the opinion that he was guilty; but, before I made any report, I again visited his house at tan o’clock, to conviuie myself, and he had not then re- turned. An inventory, which was made the same day, proved that the keep@® must have the greatest interest in destroy- ing the depot intrusted to his care, as the only mode by which he could conceal the extensive robberivs he had committed. Six weeks elapsed before we learnt what had become of him; and then some reapers found his dead body in a wheat-field, with a pistol lying beside him. As it had been my presence of mind which had pre- vented the blowin > of the powdcer-magazine, I was romoted to the rank of sergeant; and the general, who Hesired to sce me, promised to recommend me to the con- sideration of the ministry. As I thought I was now ina fair way to do well, I was very careful to lose, as Lebel, all the bad qualities of Vidoeq, and, if the necessary duty of attending to the distribution of rations bad not led me to potlones occasionally, I should have been a most ex- emplery fellow; but every time I went to the city, I had to visit the quarter-master-in-chief of dragoons, against whom I had expoused the cause of M. Bertrand; not that he exacted this from me, but I thonght it needful to be on good terms with him. Then, however, the whole da waa consecrated to Bacchus; and, in spite of myself, lapsed from my good intentions of reform, y the help of a supposititious uncle, a man of wealth and influence, whore property, he said, was secured to him, my old colleague of the Bagne led a very agreeable life; anid the credit he obtained, from the reputation of oeing a person of family, was unlimited. There was not a Boulognese citizen of wealth but cultivated the ac- quaintance of 8 yersonage of such distinction most sedu- pe sly. Tee mons pe ons papas —— —— oe culty thar, to have or a son-in-law; and, amongs the young ladies it was toe g wish te catch him; thus he had facilities of dipping into the purses of the one, and obtaining the yood graces of the other, He had an equipment like a colonel—dogs, horses, and servants, and affected the tone and manners of a nobleman. He peepee in a supreme degree, the art of throwing pow- er in people’s eyes and making himself appear a man of consequence; 80 much so, that the officers themselves, who are generally so extremely jealous of the preroga- tives belonging to an epaulet, thought it very natural that he should eclipse them, In any place but Boulogne, the adventurer would have been seon detect: d as a swindler, as he had not received any education; but in a city where the citizens of a recent establishment were as yet genteel in co tume only, it was an easy matter to carry on such an imposition. Fexsard was the real name of this quarter-master, who was only known at the Bagne as Ilippolyte. Ile was, I believe, from Low Normandy; and, with an exterior of much frankness, an open countenance, and the Bengniy air of a young rake, he combined that sly character which slander has attributed to the inhabitants of Domfront; in a word, he was a shrewd mun of the world, and gift: d with all that was necessary to in=pire coufidence. A rood of land in his own country would have been to him sufii- cient to haye produced a thousand actions at law, and quite a sufficient possession to have enabled him to make hie fortune, by ruining his neighbor; but Ilippolyte reaily had nothing in the world, and unable to turn pleader, he became a swindler, then a forger, then we shall learn what, and must not anticipate. Every time I visited the town, Hippolyte paid for din- ner; and one day, between dessert and cheese, he said to me, **Do you know I| am astonished at you—to live in the country like an anchorite; to be content with a daily pittance; to have just twenty-two sous per diem. I can- not conceive how # person can endure such a lot; as for me, I would rather die at once. But you have your ee ings somewhere, slily; you are not the lad to live without some such additions.’’ I told him that my pay sufticed for me; and, besides. I was fed, clothed, and in want of nothing. ‘All very fine,” he replied; ‘*but yet we have some priggers here; you have no doubt heard of the ‘minions of the moon’—you must be one; and, if you like, I will quarter you—take the environs of St. Leonard.”’ I was told that the army ‘de la Lune” was a band of malefactors, the leaders of whom were, up to this period, conccaled from the scrutiny of the palice. ‘these brigands, who had organized a system of murder and robbery for a circuit of more than ten leagues, all belonged to various regiments, At night they ranged about the camps. or concealed themselves on the roads, making pretended rounds and patrols, stopping any person who presented the least hope of booty. That they might not be impeded, they provided themselves with uniforms of every denomination. At a time of need they were captains, colonels, generals, and used all the proper words of regimental order and discipline— pass-words, countersigns, &c.; with which some trusty friends took care toinfurm them, from time to time, as er were altered. rom what I knew, the proposal of Hippolyte was well calculated to alarm me; for either he was one of the lead- ers of this army de la Lune, or he wasone of the secret agents employed by the police to effect the breaking up of this army: perhaps he was both. My situation witn him was most embarrassing, and the thread of my destiny was again entangled; nor could I, as at Lyons, extricate meee from this business by denouncing him: and then, what wouldit have availed me to have denounced him, nt’—This idea made me cautious of the mode in which 1 should reject his proposition, which I.did by saying with firmness, that I was resolved to be- come an honest man, ‘Didn't yon see,’’ said he “ that I was only joking? and you take up the matter seriously; | only wanted totry you. Iam charmed, my comrade, to find in you sucha determination. I have formed a simi- larone,’’ he added, “and amon the highway to it; and the devil shall not again turn me from it.” hen, turn- ing the conversation, we left all farther mention of the army de ja Lune. Eight days after this interview, during which Hippolyte had made me this proposal, 80 promptly retracted, my captain, on going through the inspection, condemned me to four-and-twenty hours confinement, for a spot which he said, was on myuniform. This cursed spot, although Iopened my eyes as widely as possible, I was unable to perceive; but be it as it may,I went tothe guard house without a murmur. Four-and-twenty hours soon puss away! The next morning would terminate my sentence:— when, at five o'clock in the morning, I heard the trot of horses, and soon afterwards I heard the follow- ing dialogue:—*t Who goes there?’’—* France.’’—** What regiment?”’—‘* The imperial corps of gendarmerie.” At the word gendarmerie [ feltan involuntary shudder, and suddenly my door opened and some one called ** Vidocq." Never did this name, falling suddenly on the ears of a troop of villains, disconcert them more effectually than it did myself at this moment. ‘Come, follow us,’’ cried out the officer; and to prevent any possibility of escape, he fastened a rope around me. I was instantly conducted to prison, where I had a tolerable bed, on paying for it. I found a numerous and pers assemblage. ‘' Did I not say so?’ cried a soldier of artillery, whom, by his accent, I knew to be a Piedmontese. * We shall have all the camp. Hereisanother. 1 will bet my head that he owes his im- prisonment fo that thief of a quartermaster. Will no one cut that villains throat?’’—** Go look for him, then, your quartermaster,” interrupted a second p:isoner, who also seemed to be a newcomer. ‘ Whatever he may have done, he is now at a distance; he has made himself scarce, a week since. But, my lads, you must own that he is a crafty chap. In less than three months, forty thousand francs in debt in the city. What a lucky dog! And then how many little boys and girls has he left be- hind?—I should be sorry to father all his flock. Six young ladies, daughters of our leading burgesses, are in a fair way of becoming mammas! Each my she had him to herself; but he seems to have cut his heart into small pieces, and shared it amongst them!’’—*‘* Oh! yes,”’ said a turnkey, who was preparing my bed, ‘‘he has spent like a prodigal, and now must mind what he is about; for if they catch him, handcuffs are the word. He is marked as adeserter, He will be caught I think.”—* Do not make too sure,” I replied; ‘* they will catch him as they caught M. Bertrand.’’-—** Well, suppose he should be taken,” re- sumed the Piedmontese, ‘* would that prevent my being illotinedat Turin? Besides, I repeat it, I will bet my ead —** What does the fool say about his headr” cried a fourth.—** We are here in prison, and as it was to be, what consequence through whose means.” This rea- soner wasrigtt. It would have been useless to lose one- self ina field of conjectures, and we must ali have been blind not to have Uippolyte as the anthor of had he been an a BY: ‘vaded the prison for several 27 our arrest. Asfor me, I could not be dece'ved, for he was the only person in Boulogne who knew that I had escaped from the eae. Muny soldiers of different ranks came against their will to fill up a chamber in which were assembled the principal leaders of the army de la Lune. Very seldom in the prison of so small a town, was there seen a more singular assem- blage of delinquents; the ‘ prév6t,”’ that is the elder of of our room, named Lelievre, was a poor devil of a soldier, who, condemned to death, three years before, had perpet- ually before him the chance of the termination of the re- spite, by virtue of which he still existed. The emperor, to whose mercy he had been recommended, had pardoned him; but as the pardon had not