Watertown republican. [volume] (Watertown, Wis.) 1860-1906, 1904-10-26
A PHANTOM FORTUNE.


little village OF Belsance, in the Alpes
Maritimes, eighteen hours by rail from
the gay city and twenty minutes walk
from the beautiful blue Mediterranean.
BeEsance! Till then not one man in a
hundred thousand could recall to mind
| that pretty hamlet charmingly situated
on a rising ground dominating the pic
| turesQue shore of the lovely Riviera.
! Yet ten years before-how fast the mem
DRY fades in the hurly -burly of a hus-
Ting world lin the lifetime of the late
lord of Chateau Briancout, this now
! lonesome spot was the rendezvous OF
spOrtsmen-the center of revelry and fes-
lvities which attracted the elite of the
province, and not a few aristOcrats from
the capital.
The lord of the manor, NJ. Villebois de
Briancomt, had lived life of pleasure,
within and without his domain. to such
an extent that when he died in 1915, leav-
! ing an only son who expected to inherit
his apparently brilliant financial position,
his debts were so large that ali that re-
manned for the heir, Richard Villabois de
! Briancourt, was the chateau with a rent
roll of hundred and fifty pounds year.
Researches by character and without
any profession or initiative, Richard
Villabois-for he has dropped the seig-
niorial appellative of BriancoWt-became
Il misanthrope with only one strong af-
! fection-an inordinate attachment to the
| old family mansion. Overtures had been
made to him again and again to sell the
chateau, 10000 being the last offer,
which he had refused to entertain for
even five minutes The solitude of the
! chateau was shared by the old servant
| Jeanette, who had lived there since the
birth of her young master, NJ. Richard,
and for whom she bore an affection al
most maternal.
At the period of this narrative, NJ.
! Villebois received the unexpected visit
Of stranger, who, coming by rail from
Paris to the nearest station, and thence
| by fly to Belsance, called upon him about
II o'clock one June morning
The stranger was little dapper man,
with bald head, about so years of age.
correctly attired in town costume, which
had undoubtedly seen better days
"Andre Latour?" queried NJ. Villabois,
as he scanned the card brought to him
| by Jeanette. 4 don't recognize that
name; but let him come In"
NJ. Iatour was q business man, every
inch of him, and with scant preamble he
| explained the object of his visit
! Il am a financial agent, NJ de Brian
| court"
'Villebois, if you please interposed
| his interlocutor
But / am not mistaken, hope. You
are NJ. Richard Villebois de Briancomt
owner of this chateau, are you not?"
oh yes; but [ am better known as
Villebois."
Very good. A client of mine, a
wealthy man, is anxious to acquire this
demesne, and if you are disposed to sell
! 1t you have but to name any reasonable
figure, and we can finish the business
forthwith
Il have not the least intention to sell
the property replied Mr. Villebois, dryly.
"But-say the chateau alone. without
a foot of land around it; shall we say
ten thousand pounds?'' asked Mr.. La
tour.
Il have refused that sum already"
I'm a busy man, NJ. Villebois, and
things are going to the dogs in Paris
whilst Pm away. Let me help you out
of your doubts. A hundred thousand
pounds, cash down; what do you say?"
"a hundred thousand pounds!' ex-
claimed M. Villebois. "Am [ mad or are
you? The place isn't worth it. Is this
a dream, parbleu! or am | talking to
q real MANI"
you'll think me real enough when I
count out the bank notes to you. Well,
what is it? You accept?"
Yes, I'll take hundred thousand
pounds; but where's the money!" eiac-
ulated NJ. Villebois, deliriously, as if re-
covering from q trance.
"Oh, it's not mile off, replied M.
Latour, laconically. so, as we now
agree, here are the conditions'
You have, no. doubt, heard that your
grandfather, who died during the revo-
luton, left Will and a vast fortune"
Yes, my father told me all about it."
well, III those troubled times, he was
fortunate enough to be able to realize
all his investments in and near Paris
everything he possessed, in fact, except
| this Tar off chateau-and convert the
same into hard cash. His fortune over
and above this property, exceeds a mil
lion sterling. Both the will and all trace
OF the whereabouts of the fortune were
lost until q few weeks ago. They are
III Paris now III the hands of my client.
Attached to the will is plan marking
|
tanning the fortune lies buried 1t is on
this very property, M. Villebois; but
neither you nor any man in all creation
could discover it, even though lifetime
were spent digging into the bowels of the
earth These are my terms, NJ. Villebois.
You must sign a deed making over to
me one-half of your inheritance. Out of
that half l will pay to you the hundred
thousand pounds purchase money, so
that you will receive about six and | four
hundred thousand pounds
But the fortunes my birthright!
surely q commission
you have heard my conditions, NJ,
| Villebois. If you want the whole, search
for it, especially if you want to shorten
your life by bitter disappointment Here
are the deeds ready for your signature, .
added Nj. Latour, as he drew from his
pocket two manuscripts, and placed them
on the table.
! We'll, if | must" sighed NJ. yillebois.