Barton County democrat. [volume] (Great Bend, Kan.) 1885-1915, 1912-03-15

naSte ID opening the case. the eager
ness Of the search last night-all these
to Fitzgerald'S mind. pointed 10 ont
thing-Breitmann knew.
Il shall watch him."
Laura read the documents to herself
first. Here and there was a word
which confused her. but she gathered
the full sense Of the remarkable story.
Her eyes shone like winter stars
Father" she cried. dropping the
papers and spreading out her arms
Father, it's the greatest thing In the
world. A treasurer
What's that. Laura!" straining his
ears.
a treasure, hidden by the soldiers
Of Napoleon. put together franc by
franc in the hope of some day rescu.
ing the emperor from st. Helena. Il
is romance. 4 real treasure Of lwu
millions of francs" clapping her
hands.
"WhereT II was Brpitmann who
spoke. His voice was not clear.
Corsica"
Corsica" The admiral laughed like
child. Right under his very nose all
these years and be cruising all over
the chart! Laura. dear. there's no
reason In the world why we shouldn't
take the yacht aud go and dig up this
pretty sum"
"NO reason In the world" But the
secretary did not pronounce these
words aloud
Il telegram for you. sir" said the
butler. handing the yellow envelope to
Fitzgerald.
"WiII you pardon me?" he said.
drawing Off to a window.
go ahead" said The admiral. finger
ing the medal Of the Legion of Honor
Fitzgerald read:
Have made inquiries Your man
never applied to any Of the metro
politan dailies. Few ever heard OF
him"
he damned the message into a peck
ct and returned to the group about the
case. Where should he begin? Brett
mann had lied.
The story itself was brief enough. buI
there was plenty Of husk to the grain
The old expatriate was querulouS.
long winded. not niggard with his ink
when he cursed the English and damn
ed the Russians. and be obtained
much qualification in jabbing his quill
hodkin into what he termed the Sniv.
cling nobility of the old regime. Dog
of dogs Was he not himself noble:
Had not his parents and his brothers
gone to the guillotine with the rest
Of them? Put he. thank God. had no
wooden mird He could look progress
and change in the face and follow their
bent. And now all the crimes and her
OiSms of the revolution. all the glO.
riouS pageantry of the empire. had
come TO nothing. 4 Bourbon. thick
skulled. sOrdid. worn out. again sat
upon the throne. while the great man
languiShed on a rock in the Atlantic.
Fools that they had been not to have
hidden the little king of Rome as
against this very dog. 1t was pitiful
He never saw shower in June that
he did not hail curses upon it. 70
have lost Waterloo for a bucketful OF
water! Thousand thunders. Could he
ever forget that terrible race back to
Paris? Could he ever forget the shame
of it? GrOuChy for a fool and Rurlpr
for laundering ass. Well. they would
soon tumble the Bourbons into oblivion
again.
y rambling deSultory tale. Just
little corporal from Corsica: think of
II! And so on, all keyed with ire
mendouS interest to the listeners and
to Laura herself. 1t was the golden
age of opportunity. of reward. of sud.
den generals and princes and dukes
All gone, nothing left but few battle
flags. England no longer shaking in
her boots. and the rest of them divid
ing the spOilS. No: there were some
left, and in their hands lay the spen-
did enterprise.
Quietly they had pieced together this
sum and that. till there was now stored
away 2000.000 francs. Two or three
frigates and a corvette or two: then
the work would 90 forward. Only a
little while to wait. and then they
would bring their beloved chief back
to France and to his own again. Had
he not written Come for me. mon
brave. They say they have orders to
shoot me. Come. better carry my
corpse away than that should rot
here for years to come" They would
come. But this year went by and an-
other. One by one the old guard died
off. smaller and smaller had drawn the
circle. The vile rock called Helena
still remained impregnable.
On a certain day they came to tell
him that the emperor was no more
Soon he was all alone but one. These
brave soldiers who had planned with
him were no more. An alien. an out.
cast, he too lOnged for night. And
what should he do with 1t. this vast
treasure. every franc of which meant
sacrifice and unselfshness. bravery
and loyalty? Let the gold rot. DE
would bury all knowledge Of II In yOn-
Aas ohfr,na, oaoad,ae ,kae no onn