Watertown republican. [volume] (Watertown, Wis.) 1860-1906, 1891-01-14

Kissed 1t t0nQ6rly ana replaced III III GIlo
mothers arms, saying, Ills name Is
Marcel. Remember to call him
Marcel" and without another word he
left the house.
When the day came for collecting
their pay Victor and Cesarine confded
their son to neighbor and repaired to
Fecamp, taking the little Marcel with
them. They felt little anxious, but
the reception they met treasured them.
Monsieur Loisel looked at the child, in
CURED about it's health, spoke of It's
foster-brother, and then took from a
drawer the sum of 800 francs and told
Victor to sign a receipt.
From that time the Durames led a
life of ease. They hired farm laborer,
and their land yielded good harvests,
while the two Infants grew and thrlved,
growing strong and round-taced.
Cesarine watched over the little Marcel
with especial care, for he represented
the whole familv's comfort, present
and future.
The news of their good fortune soon
spread among their neighbors, and as
they declined to say what the exact
amount of the income was it was mag
nifed enormously by the imagination
of the villagers.
One day while Victor was knocking
apples from his trees he heard screams
of distress from the house. He rushed
indoors and found his beloved wife ly-
ing on the floor, held down by the side
board. which had evidently fallen upon
her. He fastened to lit the heavy
piece of furniture, and to help Cesarine
to rise, and then he saw, among the
fragments of earthen dishes, a baby s
form, and stopping over 1t in Mortified
silence found that it was Marcel.
Blood flowed from a wound in the
head; the child was dead. The man
started back, and would have fallen if
he had not grasped at table for sup
port, and with trembling lips he MUIR
INJURED, 1.-The money, the money !"
Then, seeing Cesarine moaning in a
corner, for she was hurt, he was seized
with rage, and striking her fercely, he
exclaimed:
''See what you have done, you idi-
otw After minute he sat down be-
side her, buried his face in his hands
and was silent. For quarter of an
hour the two sat there distracted with
grief, and occasionally groan escaped
them.
"Dead, dead p they murmured, "and
all the money will STOP" and visions of
debt, privations and hunger rose before
them.
At last Cesarine looked at the little
corpse which still lay where it had
fallen, and she got up, saying that she
would call in one of the nelghbOrs. AS
she reached the door Victor started up
suddenly, and in three strides was at
her side, and, grasping her arm, he
whispered hOarsely:
clark, [ have an idea! We need
not lose the money" In a few words
he told her his plan; she disapproved at
first, but gradually yielded, and when
the farm laborer came in he found her
weeping over her own child's cradle,
while the father exclaimed III broken
voice:
"Our son, our dear little Charley !;
why did not the rickety old sideboard
fall on the other child instead of on
ours"
The next day Victor went to the may
or and reported the Sudden death of
Pierre Cesaire Charles Durame, aged 10
months.
When quarter-day came round again
the family repaired, as usual, to Fe-
camp, but when Loisel looked at the
child Cesarine pinched it until it cried !,
and the notary, deaened by the noise,
hurried them away directly the money
was paid. They took care that no one
should see the child, whom they now
called Marcel, until several months had
passed, and there was then nc fear OF the
exchange being detected. They con-
tinued to draw their money regularly,
and we're rich, happy and envied, for
Victor soon became the most Well-to do
farmer in the place.
AS soon as Marcel was old enough he
n cnhnoI ond bic copora6aS cum
posing in vague way, that he was OF a
different race from theirs, treated him
with Difference, while he soon learned
to look on them with contempt.
His so-called foster-parents, whose
vanity was pleased by the attention
their son received, pampered and in-
dulged him, and watched over his health
with far more care than they would have
thought necessary if he had not been
their chief source of revenue.
'.You are not like the other boys"
Victor would say to him, 'you need
never work for a living. Your father Is
a rich, fine gentleman"
Years went by and Loisel, the notary,
advised Marcel to go to college, and
told him that his father wished him to
"Where is his, father?" asked Du-
rame.
sit is useless to inquire. His son will
never see him." was the reply.
Marcel was sent to the Lycee at Havre,
where he was often mocked at by his
fellows on account Of his provincial
accent. Stimulated by pride he made
the most Of his limited powers of intel
lect, and being phlegmatic and deter
mined he succeeded in.gaining some
honors This aroused the ambition of
his parents, and remembering what
Monsieur Loisel had said about choos-
ing a profession, they decided to have
their son study law.
':Then we shall have lawyer already
to fight for us whenever we want to 60
to law hany one" said Victor with a
chuckle.
When Marcel had obtained his de-
gree of bachelor he returned home, and
his parents looked at him in an ecstasy
OF Joy. He was short, thick-set young
fellow, with a ruddy complexion, a
heavy expression of face and a pro-
vincial bearing. The Durames. how
ever, thought him perfect, and admired
his every word and gesture, while he