The Eight Strokes of the Clock

ce Serg

ard Ha

a

RON

BASSI

OVEM

AR FRI

ret of that terrible business! But indeed, indeed I couldn't help it! I was in such a state of prostration after it all! I needed rest and solitude so badly! Was I to stay in Paris? Was I to continue my expeditions with you? No

n other people's business. Never again! For instance (I am only telling you this because you are incorrigible, as inquisitive as any old charwoman, and always ready to busy yourself with things that don't concern you), yesterday I was present at a rath

corduroy and had lean, yellow, cross-grained features. Each of them carried a gun slung over his shoulder. Between them was a short, slender

daughter-in-law,'

ing creature be the wi

ter-in-law of B

fellow over t

uined. His son Mathias was more ambitious and less attached to the soil and studied for the bar. Then he went to America. Next, the lack of money brought him back to the village, whereupon he fell in love with a young girl in the n

ther and the

t the far end of the vil

ster Mathia

rfect

out re

and it is not her fault if a handsome young man has been hanging around the m

he father

e's hatred. Jér?me Vignal--I know him and am very fond of him--is a good-looking fellow and very well off; and he has sw

drink and plying him with questions. He was already a little bit 'on' and was holding f

is poaching round our way and making sheep's-eyes at the wench.... The co

is daughter-i

defend herself too,' he chuckled. 'Eh, yo

nfusion at being addressed in thes

ongue, father. There are things

the old one. 'Where I'm concerned, the honour of the de Gornes comes b

his sentence. The newcomer was a tall, powerfully-built young fellow, in riding-kit, with a hunting-crop in hi

nal,' whispe

lie, he made a low bow; and, when Mathias de Gorne took a st

what a

Gornes unslung their guns and took them in both hands, like

threat. After a few seconds, turn

shop is shut. Would you mind giving him the ho

er to the inn-keeper

lver, in case I need i

er case, lit it and walked out. We saw him through the wi

ff a glass of brandy,

's mouth and forced him to sit down. Nat

ay. Indeed, I particularly insist that you should not seek a pretext for any untimely interference. Of course, I should be glad to see the poor thing protected: she

he letter, read it over a

this would make the seventh and because she's afraid of the eighth, which under the terms of our agreement ha

ng, composed of admiration, unbounded confidence, uneasiness at times, fear and almost terror, but also love: he was convinced of that. His companion in adventures which she shared wi

g, Sunday, Rénin

little town of Pompignat, where he alighted, and the village of Bassicourt, he learnt that his journey mi

standing before me," said a peasant whom the gendarmes were q

at night. The snow, which had been falling since nine, had stopped ... and

But a farm-labourer and a woman arrived, who said that they were in Mathias de Gorne's service, that they had been away for two day

to happen. M. Mathias comes out to open it himself, every morning at the stroke of six, winter a

M. de Gorne's," said the serge

I might! I never

n went with him, as well as the peasants and a locksmith whose

old de Gorne's farmyard, which Rénine recogn

rse and trap. When they told him wha

hy, my dear sergeant, there are o

ut the lo

me and cracked a bottle with me ... perhaps two ... or even th

s trap--an old cart with a pat

oing to market at Pompignat, as I do every Monday. I've a couple of calve

ine went up to the sergea

lad if you'll allow me to go round by the manor with you. Mlle. Ermelin knows Madame de Gorne; and it w

"we shall read all about it as plai

Mathias had left behind him, the evening before, on returning home, tracks which soon became confused with the footprints made in going an

easy to perceive that the son must have shared largely in the father's libations, as the line

pidated two-storeyed building of the Man

n," said th

had crossed the thr

mistake in not coming. The

nd much broken glass and china bore witness to the violence of the struggl

. Neither Mathias nor his wife was there. But the door of their bedroom

with the kitchen, which lay at the back of the house and opened on a small yard fenced off

ugh a body had been dragged over it. And all around the well were tangled traces of trampling feet, showing that the struggle must hav

near the footprints, a revolver was picked up and recognized by one of the peasa

cylinder. Three of the sev

o had ordered everybody to stand aside and not to step on the site of the footprints, came back

ms fairly c

took

well, for, as I told you, I know Mlle. Ermelin, who is a friend of

ing. I simply declare that som

of a person coming towards the

arrived before the snowfall, that

the living-room and waited for the return

re was a fight. Mathias made his escape through the kitchen. Th

ere's t

the

e pro

't you taking a

struggle, after the three shots, one man alone walked away and left the farm, one man only

ll ... can

ess. It is known all over the distri

eally bel

owfall, a single arrival, Mathias, a

e too killed and thrown down

arried

ried

bedroom was broken

self declare that there was onl

til they actually touch the ground. Those are the footprints of a man, laden w

's an outle

de Gorne always had the key on him.

