The Salt Lake tribune. [volume] (Salt Lake City, Utah) 1890-current, 1913-11-02


discovered that the Faubourg Saint
German mansion had been sold, before
the revolution to an Englishman, to-
gether with all the country seats and
all the Jewels. securities and collections
belonging to the farmer general. The
convention instituted minute inquiries,
as did the directory afterward. But
the inquiries led to no result.
"There remained, at any rate, the
Passy house, said Lupin.
''The house at Passy was bought, for
mere song, by delegate of the com.
mune, the very man who had arrested
d 'Ernemout, one Citizen Broquet. Citi-
zen Broqnet shut himself up in the
house, barricaded the doors, fortified
the walls and, when Charles 'Erne-
mont was at last set free and appeared
outside, received him by firing a mus
ket at him. Charles instituted one
and then proceeded to offer large sums
OF money. But Citizen Broquet proved
ntractable. He had bought the house
and he stuck to the house; and he
would have stuck to it until his death,
| if Charles had not obtained the sup
port of Bonaparte, Citizen Broquet
cleared out on the 18th of February,
| 1903; but Charles 'Ernemont s JOY was
| so great and his brain. no doubt, had
| he had gone through, that, on reaching
| the threshold of the house Of which he
| had at last recovered the ownership,
even before opening the door he began
| to dance and sing in the street. He had
gone clean off his hend"
"By Jove!'' said Lupin. "And what
became Of him7''
Ellis mother and his sister Pauline,
who had ended by marrying cousin
Of the same name at Geneva, were both
dead. The old servant woman took care
of him and they lived together in the
Passy house. Years passed without any
notable event; but, suddenly, in 1912,
an unexpected incident happened. The
old servant made series of strange
revelations on her death bed, in the
presence of two witnesses whom she
sent for. She declared that the farmer
general had carried to his house at
Passy a number of bags filled with
gold and silver and that those bags had
disappeared few days before the ar
rest. According to earlier condolences
made by Charles d 'Ernemont, who had
them from his father, the treasures
were hidden in the garden, between the
rotunda, the sun-dial and the we'll. In
proof of her statement. she produced
three pictures, or rather, for they were
not yet framed, three canvases, which
the farmer-general had painted during
his captivity and which he had succeed
ed in conveying to her, with instruc-
tions to hand them to his wife, his son
and his daughter Tempted by the lure
Of wealth, Charles and the old servant
had kept silence. Then came the law
suits, the recovery Of tho house,
Charles's madness, the servants own
useless searches; and the treasures
were still there ~
And they are there now" chuclsled
Lupin.
q And they will be there always" ex-
claimed Maitre Valandier "Unless
unless Citizen Broquet, who
no doubt smelled q rat, succeeded in
ferreting them out. But this is an un-
likely, supposition, for Citizen Bro
questts etsd died fSeI in extreme poverty
$50 then everybody began to hunt.
The children of Pauline, the sister.
hastened from Geneva. 1t was discov-
cred that Charles had been secretly
married and that he had sons. All
these heirs set to work -
"But Charles himself7"
"Charles lived in the most absolute
retirement. BE did not leave his
ROOM"
"Never9"
wen, UudI Is Inc mOSD eklTaOT01-
nary, the most astounding part of the
story, Once a year, Charles 'Erne-
mont, impelled by a sort of subcon-
scious will-power, came downstairs,
took the exact road which his father
had taken, walked across the garden
and sat down either on the steps Of the
rotunda, which you see here IN the pic
ture, or on the curb Of the well. At
twenty-seven minutes past five, he
rose and went indoors again; and un-
til his death, which occurred in 1920,
he never once failed to perform this
incomprehensible pilgrimage Well,
the day on which this happened was
invariably the 18th of April, the ami
versary Of the arrest
Maitre Valandier was no longer smil
ing and himself seemed impressed by
the amazing story which he was telling
US.
"And since Charles's death7"
asked Lupin, after moments reflec-
tion.
"Since that time," replied the law
yer, with a certain solemnity of man
ner, "for nearly a hundred years, the
heirs of Charles and Pauline 'Erne-
mont have kept up the pilgrimage of
the 18th Of April: During the first
few years they made the most thorough
den was searched, every clod Of ground
dug up. All this Is now over. They
take hardly any pains. All they do Is,
from time to time. for no particular
reason, TO turn over stone or explore
the we'll. For the most part, they are
content to sit down on tho steps Of the
rotunda, like the poor madman; and,
like him, they wait. And that, you
see, is the sad part of their destiny.
In those hundred years, all these peo-
pie who have succeeded one another,
from father TO son, have lost-what
shall I sayF-the energy Of life. They
have no courage left, no initiative.
They wait, They wait for the 18th of |
April; and, when the 18th of April |
comes, they wait for miracle to take |
place. Poverty has ended by overtak~
ing every one Of them. Ny predeces |
sors and have sold first the house, in |
order to build another which yields a |
better rent, followed by bits of the !
garden and further bits. But, as to that |
corner over there pointing to the |
picture, "they would rather die than
sell 1t. On this they are all agreed;
Louise d d'Ernemont, who is the direct
heiress OF Pauline, AS well as tho beg
4. IL =