Eagle River review. [volume] (Eagle River, Wis.) 1890-1927, 1891-01-15

should think there ought to be bit of
writing on paper, a few words -"
There is no need of that ~ cried the
stranger impatiently. eff you do not
receive the money you can abandon the
child Besides | will pay the first quar-
ter in advance"
He laid fifteen gold pieces down on
the table, and the sight of the money
put an end to the doubts of Victor Du-
rame, no exclaimed unhesitatingly:
at is settled sir. We will take charge
of the child. Ccsarine will give it the
best of care. She is II good woman"
The stranger took up the infant,
kissed it tenderly and replaced it in the
mothers arms, saying, Ellis 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 confided
| 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 its health, spoke Of its
toster-brother, and then took from II
drawer the sum of 800 francs and told
| Victor to sign II receipt.
IL
| life of ease They hired farm laborer,
and their land yielded good harvests,
while the two infants grew and thrived,
growing strong and round-faced.
| Cesarine watched over the little Marcel
with especial care, for he represented
tho whole family's comfort, present
and future.
The news of their good fortune soon
spread among their neighbors, and rs
they declined to say what the exact
amount of the income was it was mag
niiied enormously by the imagination
of the villagers.
Ono 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 lift the heavy
piece of furniture and to help Cesarine
to rise, and then he saw, among the
fragments of earthen dishes, u baby's
form, and STOPPING over 1t in Mortified
silence found that it was Marcel.
! Blood flowed from n wound in the
head; the child was dead. The man
started back, and would have fallen if
port, and with trembling lips he muir
|
Then, seeing Cesarine moaning in
! corner, for she was hurt, he was seized
with rage, and striking her tiercely, he
| eXclaimed:
"See what you have done, you idi-
OF ~ After n minute he sat down be-
side her, buried his face in his hands
and was silent. For Il quarter of an
hour the two sat there distracted with
grief and occasionally u groan escaped
them.
dead, dead - they murmured, "and
all the money will stop" and visions of
debt, privations and hunger rose before
them.
At last Cosarine looked at the little
corpse which still lay whore it had
fallen, and she got up, saying that she
would call in one of the neighbors. AS
she reached the door Victor started up
suddenly, and in three strides was at
her side, and, grasping her arm, he
whispered hoarsely:
"Ilark, | have an idea We need
not lose the money" In few words
he told her his plan; she disapproved ut
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 in II broken
| voice:
"Our son, our dear little Charley;
why did not the rickety old side board
| fall on the other child instead of on
ours"
The next day Victor VENT 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, rs usual, to Fe-
camp, but when Loisel looked at the
| child Cesarine pinched it until it cried,
and the notary, deaiened by the noise,
! hurried them away directly the money
was paid. They took care that no one
should see tho child, whom they now
called Marcel, until several months had
passed, and there was then no fear Of the
! exchange being detected They con-
tinued to draw their money regularly,
and were rich, happy and envied, for
Victor soon became the most well-to-do
farmer III the place.
AS soon as Marcel was old enough he
went to school, and his comrades, sup
posing in Il vague way, that he was OF Il
different race from theirs, treated him
with Difference, while he soon learned
to look on them with contempt.
His so-called toster-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 20 to college, and
| told him that his father wished him to