into the op

ntal highway three quarters of a mile

he

rner of th

Vignal's

s! If the trail leads to the chateau and s

fields, on which the snow lay heaped in places. The approach to the main gates had been swept, but they saw th

, with a broom in his hand. In answer to a question, the man said that M. Vignal had gone away

y had moved away, "all we have to do

aid the sergeant. "They

came from? But they would hav

s stop. The procurator-general has an office in the town. I'll telephone; and, as there's

said Rénine, "and I congratulate you on the way

the inn in the village and sent a

Y DEAR

rom your letter that,

s the heart, you were

and Natalie. Now the

, without consulting t

r throwing Mathias

ming to see you. The w

e with you, I should n

needed to think

ut vouchsafing a glance at the exquisite spectacle of the white meadows. He came back for lunch, still absorbed in h

p some time when he was awakened by a tap

. Is it you?"

ng each other's hands, as though nothing, no irrelevant thought and no uttera

ight in

d, gently, "I

instead of waiting.... Events did not wait, you see, and I don't q

quickly. "They've been arrested. They

People are not arrested like that.

one now. The authoriti

he

For they are innocent, aren't they? You don't a

rep

ct, which is that everything is too much against them. It is not normal for so many proofs to be heaped up one on top of the othe

el

ly puzzled." "But

know what they are saying in their own defence! But you can understand that I sha'n't be permitted either

she said, "but it's going to b

m to the manor-house

at was said to the chauffeur of

t row of the stalls! We shall see and hear everything; and, as a word, a tone of the voice, a quiver o

ts and around the house. Chance enabled Rénine and Hortense to approach unseen and through a side-window to enter a corridor near a back-staircase. A few steps up was a little chamber which received its only light through a s

rew more distinct. A number of people flocked into the house. Some of them went up stairs to the first floor, whi

Vignal,"

examining Madame de Gorne fi

loor came downstairs and went in. They were the procurator's

in and the deputy asked Jé

displayed no uneasiness, but rather decision and a resolute will. Natalie, who was short and very sli

d furniture and the traces of the struggle,

examining-magistrate; and I wished above all to explain to you the very serious reasons for which I asked you to interrupt your journey and to come back here w

e very little. The truth for which you are asking will defeat al

stant and then, in cle

y affection has always been directed by the sole thought of her happiness. I love her, but I respect her even more

ed, in a l

im when unhappiness and injustice pass a certain limit. I went three times to old de Gorne and begged him to interfere; but I found in him an almost equal hatred towards his daughter-in-law, the hatred which many people feel for anything beautiful and noble. At last I resolved on direct action and last night I took a step with regard to Mathias de Gorne which was ... a little unusual, I admit, but which seemed likely to succeed, considering the man's

h is manifestly opposed to the truth. Mathias de Gorne did not come home last night until eleven o'clock. We have two definite pr

haggled greedily, though he refrained from mentioning the name of Madame de Gorne, to whom I myself had not once alluded. We might have been two men engaged in a dispute and seeking an agreement on common ground, whereas it was the happiness and the whole destiny of a woman that were at stake. At last, weary of the discussion, I accepted a compromise and we came to terms, which I resolved to make definite then and there. Two letters were exchanged between us: one in which he made the Manoir-au-Puits over to me for the sum which I had paid him; and one, which he pocketed immediately, by which I was to send him as much more in America on the day on which the decree of divorce was pronounced.... So the affair was settled. I am sure that at that moment he was accepting in good faith. He looked upon me less as an enemy and a rival than as a man who was doing him a service. He even went so far as to give me the key of the little door which opens on the fields, so that I might go home by the short cut. Unfortunately, while I was picking up my cap and greatcoat, I made the mistake of leaving on the table the letter of sale which he had signed. In a moment, Mathias de Gorne had seen the advantage which he could take of my slip: he could keep his property, keep his wife ... and keep the money. Quick as lightning, he tucked away the paper, hit me over the head with the butt-end of his gun, threw the gun on the floor and seized me by the throat with both hands. He had reckoned without his host. I was the stronger of the two; and after a sharp but short struggle, I mastered him and tied him up with a cord which I found lying in a corner ... Mr. Deputy, if my enemy's resolve was sudden, mine was no less so. Since, when all was said, he had accepted the bargain, I would force him to keep it,

it straight off the reel, like a story learnt

ause, during which

possible and, in an

énine. "Wait till you hear them. They are

ocurator stat

e of M. de Gorn

Gorne?" as

willing to admit. Unfortunately, you have forgotten a point of the first importance: what be

as de Gorne accepted the barg

hat r

oad that leads to

ight with him, we see you, on the snow, moving away. Why don't we see him? He came a

