The Manitowoc pilot. [volume] (Manitowoc, Wis.) 1859-1932, 1896-10-29
MIR. JANSEN'S DISAPPEARANCE

] Inn "'Ai'A "tlo llllAh II liitc Il F'Afta' vi
| most unusual emotion, Hans Peter
| Jansen, lawyer and banker, one of the
| most important and respected men N
the town, mad disappeared, leaving
his affairs in the condition in which a
defaulting banker or cashier generally
| leaves them when he makes tracks for
the nearest seaport. For nearly 40
years be had managed most Of the
fortunes in Finkweiler, where. to tell
the truth, millionaires are not qui,e
so plentiful as blackberries in a
hedge; and the idea that he could one
| day act rs so many common cashiers
| do, and abuse the unlimited conf
dence placed in him, had never enter
ed any mans head-it would hardly
| have been safe to utter a hint of such
possibility in the hearing of an in
habitant of Finkweiler.
1t is true that Jansen was an origi
| nal, and rare one-such a one as
can only be produced in the quiet,
calm mOnOtOny of a little country
town, where prosperity and an abun-
dance of leisure are favorable to the
growth of the tiny germs Of original
| ty which exist in every man. The
microbes of the fin de steele fever are
rapidly changing that: originals are
becoming rare.
Hans Peter Jansen lived in an old
fashioned house in the High street.
| 1t was a three stOried house, with two
windows to each story, and was
squeezed In between its neighbors
like an infolio in a library. On the
! ground floor was his office, which. as
it had a deep alcove, served as his
bedroom also. Our lawyer was a
bachelor, and as general pitches his
tent III the midst of his army, so he
never left his strong box. The one
room on the first floor was his dining
and drawing room; an old servant
with a numerous family Of eats occu
pied the rest of the premises. The
Office was low and dark, and the furni-
ture. covered with black leather, was
as shabby as the proprietor A large
curtain of greenish stuff shut off the
alcOye. The iron safe was built into
the wall like a diamond in its setting.
1t contained only the amount neces
sary for the transaction of the daily
business and papers in use; another
enormous safe was hidden behind the
bed, to get at that it would have been
necessary first to kill the lawyer. and
lawyers die hard
In this little office Mr. Jansen pass
ed his life making calculations and
| drawing up deeds He did all his
work alone, without clerk, because
he would not have anybody poke his
nose" into his business. From s in
the morning till noon, from till 5, he
sat in his big leather chair As he
never accepted any business which
would require him to leave the town,
and never would consent to fill any
public Office. he could devote all his
time to his books and no man could
recall an instance Of his being absent
from his post, even for day. There
was not better or shrewder man of
business in the country. His credit
was unlimited; his word would have
been good for million, and no man
had ever had cause to regret placing
his money in Jansen's hands to be
invested.
1t IS easy, therefore, to understand
the emotion which was caused IN
FInkweiler by the sudden disappear
ance of the lawyer, His name was
on everybody's lips, fear in every
heart, CONSERVATION upon every coun-
tenance. AT first nobody would be
lieve it. 1T is an April fools Joke,
out of season" said one; ''Impossible" :"
said another; Il would not Eelieve it.,
even if | had seen it with my own
eyes" .'Perhaps," ventured third,
''he has only pretended to go away,
to see what people would say, he is so
queer"
But doubt was not possible. A
member of the ldlers' club, who was
always well informed about every
thing, had related the news in loud,
clear voice, amid exclamations of sur
prise, incredulity and stupefaction.
1t Is not true; there must be some
mistaken
You must be out of your mind"
Il should rather believe that the
river had begun to run uphill
1t is true | tell you: he has burned
his books: he was seen doing it before
his departure; naturally one had no
idea what it meant"
Burned his books The affair is
getting very serious"
1T is dreadful, Has information
be9n gwen to the pOlice?"
"Who would ever have believed itr'
But some doubted still: one could
not resolve to believe the evidence.
Why should he have gone away
Jansen abscond ike an ordinary bank
rupt? Absurd. And what could he
have done with so much money? In
spite of his oddities, he was serious.
regular living man, as incapable of
gambling, as of signing his name to a
paper he had not read He had such
a horror of being surety that he would
not have signed a security for 10
francs IN favor of Rothschild Bros.
Another person entered. 1T is only
TOO true" he cried; she went away
last night by the Paris express"
| More than one cigar went ont un-
needed; men looked at each other in
silence; each one was trying to imag-
Inc TO himself Jansen's leather chair
empty. and the ashes cf paper smold
erlng IN the CRATE. One old gentle
man suddenly felt very unwell, and
asked for brandy. Two or three more
who had also large sums in Jansen's
hands feigned indifference, with more
or less success, tormented between the
desire to get home as quickly as posi-
bic, and the desire to know all that
was to be known, without betrayine
/ their anxiety.
Alas, there VIII soon be 10 honesty
left IN the world. 1t always ends so.
Far from ones money, near ones
rum. Let every man manage his
own business Man is born sinful.