The Red Cloud chief., 1900-02-02
A Search That Was Rewarded.

A few years ago | resided n portion
OF a spring and summer near 81. Cloud.
one of the picturesque. interesting en-
virons OF Paris. and had as a next door
neighbor an old dealer in tapestry.
who had retired from business with
a moderate fortune. and who had set
tied his three children comfortably In
life.
This old man was named Victor La
motto, and IL all the inhabitants OF
this world were az sterling in charac-
ter and straightforward In their al
fairs life would he more pleasant ana
peaceful than 1t is at present. Lawyers.
notaries. process servers. sherifs' Of
fcers and all that band Of men who In
vite trouble would find their occupa
tions considerably diminished n
earth would be-what | believe 1t was
intended that At should he-a happy
dwelling place. Peaceable and gentle,
Victor Lamotte exercised a good In
fiuence over his fellow men In II COM
merce, and more than n trifiing dis
ukTttIutut INV hiiSht nav DIV"
out OF a violent difference OF opinion
into a protracted lawsuit and proceed
ed s%tubborniy into a superior court.
was sent by his gentle ministrations
and kindly advice intosthe we'll Of OBJ
liyion aud covered by reconciliation.
But. In spite OF the esteem and
friendship with which he was sur
rounded, envious people were not lack
ing to say unkInd things, and some OF
them at last talked 50 boldly that many
to whom our neighbor had endeared
himself by his blameless life could not
but hear the gossip, and the pith OF
1t all was a story not at all creditable
to the retired tradesman.
They said that his fortune was the
result OF a lucky find In an old writing
desk which he had bought for N few
francs Of a dealer In secondhand fur
niture. and that n day In carefully
examining his purchase, he came
900 francs In bank notes. which had
been hidden there by an old miser who
was afraid Of thieves: that this miser
had died suddenly i~ntestate. and had
not confded to any heir where the
treasure was concealed.
This was the story which strangely
cot about, was repeated oh all sides,
and was finally accepted as gospel
truth by eve those who entertained
the fricndliest, kindliest feelings for
Mr.. Lamotte. Perhaps many who re-
lated the incident keenly regretted
they had not purchased the old writing
desk and its rich contents themselves.
Human nature incIines that way some
times.
Somehow did not quite believe this
pretty little story--I could not tell ex-
actly why-but Mr.. Lamotte gave me
the idea that he had acquired his mod
est fortune by industry, thrift and en-
ergy OF character.
One evening when we were enjoying
a bottle Of extra dry ut was the old
gentleman's birthday. the subject OF
luck, good and bad, came up in con-
~versation, and i ventured to remark
that / was not a profound believer in
luck OF any kind, but had a high opln-
ion of talent, work and Of always en-
bracing favorable opportunities when
they presented themselves.
you are quite right" ~concurred the
old tapestry merchant. IL am decidedly
Of your opinion-work and emporium
ity."
Then you do not owe n portion
Of your fortune to mere lnck?" l re-
marked inQuiringly.
Not In the least. suppose, like
everybody else, you have heard the
story of the miser's writing desk and
the fortune concealed therein?"
1t was a delicate, personal question,
but at once replied:
Eyes, many times"
We'll, it's sheer invention. Who
started 1t l have never been able to
discover. Not that 1t makes any great
difference, but 1t is perfectly wonderful
how a story will travel from lip to lip,
unchallenged and unsupported and yet
have no foundation. That is one of the
eternal mysteries of daily life"
well, dear Mr.. Lamotte," said.
draining my glass, II did not swallow