The Middlebury register. [volume] (Middlebury, Vt.) 1850-1882, 1878-03-22

dealer shook his head in turn. Fifty
francs was the last price.
Henry walked away, and spent the
remainder of the day in the galleries
When he returned to his hotel and hat
dincd, he did not retire to his room be
fore nine O'Clock A small package la,
on the table. lie opened it, and the
gold shoe-buckle fell out. A card at
tached bore the printed name Cesart
Borghotti, and the price below was
written-forty francs. The magician
dwelling behind the Green Door had
decided to accept the price offered fol
the article.
The young man smiled, and held tho
buckle nearer the candle. How haC
the magician of the morning traced him
out? Then he remembered having men
toned another bric-a-brac shop. located
under his hotel, in conversation, and Oh
this clcw the shrewd collector had found
him. Did he wish to buy the buckle
after all? The gold glittercd in the
light from careful polishing; on the in
ner side he read the two letters II. l.
Possibly these initials had been illegiblf
before the last polishing given to the
metal by the collector in order to tempt
him. Their discovery startled him
lie rose and began to pace the chamber
in great excitement, his face suffused
his sanguine blne eyes sparkling.
1.-THE BUCKLE REVEALS ITSELF.
II. l.. might be the initials of any for.
eigner, English, French, or Italian; and
yet when mans whole life has become
concentrated in one absorbing interest,
he catches nj every straw as belonging
to his vortex, to be sooner or later i'm.
quilted in il. Now Henry Toppinqham
willed that the buckle should have be.
longed TO Hannah Long, and have
graccd her pretty foot in the colonies OF
America some time in the eighteen GEN.
tury, when she was young and bloom
ing--a belle toasted by the gay officers
of the British garrison. In the silence
Of his chamber, having so willed il, the
conviction grew upon him that it could
not be otherwise. Forty francs! lie
would pay ono hundred and forty rath-
er than lose this clew. There it lay on
the table, now sparkling, now deaden-
ing. as he moved inviting further in.
vestigaton.
Henry Toppingham was rising law
yer in one of the Atlantic cities, with q
slender income, which did not vet enable
him to marry the girl to whom he was en-.
gagged, no reputation and little practice
He needed to "get on" in the world.
even to obtain a position ut the bar, and
he bcheld himself surrounded bv hosts OF
newly fledgcd young LAWYERS in the
same condition.
MIR: Anthony Whitccap, the eminent
practitioner, smooth, rotund. and pros.
porous, who had just won heavy suit
against railroad company, had rubbed
his hands together and looked at Henry
Toppingham renectivcly. "You had
better take a trip abroad, skim through
the leading capitals. and try TO find
him. he had said. ''Buy Cooks
tickct-say, for three months; | will
advance you the money. Mind YOU, !
do not believe you can find this needle
in the hay-stack, however"
~ will try, sir" said Henry in reply.
The needle in hay-stack thus refer
red TO by Mr.. Whitccap was tho hcir to
an unclaimed property, bcqucathcd by
a very peculiar will. John Long, pos
sesser of several valuable coal mines,
had in dying left ali his property to his
brother Albert, on condition of the lat
ter's claiming it within five years from
the date of his own deceasc Failing
this, the mines were to be sold, and the
money distributed among certain chari-
ties. This heir, Albert Long, had not
been heard from for ten veurs, when he
was rumored to have been seen in China,
and subsequently in Paris. John Long
sour, reticent man of eccentric habits,
without wife or child, confessed before
death that family quarrel had driven
the younger brother abroad. Albert
Long was advertised in home and for
eign newspapers for one month; after
that he must take his own chances OF
restitution. This was the puzzle pre-
sented by the great lawyer, Mr.. Anthony
Whitecap, out of his abundant harvest
to the needy and eager young aspirant,
Henry Toppingham, with half amused
doubt.
"Solve it if you can"
The young lawyer had entered upon
the scheme with ardor. 1t was his
chance to reap fame, a golden oppor.
tunity for the exercise of talent. His
first step had been to sift the house ol
Long for generations--a simple history
enough; his second, in availing himself
of foreign tour, to search the record.
OF bankers, hotels, and clubs for the
name he desired TO discover. There
was no reason to suppose Albert Long
was living under an assumed name
since he had done nothing to disgrace
his own. If he was poor, his position
in foreign land would be obscure; i
he had by any means acquired wealth
there would be less difficulty in finding
him. Henry Toppingham never allow
cd himself TO believe the missing MAJ
dead. Accordingly he had searched
Liverpool, Edinburgh, London, Paris
the German cities, and even Rome
without success. No person knew Al
bert Long. The bankers had not ever
heard of him; consuls were equally n
fault. Only that very morning, in tn,
church at Santa Croce, he had said
'Four years and seven months hav,
elapsed since the death of John Long
and the charitable institutions will ge
all his money. Pshaw. had there beer
any hope, Mr.. Whitccap would have
kept the case for himself"
The same petulancc again overcamt
him now. The evening was dull, thu
hotel sitting. From his open window
he gazed down Oh deserted street. Ht
took up the buckle listlessly. Wha
hopes had he not built on it, merely be.
cause his researches into the history o
the Long family had led to the discover,
ofa grandmother, whose name. Hannai
Long, had been indicated by the letters
ii. l.. embroidered on faded sampler
and tapestry screens? 1t was known
that this man Albert Long, whose exis
tence had become to the young lawyer
a mystery, fascinating and tormenting
had been given small portion belong
ing to his dead mother. What NOR,
natural than that the grandmother
buckle should have been preserved as ,
relic! How could ii have found il
way to a shop with Green Door in tn,
city Of Florence? Impossible. Th,
mere supposition was absurd. Stay! /
Albert Long had died, his effects woult
be sold. Henry sat staring at the orna
ment, lost in meditation, far into tn,