Green-Mountain freeman. [volume] (Montpelier, Vt.) 1844-1884, 1874-09-02

The wealthy merchant. Van Baercn. of
Amsterdam. went to his banker SOM
morning to get fifty newly coined tlorin~. |
He had with him Il magnificent Ncwtound- |
land dog. with curly hair, an expressive
face. and beautiful true brown eyes.
Opp;,S WAS the tnvorite of the whole
family, and the steady companion Of h.
master whom he never left. except whrI
he had strict orders given him To watch
the children or to keep guard over some
article of value. Van Bucren could safely
put Ills gollhended cane in the middle OF
the street, and say to Oppa>, " You It
here until | come back :" and there was
no doubt of iinuin" cane and dog ut the
same spot, after hours had gone by. |
would not have advised ANYBODY to touch
him then. If his master wanted to 20 to
church or to the theatre or III fact any
where, where he did not want the dog t.
accompany him. all he had to do WAS to
look at him and say, "Oppa>. 20 home
and Oppa> turned round, although morti
tied, and went straight home, nor looked
to the right or left
Mynhcer Van Beeren had taken his do"
along today, is usual. and had rather
lengthy conversation with his friend the
banker. whom he also told for what par
pose he wanted the new tlOrin>.
Today WAS the silver wedding day ofonr
of his old servants, named Claus. who had
been in the service of his father AMI been
true to them both for many years. A. the
man WAS not very we'll Oft, for H. hid Il
great many children t. provide for. h.
wanted to give him 4 pleasant surprise.
with these fifty tlorin>. H. Received them
tightly done up in a roll bat tine silver
WIS rather heavy and Mvnhccr Van Bee
rem rather lazy. lie could not PVT it in"
his pocket, he did not lih" It, carry it in
his hand. and. therefore. as soon IL he had
reg uncd the street lac gave it to hi do.
who proudly put il i'll his month an
marched S"lcmnlv along h,>id. his ms
ter, until they Reached the house Of hi for
mcr servant. Mvnhccr Van Br-rrn did
not even now take the money from lhc
dog. but wanted t. have the fun al >-riu.
the doy himself deliver il.
He dill this elegantly. for when hi> ma
ter said to him, "Oppa-. now -ivrnp HoIr
present, and pointe to the upri~r SCI
want. he Went up to him. wagering his tai
and allowed him quietly to take the moNe,
ont of his molth.
The old servant WAS greatly moved; he
1t tn same time cur'>>ng tn Dr.. who
seemed To he wcIl pleased Moreover, when
Mvnhrcr Van Bccrcn left. Claus hrgg,'I
leave to retain the do. around whom
the children had gathered. for While lon4-
TT, that he mi I'll; reward him f,r bringing
50 rich i present. Thu children i"n,..i in
hi~ en;rcaJir-. until til" merchant said
pleasantly, " Well. tor my pact, VA mly
have him Il a guc~t. hut don't oVcr.ccd
him. and say: Now 20 home. Opp1~.
then yol need not bother about him any
more; he knows his WY.
:" Bat Will he say here. hen Vul %
OFF,
Crrtiinlv he does anything tell him
Opp,-. vop ~tlv hrrr: ll. looked at the
Nrwfo midland do. which luohcd ri linn
with his $40 ,ciou> eyes. and then SIT quiet
ly down. IL if to await what would hap
pen. W hen his master went off inmr-
diatclv after. he never stirred and now The
children begin 10 coax an cHlr-~ him,
while the women prepared Il cod rrpl~t
for him, which he enjoyed Hugely until the
time came. when they hal t" son him of
~ lin. When Claus then op ned the door
for him and sud. Il he hid been toll !.
" Now. Oppas, You 90 home, he W1~L"d
his tlil once more. AMI returned straight
home.
\ few months had gonr by. and Mvn-
herr Van Becren had to d. Business 40 lin
one afternoon with the sumo banker fine
dog went along u usual. and also lifted
himself when he arrived ut the counting
table and offered his paw to I'll" cashier.
He. however. would not notice him today.
and all seemed to he somewhat cNritc.l.
the cause of which WIS Immediately cN-
pl,ined by the banker himself. VIII" iuSi
then came oat of his private office
The thing was this: There had been
committed Il theft that morning. with such
agility and deNtrritv that the matter WAS
wholly incNplicable. One of the clerks II I'll
made rolls of tlorins: and had placed ten
of these. which We're intended for the pri-
vate expenses of the family. on his en-
ployers desk. The latter had counted
them himself twice over. so there could
have been no mistake; and vet one Of the
rolls hld disappeared in a moment. while
he hal been handin" Il few letter to be
copied into the mail office \ theft seemed
hardly possible, unless it was executed
with great boldnc>>. through the window.
which happened to be opened, in which
case it must have been done in an incrcdi-
bly, short space Of time. How could 4
thief dare to climb into II window in open
daylight in Il busy street; and if he ii |.
why had he taken only one roll. when
there were ten of them lying right near?
Mr.. Van Groten, such was the bankers
name, had in the mean time sent to the
police office to make known the facts and
one of the force had come up to take a
look at the place. He shook his head when
they showed him the window and the desk
The latter stood ut least six feet from the
window, so that a person who might have
jumped up to the window board, could not
from there have got ut the money. but was
obliged to enter the office while Mvnheer
Van Crotch asserted that he had not left il
for half IL minute. Besides the little room
had no separate entrance for exit, but only
through the main office could Il person
get into it. The affair remained shrouded
in darkness, and the roll of fifty tlOrns OF
course gone. Mynhetr Van Groton hal
become SO afraid that he shut the window
every time he left his room, and as no fur
ther theft was committed, the loss was Il
Last forgotten; at least nothing more WI,
said about it. Two or three weeks might
have gone by, and Mynheer Van Beeren
was just slipping his afternoon coffee in his |
" study" wien old Claus sent hi, name in, /
wishing to thank his old employers.
Thank me-" said Mynheer Van Bee
rem; - for what? for my last present. He !
has thanked me for that long ago, ana,
5 nee then | have not seen him !; but let the .
old man come in.
The door opened Immediately after, and
Claus, hat in hand. appeared upon the
threshold but he looked very miserable I
:" Hello. Claus, what is the matter with
YOU, man? You have grown pale, and so
lean that l should hardly have known you.
Have you been sick? I never heard a word
about it,
20. my saviour the poor man sighed;
" have been very sck-so sick that did
not think | should get up again. l dare