Wausau pilot. [volume] (Wausau, Wis.) 1896-1940, 1919-12-30
CHAPTER |.
rhe Rosnx White EIephant.

T,amartine, the notary, occupied was
located inconspicuously in snhaii
building in an old part of the Lower
Town. Small, wiry, blacK-haireu'
with an air of unconvincing plauslDh-
ity about him, Monsieur Lamartihe
was seated at his desk, drumming MS
fingers. staring out of the window, and
turning again to look at letter signed
Hilary Askew, when his boy brought
him card with the same name upon
it. Monsieur Lamartine frowned.
"Tell Monsieur Askew that am
busy with an important court case,
he said. ASK him to call at this time
tomorrow
MIR. Askew says he's busy, too. and
he'll wait" announced the boy, return
ing.
The notary considered. well, tell
him I'll see him in few minutes" he
answered.
When the boy was gone he took
down the telephone receiver and gave
a number.
as that you, Brousseau?" he asked.
''EIonsieur Hilary Askew has turned
up"
There was a suffering at the other
end of the line which made the notary
smile.
81 can't say. ! haven't seen him
yet" said Monsieur Lamartine, in an
swer. "But if / can't send him home
with a smile on his lips and a check
in his pocket l shall try to keep him
in Quebec until L have seen you. And
you'd better try to get Morris by long
distance and warn him. GOod-by."
He hung up the receiver, rang for
the boy and told him to admit Mr..
Askew. Then he rose to receive his
visitor.
He looked at Hilary keenly as he
shook hands with him. The young man
was different from what he had ex
pected He was about as big, and he
had the same air of American energy
but ne appeared more determined, he
looked like one of those uncomfortable
men who have the knack of disentan-
Cling themselves from sOphistries.
However, Hilary looked gOod-natured.
And he was certainly inexperienced.
Monsieur Lamartine gave him chair
and looked very plausible indeed.
"YOur visit has followed very close
upon your letter, Mr.. Askew," he said
perhaps you did not get mine, advis-
ing you to wait before coming TO Que
bec?"
mo-" said Hilary, "but would have
come anyway. l want to get this mat
ter settled"
"The American haste" said the no.
tary. looking almost ingenious. But
the law is not to be taken by storm,
least of all in Quebec 1t is only a
month since your uncle died. Perhaps
it will be months before we can turn
over the property to you. l under
stand that you were not in close touch
with your uncle during his latter
yearsT"
Il hadn't seen him since was boy.
That was what made the legacy sur
prising one. He had not shown any
interest in me. l had a hard fight to
get through my forestry course. So
when i heard that l had become the
owner of a tract of a hundred square
miles it seemed like an Intervention of
Providence. That is almost a king
DOM sir"
"Ten miles by temp" inquired the
notary, smiling. 'Well, 1 suppose it
does seem a large territory to you, al
though the Rosny seigniory was one of
the smallest of the old feudal~ grants.
1t is almost the last on the north shore
of the st. Lawrence that remains in
the hands of the original family"
-Four hundred thousand dollars
seems a big sum for my uncle to have
paid for it" said Hilary.
'Your uncle" said Monsieur Lamar
tine. beginning to drum softly, made
this investment against the advice of
a good many people. The RoSny tim
Der rights are practically valueless, be
cause the wood is principally balsam
fir instead of pine and spruce"
He noted that Hillary only watched
him instead of answering, and he be-
gan TO feel that he would not be dis
posed of as easily as he had antici-
pated.
THE property has. never begun to
pay its way" continued Monsieur La
MARITIME. Your uncle paid three hun
dred and fifty thousand for the cutting
rights alone. He found himself up
against the law which places limit
on the size Of trees. Seven inches for
black, or swamp spruce. l believe: :
twelve for white spruce; twelve or
thirteen for pine. And nearly all the
trees on the Rosny limits that aren't
fir are under the legal size. Your un-
Gle sank half his fortune in it. He
waS-eNcuSe me-eceentric. This is
the case: the timber cannot be cut
except at loss on account of its
sparSeneSS and the high cost of trans
pOrtation. The balSam fir is too gum
my TO make any but inferior paper, be-
low the standard even of the newspa-
pers. 1t occupies the greater portion
of the tract. together with second
growth birch. which is, of course. of
use only for firewood. The expenses
are very considerable. In short. Mr..
Askew, cannot advise you to consfd-
er your uncle's legacy seriously"
I'm sorry to hear that" answered
hhaKy- nut suppose something can
be done with the wood. There are
uses besides pulp-wood to which the
timber can be putTa
Monsieur Lamartine drummed his
fingers for quite a while before an
swering.
"A company with large capital
might find 1t commercially profitable
10 develop your tract" he said pres
emily. but no man without an ample
fortune and thorough knowledge of
lumber conditions in this province
could dream of pulling out even"
Hilary leaned forward In his chair.