Nevada County picayune., 1890-05-14
SOMETHING WR0HG.

for quarter of century," re- marked a gray and grIzzled conner cial traveller, as he tilted back in a capacious arm chair, and puffed leis- urely away at white-ashed Perfecto. II have been brought into contact with all sorts and conditions of men, and believe by the 'hattering unction Of my soul that l am pretty good judge of human nature, fairly good reader of character, yet 1 am forced to admit that there are men so con stituted that even after l have studied and observed them for years, remain as a sealed book, so little of their true inwardness am l able to fathom. have now in mlnd such a case, and if you care to listen l will tell you of man who, take him all in all. was the most enigmatieal individual, so to speak, that 1 ever knew. l first met him in an Eastern city in 1874. He was introduced to me under the name of Mouter, and 1 have never had reason to believe but it was his correct name. At the time he was to all intents and pur- poses a man of elegant leisure. He lived in luxurious bachelor apart ments; spent money freely, and en- tertained lavishly. He was hand- some, fascinating fellow, graceful and easy in his manner, was pos sessed of peculiarly winning quali ties, and many accomplishments, and I never knew him to indulge in bois- terous or offensive conduct.
 "Where he came from or where he got his money no one seemed to know and few seemed to care. It was occasionally whispered around that he was a skilled gambler who had struck it rich, but in all my ac- quaintance with him 1 never once saw him play cards for money. He played the piano like true artist, and sang beautifully.
 His literary taste was of high order, and he read nothing but the best of books. l must confess that I used to enjoy his company exceed ingly, and many an hour have 1 sat and listened to him discourse on vari- ous interesting topics. Nothing ever seemed to disturb or annoy him; he retained perfect cquanimity on all occasions, in fact his existence seemed to be in conformity to the rules of serene philosophy that nothing could ruflle or discompose. He was not a member of any relig- ious denomination, but attended church regularly, and gave liberally of his store to the poor and needy. Don't understand that he was in any sense goody-goody or namby-pam- by young man, far from it, He was intensely virile in his makeup, and enjoyed himself in manly, sensible way. In short, he was that sort of a character that carries everything be- fore it, and I, for one, believed in and admired him to such an extent that he gained my cntlre confidence and absolute faith.
 We were very intimate for two years and half and never in all that time had l occasion to change my be- lief that of all the good, warm-heart- ed, upright fellows in the world liar " Mouter was the prince. Early in the year 1877 he told me one day that circumstances compelled him to go to California to remain, how long he couldn't say, perhaps never to re- turn. He assured me that the change was not of his own seeking, and he expressed great regret at being obliged to go thousands of miles from host of dear friends, and among that number he was kind enough to place me first, 1 was Ioath to see him leave our midst, and told him frankly that l never ex- pected to see his like again. Neither have l.
 1.-Two weeks later he had disposed of such of his personal effects as he didn't care to take with him, q fare well supper was rendered him by a few of his most intimate friends, good-byes were said, and the charm | ing and gallant Harry Mouter ceased to be anything more in our circle than pleasant memory,
 1.-TWO weeks after his arrival in San Francisco l received a long newsy letter from him, in which he sail that. although somewhat home