Lancaster daily intelligencer. [volume] (Lancaster, Pa.) 1864-1928, 1888-06-14
The Treasure Of Franchard.
BY ROBERT LOUIS STEVENSON.
CONTINUED I


healthy wind blew from over the forsst .nd
the sound Of innumerable thousands of tr.,s
tops and innuinerable millions on millions NJ
green leaves was abroad in the air, and filled
the ear with something between Whispered
speech and singing. 1t seemed as IL every
blade OF grass must hide cigale; and the
ields rang merrily with their music, iinelinp
far and near, as with the sleigh bells OF .be
fairy queen From their station on the slope
the eye embraced large space Of poplarei
plain upon the one hand, the waving hill
tops OF the forest on the other, and Gretz it.
self in the middls, handful of roofs Under
the bestriding arch Of the blue heavens. the
place seemed dwindled to toy. II seemed
incredible that people dwelled, and could find
room to turn or air to breathe, in such a cor
ner OF the world. The thought came bome
TO the boy, perhaps for the first time, and he
gave it words
"How small it looksr' he sighed
Ay," replied the doctor, ''small enouob
now. Yet 1t was once walled city: tbriy.
ing, full OF furred burgesses and men in ar.
NOR, humming with affairs - with tai,
spires Tor aught l know, and portly towers
aiohg tne oattlements. A thousand chin
meys ceased smoking at the curfew bell.
ihere were gibbets at the gate as thick as
scarecrows. In time Of war, the assault
swarmed against it with ladders, the arrows
ieli like leaves, the defenders sailed hotly
over the drawbrdge, each side uttered its
cry as they piled their weapons. Do YOU
know that the walls extended as far as tbe
Commanderiet Tradition so reports. Alas,
what long way Off is all this confusion
nothing left of it but my quiet words spoken
III your ear-and the town itself shrunk to
the nafniet underneath usl BY and by came
IL
English, stupid people, who sometimes
blundered into good-and Gretz was taken.
sacked and burned. 1t is the history of
many towns; but Gretz never arose again; it
was never rebuilt; its ruins were quarry to
serve the growth of rivals and the stones of
Gretz are now erect along the streets of Ne
mours. 1t gratiiies me that our old house
was the first to rise after the calamity; when
the town had come to an end, it inaugurated
the hamletn
II, too, am glad of that" )" said Jean Marie. |
! 1t should be the temple of the humber |
virtues, responded the doctor, with a savory /
gusto. "Perhaps ono of the reasons why 1 /
love my little hamlet as do is that we have /
a similar history, she and /. Have I told
you that was once richf
II do not think so,n answered Jean Maria
u do not think should have forgotten.
am sorry you should have lost your fortune
'Sorryf cried the doctor. "Why, find
have scarce begun your education after all.
Listen to mel Would you rather live in the old |
Gretz or in the new, free from the alarms of /
war, with the green country at the door. /
without noise, passports, the exactions of the |
soldiery, or the jangle of the curfew bell to
send us off to bed by sundownY'
II suppose l should prefer the new,n re-
piled the boy.
4
precisely" returned the doctor. $50 do /
!. And, In the Same way, l prefer my |
present moderate fortune to my former |
wealth. Golden mediocrityl cried the adora.
BILE ancients; and subscribe to their enthu-
siasm. Have not good wine, good food,
good air, the fields and the forest for nv
walk, house, an admirable wife, a boy
whom protest cherish like sona Now, il |
were still rich, should indubitably make |
my residence in Paris-you know Paris
Paris and paradise are not convertible terms |
This pleasant noise OF the wind streaming /
among leaves changed into the grinding
babel of the street, the stupid glare of plaster
substituted for this quiet pattern of greens
and grays, the nerves shattered, the diges-
tion falsified-picture the fall! Already you /
perceive the consequences; the mind is stimu- |
lated, the heart steps to different measure,
and the man is himself no longer l have |
passionately studied myself-the true busi-
ness of philosophy. know my character as
the musician knows the ventages of his flute.
Should return to Paris should ruin my |
self gambling; nay, go further-I should |
break the heart Of my AnastaSie with inf
delites"
This was too much for Jean Marie. That |
a place should so transform the most excel |
lent Of men transcribed his belief. Paris,
he protested, was even an agreeable place of
residence. 'Nor when lived in that city |
did feel much difference he pleaded
"What!" cried the DOCTOR "Did you not |
steal when you We're therein
But the boy could never be brought to see
that he had done anything wrong when he |
stole. Nor, indeed, did the doctor think he |
had; but that gentleman was never very |
when in want of n retort,
"And now" he concluded, "do you begin
to understands My only friends were those
who ruined me. Gretz has been my acad- /
emy, my sanatorium, my heaven Of innocent
pleasures, II millions are offered me waye |
them back: Retro, Sathanasl Evil one be- |
gohel -FlX-your mind on my example; de- |
spise riches, avoid the debasing influence Of |
cities. Hygiene-hygiene and mediocrity Of
be your watchwords during
lifep
The doctors system Of hygiene strikngIy
with his tastes and his picture of
q perfect life was a faithful description Of |
the one he was leading at the time. But it is
easy to convince a boy, whom you supply |
with all the facts for the discussion. And
besides there was one thing admirable in the |
philosophy, and that was the enthusiasm Of |
the philosopher. There was never any one |
more vigorously determined to be pleased; |
and il he was not a great logician, and SO |
had no right to convince the intellect, he |
was certainly something Of poet, and had |
q fascination TO seduce the heart What he |
could not achieve in his customary humor of |
q radiant admiration of himself and his cir |
he sometimes effected in his fits |
Of gloom.
"Boy," he would say, "avod me today. If
| We're superstitious, should even beg for an
interest in your prayers. | am in the black
fit; the evil spirit of King Saul, the hag of
the merchant Abudah the personal devil of
the medieval monk, is with me--is in me,n
tapping on his breast. The vices of my ma |
ture are now uppermost; innocent pleasures
WOO me in vain; / long for Paris for my |
in the mire. See" he continued, |
"a handful of silver, Il denude l
myself, am not to be trusted with the price |
Of fare Take it, keepit for me, squander
it on deeterious candy, throw it in the deep
est river-I will homologate your action.
Save me from that part of myself which | |
disown. If you see me falter, do not hest |
tate; if necessary, wreck the train! | speak |
Of course, by parable. Any extremity were |
better than for Inc TO reach Paris aliye.n
Doubtless the doctor enjoyed these little |
scenes, as a variation in his part; they repre-
sented the Byronic element in the somewhat
artificial poetry of his existence; but to the
boy, though he was dimly aware of their
tthey represented more. The
doctor made perhaps too little, the boy pos
sibly too much Of the reality and gravity Of
these temptations
One day great light shone for Jean Marie.
Gould not riches be used well = he asked