Eagle River review. [volume] (Eagle River, Wis.) 1890-1927, 1904-08-26

!. 81 wrote an anonymous ietrcr 10 M.
Fauvel."
NJ. Verduret here brought his clinched
fist down upon the little table near by,
with such violence that the thin plank
was shivered His cheerful face in an
instant clouded over.
",Vhat follyr' be exclaimed, ''how
could you go and ruin everything'
He arose from his seat, and strobe up
and down the room, obliyious of the
tenants below, whose windows shook
with every angry stamp Of his foot.
"It was night, monsieur" he hesitat-
ingly said, ''and having violent head
ache l took walk along the quay,
thinking there was no risk in my enter
ing cafe; there | picked up papeE
and read the dreadful announcement"
did you not promise to trust every
thing to me?'
"You were absent, monsieur, and you
yourself might have been surprised by
an unexpected"
only fools are ever surprised into
committing a piece of folly" cried M.
Verdlfret, impatiently. ITO write an
anonymous letter. Do you know to what
you expose me? Breaking sacred
promise made to one of the few persons
whom l highly esteem among my fellow
beings. l shall be looked upon as liar,
a cheat who"
He abruptly stopped. as if afraid to
trust himself to speak further; after
calming down a little he turned to Pros
! per and said:
''The best thing we can do is to try
and repair the harm you have done"
AS M. Verduret had anticipated, Pros
pers letter had terrible effect upon
NJ. Fauvel. 1t was a terrible blow to a
man whose life hitherto had been an I'M
broken chain of prosperity, who could
recall the past without one bitter regret,
| without remembering any sorrow deep
enough to bring forth a tear.
What! his wife deceive him! And
among all men, to choose one vile
enough to rob her Of her jewels, and
| force her to be his accomplice in the ruin
| of an innocent young man! After long
and painful meditation the banker finally
| decided to wait, and watch his wife.
| There was one simple means of ascer-
tanning whether the diamonds had been
! pawned. If the letter lied in this in
! stance he would treat it with the scorn
| it deserved. II, on the other hand, it
| should prove to be true! Hurrying into
| Madame Fauvel's room in her absence,
| lie opened the door of the chiffonier,
where she kept her jewels.
| The last dozen or more leather and
velvet boxes, containing superb sets of
| jewelry which he had presented to her,
| were gone, Twelve boxes remained. He
| nervously opened them. They were all
| empty. The anonymous letter had told
! the truth.
| Nothing but death could wipe out an
| injury Of this nature. But the very bit
| terness of his resentment enabled him to
restrain himself until the time for pun
ishment came. With grim satisfaction
| he promised himself that his acting
would be as successful as theirs.
The next day he reaped the fruit of
| his prudence. Among the letters which
| his valet brought him at noon was one
| bearing the postmark of Vesinet. He
| carefully opened the envelope and read:
Dear Aunt--It is imperatively neces-
| sary for me to see you to-day; so do
| not fail to come to Vesinet. l will ex-
plain why | give you this trouble, in
stead of calling at your house.
"RAOUL."
II have them now!" cried M. FauVel,
| trembling with satisfaction at the near
prospect of vengeance.
Eager to lose no time, he opened
drawer took out revolver and exam
| ined the hammer to see if it worked
easily.
He imagined himself alone, but a Wig
liant eye was watching his movements.
Gypsy, who had been instructed by NJ.
Verduret, stationed herself at the key
hole Of the study door, and saw all that
occurred.
NJ. Fauvel laid the pistol on the man
telpiece, and nervously resealed the let
ter, which he then took to the box where
the letters were usually left, not wishing
any on to know that Raouls letter had
passed through his hands. Ke was only
absent two minutes, but, inspiled by the
imminence Of the danger, GypsS darted
into the study and rapidly extracted the
balls from the revolver.
''Thank heavenw she murmured; "this
peril is averted, and NJ. Verduret will
now perhaps have time to prevent a muir
der. / must send Cavailon to tell him."
She hurried into the bank, and sent
the clerk with a message, telling him to
leave it with Nine. Alexander, if NJ.
Verduret had left the hotel.
Go be continuedl