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Article THE LUCKY INHERITANCE. ← Page 17 of 19 →
Note: This text has been automatically extracted via Optical Character Recognition (OCR) software.
The Lucky Inheritance.
elusion that it Avas desirable the farm should be searched for traces of Monsieur Roqueplan , and I was " invited to assist , " — that is to say , summoned to attend , together Avith several others , Avho had deposed more or less to Avhat they knew or thought they kneAV about the " effraction . " Of course the humpbacked tailor Avas amongst the number ; the landlord of the "Pelican "
, haAdng no guest but myself , joined the expedition ; and other volunteers Ai r ere not Avanting , exclusive of the usual complement of idle boys . The gendarme , with Monsieur Penhoe ' n on his right and me on his left , lead the Avay to the village of Clis , Avhich is little more than a mile from Guerande , all sorts of impossible places being examined en route in the hope of
discoA'ering the missing proprietor . One or tAvo stray peasants AAdiorn we met on horseback , Avho came from a distance , with Avell-filled sacks en croupe , were closely questioned by the man of authority , but nothing satisfactory was elicited ; no stranger answering the description of Monsieur Roqueplan had been seen by them . At length we arrived at the farmand
-, pro ceeded in the first instance to a cottage Avhere the labourer lived , Avho had charge of it . We found him in bed , shivering Avith ague , the malady from Avhich feAV are free for a month together , who dwell in these marshy grounds . The information
he gave was scanty : Monsieur Roqueplan and another person had been at the cottage the preAdous day , the proprietor had asked him a great many questions about the farm , and Avanted him to get up and show him over it , but his sickness rendered that impossible : so that after he left the cottage with his companion , the deponent saAv him no more ; he recollected ,
however , that before he Avent Monsieur Roqueplan asked him for the key of the mill , and he gave it . The search noAv became more active ; the trenches Avhich intersected the broad , hedgeless farm were carefully examined , as Avell as the stagnant sedgy ditches , which formed its boundary ; but nothing more remarkable Avas discovered than ordinary footprintsAvliich were
occa-, sionally visible on the soft , sandy soil . The outhouses yielded nothing , and , at last , the mill only remained for inspection . We had learnt at the cottage , that since the death of the late proprietor , some Aveeks before , no corn had been brought to be ground , and the place had not been used ; on Avhich account the resident farm-labourer kept the keyIt was one
. of those mills Avhich are built upon a circular foundation of stone , about ten feet high , to Avhich you ascend by a broad , permanent ladder . The gendarme , Monsieur Penhoe ' n , the tailor , and myself , mounted in succession ; the gendarme tried the door , but it Avas fast ; he pressed heavily against it , but the
Note: This text has been automatically extracted via Optical Character Recognition (OCR) software.
The Lucky Inheritance.
elusion that it Avas desirable the farm should be searched for traces of Monsieur Roqueplan , and I was " invited to assist , " — that is to say , summoned to attend , together Avith several others , Avho had deposed more or less to Avhat they knew or thought they kneAV about the " effraction . " Of course the humpbacked tailor Avas amongst the number ; the landlord of the "Pelican "
, haAdng no guest but myself , joined the expedition ; and other volunteers Ai r ere not Avanting , exclusive of the usual complement of idle boys . The gendarme , with Monsieur Penhoe ' n on his right and me on his left , lead the Avay to the village of Clis , Avhich is little more than a mile from Guerande , all sorts of impossible places being examined en route in the hope of
discoA'ering the missing proprietor . One or tAvo stray peasants AAdiorn we met on horseback , Avho came from a distance , with Avell-filled sacks en croupe , were closely questioned by the man of authority , but nothing satisfactory was elicited ; no stranger answering the description of Monsieur Roqueplan had been seen by them . At length we arrived at the farmand
-, pro ceeded in the first instance to a cottage Avhere the labourer lived , Avho had charge of it . We found him in bed , shivering Avith ague , the malady from Avhich feAV are free for a month together , who dwell in these marshy grounds . The information
he gave was scanty : Monsieur Roqueplan and another person had been at the cottage the preAdous day , the proprietor had asked him a great many questions about the farm , and Avanted him to get up and show him over it , but his sickness rendered that impossible : so that after he left the cottage with his companion , the deponent saAv him no more ; he recollected ,
however , that before he Avent Monsieur Roqueplan asked him for the key of the mill , and he gave it . The search noAv became more active ; the trenches Avhich intersected the broad , hedgeless farm were carefully examined , as Avell as the stagnant sedgy ditches , which formed its boundary ; but nothing more remarkable Avas discovered than ordinary footprintsAvliich were
occa-, sionally visible on the soft , sandy soil . The outhouses yielded nothing , and , at last , the mill only remained for inspection . We had learnt at the cottage , that since the death of the late proprietor , some Aveeks before , no corn had been brought to be ground , and the place had not been used ; on Avhich account the resident farm-labourer kept the keyIt was one
. of those mills Avhich are built upon a circular foundation of stone , about ten feet high , to Avhich you ascend by a broad , permanent ladder . The gendarme , Monsieur Penhoe ' n , the tailor , and myself , mounted in succession ; the gendarme tried the door , but it Avas fast ; he pressed heavily against it , but the