The Opelousas courier., 1893-12-02

statement which heads Of families,
whether new or old, were always ready
70 verify ftom the depths Of personal
experience. ,oa
The truth was, that Bruno had
started in life with a firm detelmlnas
ton to marry rich or not at all ana
he was keeping himself faithful to that
nnrpose, It cost him terribly, ne
sometimes told himself, for he vas
really a susceptible fellow and his
heart cot a new scar aboutonce ayear;
Init he wasn't going to win q girl
merely to have her taken from MN Dy
. matter-of-fact father, who didn't
want his money spent by his daugh-
ter's husband. He was IN tbs market
# any rich man wanted him for q son'
| in-law there was a proper way for the
rich man to bring the affair about
provided the daughter was pleasing
indeed. Bruno was obliged to elude
one brilliant opportunity to marry
money, both father and daughter be
ing willing and anxious; but the lady
was q kittenish creature past forty,
while Bruno himself was little beyond
thirty.
But the god Of love and the goddess
Of plenty kept their eye upon him.
and there came 8 time when they
seemed to Join forces. Miss Adah
Moorhart, a handsome damsel from the
far West, had set her heart on beeom-
ing Mrs. Bruno, and, as she had been
accustomed to having her W way
about everything else, she did not IN
tend to be thwarted in her one great
est desire. She had an able ally IN, her
mother, who held the family purse
strings and wanted just such a man as
Bruno in the family, her own husband
having amounted to nothing since he
inherited his fathers money. BENG
o prudent woman she had Intercepted
her bankers, Messrs. Holden Il Trust,
very closely about Brune's business
and financial standing; but those gen
tlemen declined to say more than that
Bruno banked with them his account,
though not very large, was ' over
drawn; he had a few thousand dollars
worth of securities in their safes his
business was a commission business,
which, in New York, was a term which
covered almost anything; but they
CHANGED to know that Brunes W
branch of it was Of a confidential na-
ture, and that all the checks he depos'
tied with them were drawn by houses
Of good business standing. Behind nj
this there seemed some mystery which
Mrs. Moorhart was determined tc
solve; but the bankers pleaded bus
mess confidence as their excuse for not
going into particulars, unless author
lied to do SO by their customer.
From that day Brune's fortune was
made, as he half suspected when hli
bankers told him Of Mrs. Moorhart'i
visit, for a woman of strong will anc
abundant leisure will expend a lot O.
both for the bliss Of fathoming a mys'
terry. Certainly there could not be
anything wrong about Bruno, or some
one would know Of it; no one who
knew him said anything but good Q:
him; besides, had he not always beer
known as everybody's good friend:
U Mrs. Moorhart tried to make her home
even more agreeable to him than j
had been, while the daughter let he:
!, glorious eyes rest upon him from tins
, to time in a manner which no nal
With eyes Of his own could fail to IN
dergtand.
, atMr. Bruno" said Mrs. Moorhar
, one evening, after her daughter ha'
, entertained Bruno greatly by telline
Of dashing horseback rides through
: the wild country-a sport she longet
to enjoy again, she said, ,ye
9 dared not hope for until she could g
| back again to look over the tamil,
I property-"Mr. Bruno, that property
troubles the dead girl more than q lit
, tie, and I would Like to consult yo'
. about it. II you'll allow me. Your
everybody's friend, you know"
t al am entirely at your service, M
!, dear madam"
/ 81 heartily wish you were," replied
e i, the lady with a sigh. Much Of tn
Western property which my HUSBAND
a inherited belongs to Adah--she is no
:. here, is she?--no, I thought not
When she came Of age, ] insisted tina
e my husband should divide the estate
n as well as the personal property, am
% give her q share, she being our onl,
d child; I wanted her to learn the valu
j. Of money, and how to take care OF II
instead Of growing up q silly, fashion
le able girl, only to squander To
property of her husband should sh
ever marry. OF course she wlll1nher1
= eli that remains, in the course {
time. She managed it with capits
10 ability while We lived West, where sh
rs was practically on the ground, BIT
q since we have been East it has NJ
re- yielded as large anincome as it should
It is very hard to secure good agen'
there; all men Of ability are restlet
re until they get into business for then
ar selves. I would like our portion
the estate properly looked after, to-
and we are SO DESTROYS of feeling
IN ease about it that we would pe glad
Us give a competent person a third Of Il
entire income for his services. l su.
pose it would be presumptuous
hope that you could afford to give !
y your business here for something tn
would bring you not more than twent
% five thousand a year--a sum which
J. would gladly guarantee you; but
60 you could entertain the idea, I assn
n you that you could easily spenda lar
part Of your time in the East"
sMy dear Mrs. M~oorhart," 81
ne Bruno, trying to keep his heart out,
IO = ~ GLLan~1