St. Johnsbury Caledonian. [volume] (St. Johnsbury, Vt.) 1867-1919, 1915-03-03
The
Claimant
By EUNICE BLAKE


having a little son, Francois NJ Mari
vaud had extensive vineyards, from
the product of which he manufactured
wine. Soubise had charge of the grape
growing, and Marivaud not only val
ued his services highly, but was very
fond. of him. SOubise's wife died, and
he soon followed her, leaving little
Francois without home.
NJ. Marivaud had son. Victor. about
Francois age. When the latter was
| left an orphan he was taken to the
chateau and became a playmate of
Victor There was a brother of Vic
tor. Louis. much younger than either
of these two boys.
When Victor was eighteen he enter
ed the military school and became an
army officer. Upon graduating he was
ordered to join his regiment in Ton
kin. Francois was anxious to see serv-
ice and. enlisting in the same regi-
ment, went out with Victor, who
agreed to interest himself in his pro
motion that he might become an Off
| Ger.
A year later after fight Lieutenant
Marivaud was reported missing. This
meant that he had fallen into the
hands of the Chinese, in which case it
was quite likely that he had been MUIR
dered. When nothing was heard from
him for several years he was given up
by his family, and when his brother,
Louis, came of age he inherited the
family patrimOny, his father having
died without a will. NJ. Marivaud had
purposely omitted to make one because
he never ceased to hope that his son
would one day turn out to be among
the living.
Ten years after the departure of Vic
tor Marivaud. when there was no mem
Der of the family living, Louis, who
had for some time possessed and man
aged the wine business. became engag-
ed to Hortense Villaret. the daughter
of a neighbor. Mile. Villaret belonged
to an aristocratic family, but the es-
tate had been confiscdyed during one
of the many changes in the sovereign
ty of France. and she was very poor.
She and Louis We're much in love with
each other. and her father favored the
match because Louis was wealthy and
could enable HOrtense to return to the
style of living to which the family had
formerly been accustomed.
All went happily for the lovers till Il
few weeks before the day set for the
wedding. Then one day a man appear
ed at the chateau claiming to be Vic
tor Marivaud. Louis was but twelve
years old when his brother left home.
and. granting that this man was Vic
tor, he would not have remembered
him. There was no other person at
hand who had been familiar with Vic
tor to identify him.
But the claimant was able to tell of
many incidents that had happened on
the estate. which went far to prove
that he was what he claimed to be. He
explained his long absence in this wise:
During the fight in which he was re-
ported missing he was knocked on the
head by the butt of a musket in the
hands of a Chinaman and stunned.
When he came to himself he remem-
bered nothing of the past, not even his
name. The dead were lying about him;
the wounded had been removed. He
arose and walked till he came to a
city, where he eventually entered the
service of a French merchant. After
passing through various vicissitudes he
was taken suddenly i'll and was remov-
ed to hospital. After having been de-
lirious on returning to his former con-
dition he had exclaimed, You rascally
Chinaman, take that for yOurSw But
seeing a nurse before him instead of
a Chinaman he appeared much sur
prised. He had returned to a normal
state, remembering that he was Vic
tor Marivaud.
His appearance was a terrible blow
to the lovers. for, according to the
French law of inheritance. Victor Ma
rivaud was the owner of the estate. in
Guiding the wine business. He told
Louis so many things that had occur
red during the latter's childhood that
Louis became convinced that the Stran-
ger was his brother. Nevertheless it
was not to be expected that he would
be pleased to see a brother of whom
he had no remembrance and who
would dispOSsess him of his property.
But the severest blow was that NJ. Viii
laret Immediately withdrew his con-
sent to his daughters marriage unless
it could be proved that the claimant
was an impostOr.
There was an old blind woman liv-
ing on the place, who, on hearing of
the claimant. desired that he be
brought to her. She asked him a few
questions which seemed TO trouble
him, though he answered them cor
rectly. Then the old woman directed
that he be uncovered to the waist.
This was done, and her hand was
guided to his chest. She slid her hand
around to his side under his right arm.
and it rested on a small lump the size
of pea.
''This is Francois Soubise.'' she said !
81 lived with his mother when he was |
a little boy and often dressed and IN
dressed him. know him by this /
f1mp."