Corvallis gazette. [volume] (Corvallis, Benton County, Or.) 1900-1909, 1902-04-22
CHAPTER II-Continued.

CHAPTER II-Continued.
l went in the morning and discovered
how the strange tints of the water were
produced. The pond was fed by run
let, which flowed at the bottom of the
bank on one side of the lane called by
the name of Lacroix. This lane, | had
already learned, had been in other days
the private carriage drive of the first
Lacroix (before Steinhardt had been
heard of from his fine mansion to his
dye works and his model farm. The
mansion, with it's noble rookery, had
long ago become the prey of the omniv-
orous speculative builder; the model
farm had disappeared, all but the farm
house which, squeezed into a sordid
corner of the spreading village, was now
let out in tenements; Steinhardt now
reigned in the Lacriox dye works and,
habit of "tipping' his aniline refuse
down among the tree roots of the cher
ished avenue, narrowing more and
more the already CONSTRUCTED channel of
the little stream, and poisoning and
discoloring the once clear flow of water
in the whole neighborhood. This it
was which washed color into the pond
and gave it its varying tints.
/ stood thus in some doubt and great
indignation-doubt whether Miss La
croix's drea m might not after all be
capable of as simple an explanation as
/ had found for the tints of the pond,
and indignation at what saw around
me. l had never before ventured into
Lacroix lane; l now passed under its
wretched dying trees, along the brink
of its cinder mud, ploughed foot deep
into ruts by numbering coal carts and
wagons, and fancied it metamorphosed
back into the private, shady, well-kept
avenue of the first Lacroix. l had
walked almost the whole length of the
lane when 1 met Mr.. Birley, Mrs.
Steinhardt's brother "Jim."
'Ah, there you are" he called cheer
lily, when he espied me, 81 was just
coming to look you up and take you
round a bit; there's not much biz do
ing, and so I've taken holiday"
After greeting gave vent to the in
dignation of which 1 was full. We re-
turned along the lane.
"Well," said he, laying his hand on
my shoulder, "it's not nice of course"
standing and surveying the lane.
"But it's not for you or me to mend it;
though I'm joint guardian with Man
uel of Pauls girl' Che meant Miss La
croix), "l've nothing to do with the
property, and Manuel, you see, can't
bear to spend the brass, and doesn't
care a-well, button-for Paul's fam
lily history. Poor Paul! he was a good
chap. 1 suppose the name Lacroix is
done for, and it has been what you
learned fellows would call historical"
1 asked what he meant. He stopped
and pointed up the lane, away from
Timperley.
"You mightn't believe it," said he,
"but if you follow this lane right out to
the end you'll get to the Bastille."
(The dear old gentleman called it
"Bastile.~
looked at him: failed to compre-
hend.
"You don't mean," I said, "the
famous French Bastille?-the fortress
prison of Paris?"
''That's it," said he. "You've read,
1 suppose, in your history books of the
taking of the Bastille, and the man
that was governor at that time, De
Lacroix - that's the family. The poor
old fellow was killed in the streets, /
believe"
Thus he went on, with much fullness
of irrelevant detail. l gathered these
fcats of consequence which l here set
ha of ho
grafton of French nobility to this coun-
try, member of the De Iacroix family
found his way to Lancashire with one
or two dependents, a packet of jewels,
and some scientific learning, and with
out his aristOcratic prefix "de." He
prospected about little, and at length
invested the money he got for his jew
els in the Turkey red and Indigo dye
works of Timperley. He prospered.
He was one of the first to apply chem
ical science to the manufacture of dyes.
He made large fortune, and became
the great man of the neighborhood.
He had, however, a family of four sons
who gave him great trouble. They
almost ruined their father and quite
broke his heart before their several
courses OI 6NITaNaSdLCe anu uSDauCDerV
came to an end. The eldest, PauPs
father, drew up just in time, married
and settled down to the business;
another broke his neck in steeple
chase; the third died of delirium trem- F.!
ems, or worse and the fourth still ex-
listed, for he could scarcely be said to
live: he was the tongue and Inhibited |
paralytic, known as old Jaques, who in
habited the little octagonal house near
the pond, which had been the lodge of
his fathers model farm. Paul had |
wished him to make his house his |
home, but he insisted on settling down |
there.
This sad and fateful story lay heavy
on my mind and heart for the rest of
the day. In the evening took down
the first volume of Carlyle's French |
Revolution, and read with new interest !
the wonderful passages in which he de- |
scribes the taking of the Bastille by the
mob, and the part which the old officer !
of the fortress played in its hopeless
defence.
After that I sat down and wrote to a |
pair of London friends, asking them to |
make certain inquiries concerning Mr..
Lacroix.
CHAPTER III.