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Article THE VAMPIRE. ← Page 2 of 4 →
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The Vampire.
Raffin is distinctly kept in view , and is dogged step by step from the moment of his leaving the hotel until he arrives at Pere-la-Chaise . There he is always lost sight of . A party of police agents have been stationed in the interior of the burial-place , but nothing has been
discovered . " Duke of Otranto ! " exclaimed the Emperor , " this is a strange phantasmagorical story . Do you suspect that Raffin is a Vampire ? " " That would be a rarity in France , sire , in the nineteenth century , " replied Fouche . " What do you think he is then ? " demanded Napoleon . " I cannot guess . " " Will have him arrested ? "
you " He has committed no offence , and therefore I hesitated . " " You are right , " said the Emperor ; "it is sufficiently painful to fill our state prisons with maniacs who take a pleasure in running headlong into ruin . I do not approve of preventive measures—they are always tyrannical . But this is a very mysterious gentleman . Have his papers been examined during his absence ? " " Yessirebut nothing icious has been found . "
, , susp " Is his passport correct ? " " The description of his person is not precisely accurate ; there is even an appearance of an erasure and alteration of the writing in some parts . We know not what to make of this man . But we shall keep a vigilant eye upon him . " ¦ " I was much surprised , " said Prince Cambeceres , " on hearing this curious disclosureand some time afterwardswhen Fouche called upon
, , me , I thought of Raffin , and inquired if the mystery had ever been cleared up . " " Prince , " replied Fouche , " I could almost be tempted to believe that we are not ' in the nineteenth century , but in the ninth , or even earlier . There are some extraordinary impositions practised in this
world . " What , then , have you discovered ? " demanded the Prince , burning with curiosity . " I will tell you , " resumed Fouche . " My brigade , being not a little mortified by the manner in which this Raffin constantly eluded their vigilance , determined to take a decisive step ; and accordingly , one night they arrested him when within a few yards of Pere-la-Chaise . At one blow he knocked down two of the police officerswho alleged that they
, had not been struck by a man ' s arm , but by a bar of iron . The others surrounded , and at last overpowered him . He was perfectly calm , and he showed bv the lig ht of the street-lamp the papers which he carried about with him : these consisted of a map of Paris , a passport , a certificate of his birth , and , in short , every document necessary to entitle him to the privilege of nocturnal perambulation in the good city of Paris . As it was wished to take him by surprise , the police agents
affected to be satisfied . He gave the a boire in payment of the cudgelling he had inflicted , and all separated amicably . Some of the police officers , however , turned and followed Raffin , but after watching him for some distance , as usual , they lost sight of him . " At four o ' clock one of the men , who were still on the watch , gave a signal that he saw Raffin coming as usual from the cemetery . The entire party hastened to the assistance of their comrade . In order to put this strange being off his guard , a peace officer was procured , and
Note: This text has been automatically extracted via Optical Character Recognition (OCR) software.
The Vampire.
Raffin is distinctly kept in view , and is dogged step by step from the moment of his leaving the hotel until he arrives at Pere-la-Chaise . There he is always lost sight of . A party of police agents have been stationed in the interior of the burial-place , but nothing has been
discovered . " Duke of Otranto ! " exclaimed the Emperor , " this is a strange phantasmagorical story . Do you suspect that Raffin is a Vampire ? " " That would be a rarity in France , sire , in the nineteenth century , " replied Fouche . " What do you think he is then ? " demanded Napoleon . " I cannot guess . " " Will have him arrested ? "
you " He has committed no offence , and therefore I hesitated . " " You are right , " said the Emperor ; "it is sufficiently painful to fill our state prisons with maniacs who take a pleasure in running headlong into ruin . I do not approve of preventive measures—they are always tyrannical . But this is a very mysterious gentleman . Have his papers been examined during his absence ? " " Yessirebut nothing icious has been found . "
, , susp " Is his passport correct ? " " The description of his person is not precisely accurate ; there is even an appearance of an erasure and alteration of the writing in some parts . We know not what to make of this man . But we shall keep a vigilant eye upon him . " ¦ " I was much surprised , " said Prince Cambeceres , " on hearing this curious disclosureand some time afterwardswhen Fouche called upon
, , me , I thought of Raffin , and inquired if the mystery had ever been cleared up . " " Prince , " replied Fouche , " I could almost be tempted to believe that we are not ' in the nineteenth century , but in the ninth , or even earlier . There are some extraordinary impositions practised in this
world . " What , then , have you discovered ? " demanded the Prince , burning with curiosity . " I will tell you , " resumed Fouche . " My brigade , being not a little mortified by the manner in which this Raffin constantly eluded their vigilance , determined to take a decisive step ; and accordingly , one night they arrested him when within a few yards of Pere-la-Chaise . At one blow he knocked down two of the police officerswho alleged that they
, had not been struck by a man ' s arm , but by a bar of iron . The others surrounded , and at last overpowered him . He was perfectly calm , and he showed bv the lig ht of the street-lamp the papers which he carried about with him : these consisted of a map of Paris , a passport , a certificate of his birth , and , in short , every document necessary to entitle him to the privilege of nocturnal perambulation in the good city of Paris . As it was wished to take him by surprise , the police agents
affected to be satisfied . He gave the a boire in payment of the cudgelling he had inflicted , and all separated amicably . Some of the police officers , however , turned and followed Raffin , but after watching him for some distance , as usual , they lost sight of him . " At four o ' clock one of the men , who were still on the watch , gave a signal that he saw Raffin coming as usual from the cemetery . The entire party hastened to the assistance of their comrade . In order to put this strange being off his guard , a peace officer was procured , and