New Orleans Republican., 1873-08-31

! q JIcdSuTo!
My visitor gave me time to consider. He
hummed tune, and examined some books
| lying about. He must be the devil"
Thought. And yet the longer l looked at
the bags still coming in, the more ardently
did | wish to make them mine. Il NAV
| Outwit him." i reflected. If he wants me
| to be his slave, he will find himself MIS-
taken. may compromise for the present,
and turn him adrift By and by! Hang the
fellow he looks at me and smiles, as if he
could read the secrets Of my soul.'
What services am l to render for this =
asked at length, with some hesitation.
"Oh, we'll speak of that hereafter"
watched him closely as he went out. He
had not the sign Of d hoof, and his legs,
without any exaggeratiOn, were those OF a
well made man.
As he left an undefinable sensation Of
bodily pain seized me. l could not say that
felt it in any particular limb. but 1t
thrilled through my entire frame like con
vulsiOn or spasm and forewarneG me OF tu-
| ture suffering.
| was alone with the gold. rolled some
| of it ont, counted and returned it. l ex-
amined and re examined the massive ingots.
daintily handled few of the notes and
found them to be $500 bills. then put
! them all back. covered them carefully and
| sat down to think The tremendous power
u
self upon my mind. ] became fascinated
| with the charm. The demon of avarice was
| at work even then, for conceived plans
| for doubling and trebling the enormous
sum possessed. . In contemplating such a
vast treasure-with its existence pa!pably
before me- soon lost sight of conscientious
| scruples. They vanished that night, and
| forever, before closed my eyes in sleep.
was Oh foot early next morning. ! re-
aOIVpH n dannSit lorUa rNrticu of U
| money iE the various banks of the city
the notes especially was afraid of losing.
| In order to avoid suspicion. it became ne
| cessary to employ agents. They were found
| without much difficulty, and week after
ward had the satisfaction of knowing that
| had deposited some twenty millions in
| fifty banks of New York, under fifty differ
| ent names.
I The excitement in New York was mar
! ve!Ous. Such an influx of currency had not
been known within the memory of man. 1t
| bscame drug in the market.
My next step was to purchase house in
| Fifth avenue. Several were for sale, ami [
chose a solitary one far up town, with a
| spacious fireprOof vault in the basement
Into it gradually removed all my gold.
| selected Fifth avenue because it was more
retired, and l would be less noticed there
| than in other parts Of the city. ] still re-
tanned, however. my cid residence, for the
purpose of transacting business. Indeed,
opened numerous Offices down town, and
appeared in each under different names
and disguises In all did worked with
| extreme caution, and even the men l en-
plOyed knew little or nothing of my affairs.
was satisfied on this point from the result
of numerous experiments to which l re-
sorted in order to test the extent of the dis
coveries their curiosity prompted them to
make. used to enjoy going down to Wall
street. and there buy up the available stock
of company, raise the premium to fabu-
lous sum, sell out. and then realize an i'm
mense profit. The merchants were all agog;
for they were, Of course, unable to detect
the under current that disturbed the once
even tide of commerce. l had their paper
to any amount, and could have ruined men
Of the highest standing Operators and
jobbers we're in perpetual fever of excite
ment.
1t would be tedious to tell of the number
less schemes III which ! was engaged-the
colossal business l carried on in trade
the vast speculations by which / realized
additional millions Let it suffice that
doubled and even trebled the original
amount of my wealth. ] tried in vain to
make a rough estimate OF what was
worth.
Month. passed away, during which my
love of gold rapidly increased. had a
craving to see, to handle the glittering
metal. Every coin was OF value to my
eyes. But beyond this instinct had now
demons desire to exercise my pOwer-to
iniure and, if possible, to destroy. l held
no friendly communications with any living
soul, and l had sympathy for none.
During this time suffered continually
from the spasmOdic pains have described,
and l began to suspect that was not radi-
cally cured of the disease with which had
previously been afflicted. They were rend-
ing shooting pains-dartiDg through limbs,
breast and brain-leaving behind bodily
exhaustion and mental despair.
l was pondering over these matters one
night as l sat in my vault, counting and re-
counting my tens of hOusands-arrangin
them in heaps-feasting my eyes with the
gorgeous spectacle according to my daily
custom, when l took up accidentally the
book containing my bank accounts. The
grand total exhibited deposit of $40, ,000,-
900. Twenty Millions cried, and re-
peated the seductive words over and over
again Twenty millions !. Twenty mil
lions! What pile they would make here!
I'll draw them out! I'll break all the banks!
Whew ! what a sensation that will create
Ha hal"
Hal ha!' rebounded from the other end
of the room. These echoes of the room so
startled me that | turned round expecting
to see visitor. No one was there, yet l
trembled with alright and hurried up stairs,
imagining that some one had discovered
my retreat Small chance of that, though,
for l kept the house locked up, and no hu-
man being ever entered it but myself
The idea of running the banks became a
settled determination, and the very next
morning was among my agents, arrang-
ing preliminaries, specifying the exact day,
hour, and even moment swhen the act
should be cOnsummated. 1t was feasible
plan; for, as have said, the banks had ex-
panded to such an extent on the strength of
my deposits that the sudden withdrawal Of
my property in gold, with all the interest
accumulated. must infallibly break them.
instructed my agents to bring the money
from the banks to various places down
town. This was done as well and as Sc
cretly as | could have desired, and in the
night TINA watched it's removal to Fifth
avenue by other parties. a labOrisus task
The carmen had no idea that those heavy
boxes contained aught else than the ordi-
nary goods their labels designated.
l waited anxiously Cor the result OF this
operation Two days elapsed. and by
twelve o'clock on the third my plot began
to yield It's fruits. The news spread like
wid-fire over the city that the banks were
all breaking. The newspapers issued an
edition after each explosion. People rushed
frantically for their money. but found only
closed doors. They burst them open
furously, and discovered nothing within but
benches, desks and account books. The
officials had fled in s,ismay. Garrying of
what was left.
The ruin of the banks was followed by a
fearful crisis. Merchants of every descrip-
tion were suspending payments by hun
dreds. Tradesmen could not sell their
goods. H0usehOlders could not get their
rent. Ia the space of one week the panic
had arrived at such height that the inhab-
itants were leaving the city.
The lahoring classes were starZiug and