The Corvallis gazette. [volume] (Corvallis, Or.) 1862-1899, 1895-10-10
IMPERIAL MILLIONS
By JULIAN HAWTHORNE
Copyright, 1901. by American Press Aasocia-
tion.l

Solange was far enough from compre-
hending the significance of the sight
"Are these all, sire?' he asked. lifting
his eyes to the emperor's face.
''They could be exchanged for good
deal of money!" returned Napoleon quiet
ly. sHave you any idea how muchP'
"In truth, I don't know much about
such things. I 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
thousand francs Of course, did not
believe such 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 tho soldiers face
keenly, 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-
tions. Most of them belonged to my
famous uncle. and were obtained by him
during mis- 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
risked and lost both their lives and their
souls for less than thousandth part the
money that these stones would bring"
Solange opened his eyes. ''Of course,
then, my guess was too small-much too
SMALL" be remarked. Fifty thousand
francs, Them. The emperor's face re-
manned inscrutable. Solange took long
breath. "Come, let US say hundred
thousand?" he exclaimed, recklessly.
''That seems to be an immense sum" ("
said Napoleon.
"Assuredly, it would seem SO to any
man. A man might labor night and day
for hundred years and not get together
so much as that"
Every true. Nevertheless, my brave
Solange, if were to pay you every day
this sum of one hundred thousand francs
and continue those payments, not for
week, or month, or year, but for
|. fourteen years, should still have paid
you barely the value in gold represented
by this little boxful of stones They are
worth, in other words, at least five hun
dred million francs"
The soldiers jaws gaped, but came to-
gether again without sound. His bluff
visage became pale. He stared stupidity
around him. He moistened his dry lips
with his tongue, but still was unable to
utter word.
sYou perceive, therefore" +" the emperor
continued, ''that, as l said, it is no light
errand that you are to undertake. It is
not too much to say that you will have
not only my fortune, but the future of
the empire in your hands,"
"Five-hundred-m millions!" gasped So
lange at last. "Great God! 1t is night
mare! Five-hundred- mill"-
"Come, come: we are wasting time"
said the emperor briefly. "You must
fix your mind, not upon the millions, but
upon the disposition you are to make of
them. You will carry the gems packed
in this box as part of your baggage, but
to protect you against custom house in
vestigations they will be prepared in
manner that will be afterward explained
to you. You will proceed from here to
New York, whittier letter has already
been sent, informing the consignee there
of the probable date of your arrival and
of other necessary particulars. The
name of this consignee is Harry Trent;
he is diamond merchant in New York,
nd o11x, 70,
is instructed to retain them in his keep
ing until further notice-until the issue
of the coming war is decided. If we are
victorious the gems will be returned here,
if otherwise I shall follow them there.
Do you understand me?"
81 do, sire," replied the soldier, who
had by this time recovered his self pos
session, and there was new air of pride
in his demeanor, showing that he had
begun to appreciate the distinction that
had been conferred upon him.
1.-The route you will take," continued
the other, 'swin not be the usual one
across the Atlantic. War might break
out before you arrive and your vessel
might be captured by the enemy's cruis-
ers. You will therefore cross France to
the Mediterranean and proceed thence
by way of Egypt to the Red sea, and SO
by way of Australia to the Isthmus of
Panama. At Aspinwall, on the northern
side of the isthmus, you will take a
steamer to New Orleans, whence you
will travel by railway to New York
You will, of course, receive a memo
randum of this itinerary and of all the
other details of your journey. Do you
wish to say anything?'
"Only one thing, sire. It is possible
that death may overtake me on the
route. In tllat case''-
'In that case you will have done your
best, and l shall regret the loss of
faithful servant even more than of the
millions. No scheme that mortal man
can devise is free from the liability to
error or miscarriage. Disaster may over
take this. as well as others; but I shall
have the satisfaction of knowing that /
adopted the surest means of success with
in my reach. However, we will antici-
pate your safe arrival. Meanwhile, go
and prepare yourself for the journey,
and come to me tomorrow morning.
shall probably order you to set out by
the noon train to MarseiAes."
"Sire, you shall be satisfied with me-
said Solange, retiring.
II fully believe it," returned the en-
peror graciously. "Raoul," he said to