San Antonio daily light. [volume] (San Antonio, Tex.) 1886-1907, 1891-06-10

publIcanlSm, yet In the end she Will turn
again to the man whose name is asso-
ciated with her greatest glory. Mean
while | shall retire to a country which
has before beer hospitable to me, and
whom France herself assisted in her hour
of need. | shall go to the United States
of America"
"Ah! America! That is long way
off," murmured the soldier.
America and France will hereafter
share the dominion of the world" re-
sumed the emperor. CAS- for England,
do not trust her 1t is not to her interest
that should prevail; nor can st. Helena
ever be forgotten. And before go-if,
indeed, destiny decides that must go-I
shall prepare the way by sending to the
United States in advance treasure suffi-
cient to meet whatever needs may arise.
And it is this treasure, mon ami, which
| wish you to take charge of and forth
with convey to its destination"
Solange lifted his heavy eyebrows
"Well, truly, that is not so much of
an undertaking, my emperor" said he,
though, to be sure, gold weighs good
deal. Are there many boxes of it?'
"Only captain, and that does not
contain goa" replied Napoleon, with
smile. Moreover, it is not 50 large but
that you may lift it with one hand. See
there it stands in the corner"
That! Why, sire, it is but band box"
exclaimed Solange, following the direc-
ton of Napoleon's finger. "Surely, nei-
Their courage nor address is required to
carry such thing to its destination.
Cannot the mails take it,"
Bring it out and place it ON this table,"
said the emperor, still smiling. Solange
obeyed. The box was of size to be easily
carried in the arms. 1t was of oak, with
a plain exterior; but it was strongly put
together, the framework of steel, painted
to resemble wood. Napoleon put key
in the lock and opened it.
Solange peeped in and saw some folds
of wooden cloth. The emperor lifted
them up.
Perhaps no spectacle more remarkable
was ever offered to the eyes of man. The
box was full of Jewels. Precious stones
of inestimable value lay packed together,
like so many walnuts in bunch. There
were single gems worth a years pay of a
division of an army. They were all
separated from their settings and bore
no distinguishing mark except their I'M
common size. Heaped closely together
in this manner, the splendor and brill
lance of their hues was in great measure
disguised, and they might have been
mistaken for tinted crystals or even bits
of glass. Indeed, it was difficult for the
mind to conceive of such concentration
of wealth. A single handful of the con-
tents of this box would be enough to
make a man rich for life. There was
not one that was not of royal magnif-
cence. Where had they all come from?
That is question that doubtless never
can be answered. Napoleon the First,
in his campaign, had an eye to the pc
cuniary future of his dynasty, and he
must have helped himself with a free
hand whenever opportunity offered.
Could those stones have spoken, they
might have told tales that would make
the enchanted valley of Sinbad and Alad
din's palace seem tame. There were .
few superb rings in the collection, but
otherwise, as has been stated, all were
naked
Solange was far enough from compre-
hending the significance of the sight
Are these all, sireT' he asked, lifting
his eyes to the emperors face.
They could be exchanged for good
deal of money! returned Napoleon quiet
~. Have you any idea how much?"
I'm truth, l don't know much about
such things. l never owned jewels in
my life. But now, then, | remember. A
as the least of these, which he said cost
i thousand francs. OF course, did not
believe such a story, but were it only
half true can understand that all these
would be very valuable. Many thousand
francs, perhaps; fifteen or twenty thou
sand?"
"A philosopher, possibly-if he were
really philosopher-might value them
at less than that sum-" said Napoleon,
who had been watching the soldiers face
ixeenly, without seeming to do so. "But
our artificial modes of life tend to give
them an artificial worth. Besides, they
have the interest of history and associa-
items. Most of them belonged to my
famous uncle, and were obtained by him
during his campaigns. Others came in
other ways. Blood has been split for
them; romances are connected with
them. At the present time, however,
there are but one or two persons, in ad-
dition to ourselves, who are aware that
this collection exists. The secret could
not be safely divulged, for men have