y lowered

und the well ... traces which prove that the last struggle of all too

ugged his

uty, and it implies a charge of homicide

ct that your revolver was picked up

N

three shots heard in the night and the th

ecause I left M. de Gorne tied up, in this room, and because I also left my re

oincidence,

in. My only duty is to tell the truth an

conflicts with th

he facts are wro

able to make them agree with your statements, you will

ne?" asked Jér?me,

issary of police and then, beckoning to a detective, ordered him

with your own. M. Vignal declares in particular that you had fainted

mposure had increased Madame de

monsieur, until I

hear the three shots which were heard

id n

thing of what happe

pen. M. Vignal h

s become of y

n't k

k. Do you believe that there may have been an accident and that possibly M. de Gorne, who had be

om seeing his father, he was

hat he was. His father and he had

is not telli

id the deputy, irritably. "And the line of

past-eight, monsieur, before

uck the table

et of snow cannot speak false!... I may accept your denial of matters that

rolled

the windows. Forming a sudde

t the disposal of the authorities, madame,

he sergeant to remove J

d, they had to separate and to fight, far away fro

long, sorrowful look. Then he bowed to her and walked

t, right about ... turn!... Jér

esent. The voice came from the ceiling. The bulls-eye window h

.. especially in respect of the zigzag footprints!... It

legs through the opening, saying t

.. No one wil

is hold, he drop

appeared

ur, who are you? Whe

e dust from his c

e. But I was in a hurry. Besides, if I had come in by the door instead of

deputy advanc

are

ions, wasn't I, sergeant? Since then I have been hunting about for information. That's w

e? You had the

discovered just the one little clue which I missed. I should not have known that Mathias de Gorne wa

d to take the necessary precautions to ensure the secrecy of his enquiry, it

with this. What

s of your kin

th what

nocence of M. Vignal

him in moments of actions when the crisis of the drama depended solely upon hims

on. "I asked him to protect that young creature

ope, for they had drawn nearer to each other, as though this stranger, d

shrugged hi

hen the time comes, of establishing their

it here and now. Any delay migh

to be in

ree minute

utes to explain a

er, I as

ertain of it

een thinking hard s

o stick to you like a leech and that there was nothing f

tell us the exact spot where M. Ma

ut his watch

is, Mr.

is? Ali

is more, in the

eaning of the footprints around the well and the

y camo

amouflage cont

s de Gorne

us! And with

f arranging subsequent matters in such a way that M. V

greed, still in a satirical tone. "

r struggle and after I had gone, Mathias de Gorne conceived a new plan by which, this time, his hatred would be fu

ccording to your statement, Mathias de Gorne was to r

ne family revealed to me the fact that the father and son had taken out a life-insurance policy in each other's f

"that in all this camouflage, as you call it, M. de

ok up the

y. The father and s

find the son at

e found him th

ecame o

e train at

mere sup

certa

s, but you'll admit there'

t he had displayed an excessive goodwill and that pati

othing in what you've said that can contradict in the very least the evidence of that relentless wit

you: by the road which lead

no tracks i

ther

oming here and not g

he same

ha

one way of walking. One doesn't alwa

er way can o

backwards,

ound silence. Those present at once grasped their extreme significance and, by adapting it to the actual happenin

Stepping backwards in the dir

traight up to it; but I can just as easily turn my back

proceeded in

as carried off Madame de Gorne and made his escape, that Mathias de Gorne, foaming at the mouth, wild with rage, but suddenly seeing his chance of taking the most terrible revenge, hits upon the ingenious idea of using against his enemy the very snowfall upon

denly appeared to him in the light of a person worthy of

e have left his

ap, quit

drove

o the father, who was going to market as usual. The son was hidden un

n logic and the probabilities of the case. And yet not a jot was left of the distressing m

thanked the good genius who was changing the co

de this morning was to investigate only the footprints left by the alleged murderer and to neglect Mathias de Gorne's. Why in

to observe that many of the footprints were awkward, hesitating, too deeply sunk at the

er and he must have been aware of this, at least as regards the zigzags which you see here since old de Gorne went out of his way to tell the sergeant that his son had had too much drink." And h

pted his part in the ma

it but to send detective

ound a well, in shifting the position of a revolver that doesn't belong to you, in firing three shots or in walking backwards to one's father's house. Wha

y not," s

be no misdemeanour unless the father claimed payment. And I should be greatly su

ng as he walked. His easy-going features w

he brute's killed him!... My poor Mathi

ok his fis

ty said,

you intend to claim your rights

think?" said the ol

at you were a partner in his little schemes and that you stuffe

ath, stood for an instant without moving and then, suddenly, changing his mind and his tactics with

l! And he reckoned on me to collect the insurance-money and send it to him? As

by a funny story, he took his departure, not forgetting, however, to set his great ho

the manor to let Hortense out, h

. Hortense sent down word asking him to excuse her:

al! She avoids me, therefore she