The Manitowoc pilot. [volume] (Manitowoc, Wis.) 1859-1932, 1890-03-06
loved queen!

Live for me. you dear child. and
my word for it. l will provide tn,
| 5000, ,0OO for which you will be willing
to live"
At this momenta courtier approached
| and broke to them the dreadful It'd
ings:
His majesty has been poisoned by
M. de Maurepas with sugar"
A moment later the queen, white te
the very lips, stood beside her husband
For heavens sake. Louisr' cried she
in her distress, unmindful of all cere
| mony.
What is the matter, my queenp'
asked Louis in the gentle way which he
had never abandoned toward his be-
loved wife. .'What brought you lc
me2 You are very pale He seized d
glass of water, poured some of the
| newly discovered sugar in it, and hand.
ed her the glass.
Drink. 1t is too warm in the saloon
and the company is too exciting. This
sugar water will refresh YOU"
The queen cast a penetrating glance
at Maurepas. who now fully under
stood what he had only half heard.
With quick movement he took the
glass from the kings hand and drained
| it at draught.
Red with anger the king demanded
! an explanation of this insolence, but
| Marie Antoinette offered the minister
her hand and was about to explain to the
king when suddenly the broad leaves
of the great door flew open and the
| palace guard led in man quite up to
the feet of the king. The terrified APP
| Pearance of the prisoner, his coarse
| coat. the brown waist-coat and panta-
| looms, the broad, clumsy shoes with
| leaden buckles. contrasted strangely
| with the gay silken attire, the gilded
| hangings, the laces and diamonds of
| the surroundings.
What does this mean?n asked the
king astonished.
Permit me, your majesty, to bring
this man before you, who understands
how TO make sugar out of vegetables.
Dumonet is trying to ruin our colonies
and make them useless to us. This is
the discoverer of beet sugar"
''Discoverer? No, that honor does
not belong to me-" exclaimed the
Chemist Dumonet. 1T was learned
Maj. Serre, who. during the regency,
deceived by the beautiful red color the
beet gives out in cooking, fancied he
could make red wine out of it. Instead
of the desired wine he found the bot
tom Of his retort covered with fine sugar.
AT that time France was rich in colonies
on the Mississippi therefore no one
paid any heed to the discovery. Nor
was it fully developed. l learned
abroad, in Prussia. new Improvements,
expended my small possessions to test
1t, and L hope | have succeeded
1T Is not poison, then?" cried
Marie Antoinette, meaningly. The
king for the first time understood what
had preceded, and discovered also that
the chemist was bound. At sign the
bond was cut and the guard left the
room without Dumonet.
Meanwhile the queen bravely took a
piece of sugar in her lovely mouth.
That was the signal for the young cour-
tiers to rush upon the before distrusted
sugar, vieing with each other to exhibit
their courage. their devotion through
this harmless poison.
Gently, my ladies, my lords" cried
Maurepas, every little piece of that
sugar cost golden LOUIS.
But the sugar is not one bit better
than our ordinary sugar. demonstrated
the queen. ''and it is only curiosity
leading to ruin"
Dumonet dropped on one knee.
Your majesty is in a measure correct.
Experimenting in a small way, at the
same expense as Il great trade, natural
ly makes this sample excessively dear;
but il your majesty will advance me
two millions for the development of
larger facilities for manufacture l shall
be able to furnish Il pound of sugar for
10 sous instead of francs.n
The king recoiled inyoluntarily, and
Marie Antoinette grasped her famous
necklace, which had cost two millions,
as if the plain man before her had been
robber. Her disapproving glance
gave direction to the kings answer.
'Dr. Dumonet, honor enterprise;
accept this snutf-box as a recognition
of it. But two millions the state can
not possibly lend you. That is too
much money for the exhausted exche-
quer."
Dumonet received the gift respectful
ly. Sire, sooner or later my enter
prise will find the money"
The whole shallow, ,subservient swarm
of courtierlings cried out an excited
echo to the royal words:
Two millions for sugar Two milli-
ons. The man should be in mad
house. The man should be SO shame
less? Just as if it were not all the
same whether one pays 10 sous or 4
francs for pound of sugar: And il any
can't pay it let him take his food un-
sweetened. What has the government
to do with that?'
And SO Dumonet was dismissed He
had only needed 1000. 600; the second
was the price demanded by the minister
for the introduction. This evening
Maurepas composed the only good
verse of his life, which, translated, runs
somewhat thus:
"Altho' his life to sweeten
Is all his royal care,
Two million francs for sugar
The king finds rather dear