Mexico weekly ledger., 1891-09-03

tory, Captain Solange, has been lost
through not having sufficiently antici-
pated the possibilities and occasion Of
defeat"
"Well, I am but q soldier" said So
lange, my business is to obey orders.
After all, you are the emperor"
Napoleon sighed. Yes, it is a Singh
lar thing, this being an emperor" he
muttered, half to himself. ''In order to
maintain your place at the summit of
the pyramid you must suffer the pyra-
mid itself to be undermined. Let US re-
turn to business, my brave Solange," he
went on III another tone. las for the
war, l mast have faith in my star, as
did my uncle before me. Ii, like him, |
am destined to fall at last-well, all
things come to an endi At least Ger
many shall know that she has an enemy!"
"The good God preserve you and
France, my emperor" said the other de-
youtly.
"And now to business" repeated Ma
poleon. "If France receives {. check it
may he desirable that I retire for a sea-
son. But it is not my purpose to wear
out my life chained to a lonely rock in
the ocean, as the greatest of men was
forced to do. Imean to go to a place
whence | can again return-either | Or
my descendants with treasure and
power to r~e-establish my fortunes. For
France, if she is to fall, viii not long re-
main PROSTATE; and though, perhaps, she
may for q time turn to anarchy CT re-
pHblicanism, yet III 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 been hospitable to me, and
whom France herself assistedin her hour
of need. shall go to the United States
of America"
"Ah! Americai That is a long way
off" murmured the soldier.
america and France will hereafter
share the dominion Of the world re-
summed the emperor. CASTOR England, ]
do not trust her. Itisnot to her interest
that | should prevail; 0 can st. Helena
ever be forgotten. And before I go-if,
indeed, destiny decides that 1 must go-I
shall prepare the way by sending to the
United States in advance treasure stuff
cient to meet whatever needs may arise.
And it is this treasure, mon ami, which
/ wish you to take charge Of aud 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 a good
deal. Are there many boxes Of it?'
"Only one, captain, and that does not
contain gold" replied Napoleon, with a
smile. Moreover, it is not so large but
that you may lift it with hand. See
there it stands in the corner"
That! Why, sire, it's but a band boxl'
exclaimed Solange, following the direc-
ton of Napoleon's finger. "Surely, nei-
Their courage nor address is required to
carry such u 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 q size to be easily
carried in the arms. It was Of oak, with
a plain exterior; but it was strongly put
together, the framework Of steel, painted
b resemble wood. Napoleon put a key
In the lock ana opened IL.
Solange peeped in and saw some folds
of wooden cloth. The emperor lifted
them up.
Perhaps no spectacle more remarkable
vas 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 q 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 II II
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 a 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 maguif-
cence. Where had they all come from?
That is a 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 q
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, sireg' he asked, lifting
his eyes to the emperor's face.
"They could be exchanged for a good
deal of money! returned Napoleon quiet
ly. ''Have you any idea how muchg"
SIN truth, | don't know much about
such things. l never owned Jewels in
my life. But now, then, / remember. A
friend of mine once had one, not so large
as the least of these, which he said cost
a thousand francs. OF course, l did not
believe such q story, bat 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 ne were
really a philosopher-might value them
at less than that sum- said Napoleon,
who had been watching the soldiers face
keenly, without seeming to do so. sg3at
our artificial modes of life tend to give
them an artificial worth. Besides, they
have the interest of history and associa-
tons Most Of them belonged to my
famous uncle, and were obtained by him
during his campaigns Others carne in
other ways. Blood has been split for
them; q are connected with
them at the present time, however,
there are but one Or two persons. In adj
dition to ourselves, who ara aware that
this collection exists. The secret could
not be safely divulged, for men have
| risked and lost both their lives and their
souls for less than d tho1sandth part the
money that these stones would bring
Soiange opened his eyes. .of course,
then, my guess was too aaaIl-much too
small heremarked. Fifty thousand
francs, them" The emparoris face re-
manned inscrutable. Solange took . long
breath. Some, let Us say q hundred
thousandg' he exclaimed, reckiessiy.
"That seems 10 be an immense sum, "
said Napoleon.