been registered, and as the indispensable official papers had not been transmitted to the chief judge, Lelievre continued a prisoner; and all that could be done in favor of this ua- fortunate being, was to suspend the execution until the moment when an opportunity should present itself of again calling the emperor's attention to bis case, In this state, in which his life was unc: rtain, Lelievre delibe- rated between the hope of freedom and the fear of death; he lay down to sleep with the one, and awoke with the other. Every evening he thought himself sure of hie lib- erty, and every morning he expec ed to be shot; some times gay, even to folly, sometimes dull and spirities he never gh joxed amoment of equable calm. If he play a game of draughts or matrimony, he paused in the mids of it, threw down the cards, and striking his forehead with his clenched hands, jumped from the seat, and rav- ing like a madman, he ended by flinging himself on his bed, where, lying on his face, he remained for hours ina state of mental d pression. The hospital was Lelivvre's house of pleasure; and if he got wearied, he went there for consolation from sister Alexandrine, who had a most tender heart, and sympathized with all the wretched. This compassionate sister was deeply interested in the prisoner, and Lelievre deserved it, for he was not @ criminal but a victim; and the +entence against him was the unjust result of a feeling but too common in councils of war, that the innocent should even suff.rif there are disoiders to repress. The conscience and humanity of judges ought to be silent when necessity calls for exem- plury punishment. Lelievre was one of the few of those men who, steeled against vice, can, without danger to their morality, remain in contact with the most contami- nated. He acquitied himself in his duties of steward (prévot) with as much equity asif he had been endued with all the powers of a licensed magistrate; he never let off a new comer, but explained to him his duties as & prisoner, endeavoring to render as ea«y as possible the first few days of his captivity; and rather might be said to do the honors of the prison than to enforce his author- i —— Ly. Another character also attracted the regard and affec- tion of the prteoeers, Christiern, whom we call: d the Dane. He did not speak French, and only understood by signs; but his intelligence seemed to penetrate our very thoughts; he was melancholy, thoughtful and gen- tle; in his features there was a mixture of nobleness, can- dor and sadness, which insinuated and touched at the same time. He wore a sailor's dress; but tiie gh oe of his long, black hair, his snowy white linen, the delicacy of his complexion and manners, the beauty of his hand— all announced a man of exalted condition. Although @ smile was: ften on his lips, yet Christiern appexred a prey to the deepest sorrow; but he kept his grief to him- self, and no one knew even the cause of his detention, One day he was summoned, whilst he was engaged in tracing on the glass with a flint the drawing of a fleet, which was his sole amusement, except occasionally sketching the portrait of a female, whose resembl nce he seemed delighted to be perpetually d: picting. We,saw him go out; and soon afterwards being brought back, scarcely was the door closed upon him, than taking from a leathern bag a prayer-book, he was soon engrossed in its perusal. Atnight he slept as usual, until daybreak, when the sound of adrum warned us that a detachment was entering the ew yard, and he then dressed himself hastily, gave his watch and money to Lelievre, who was his bedfellow, and having frequently kissed a small cru- cifix which he always wore round his neck, he shook hands with all of us. The gaoler, who was present, was very deeply affected; and when Christiern left us, said: ‘They are going to shoot him; all the troops are asrem- bled, and in less than a gnerer of an hour all his misfor- tunes will terminate. This sailor, whom you all took for a Dane, is a native of Dunkirk: his real name is Vander- mot; he served in the corvette Hirondelle, and was taken prisoner by the English, and placed in the hold of a prison ship, with many others; when, exhausted with breathing infectious air, and almost starving. he consented to a pro- posal of being removed from this living tomb, on condl- tion that he would embark in a vessel belonging to the East India Company. On the return of the ship it was captured by a privateer, and Vandermot was brought here with the rest of the crew. Le was to have been sent to Valenciennes, but at the moment of departure an in terpreter interrogated bim, and it was found by his an swers that he was not conversant with the gre: lan- lage; this gave rise to suspicion, and he declared that 1e was a subject of the King of Denmark; but as he had no proof of this assertion, it was decided that he should remain here until the whole affair should b