| Show THE WAY I 1 XE MADE MY three of us were sitting in in a small room and complaining plair pla ining ting of the hardships of our destiny without money one can do nothing 22 said saia george were I 1 to hit upon a speculation that would live have d done me honor to a rothschild corning coming from a pauper li it ke myself rip ap one would think it worth attending to 1 1 I 11 said albert have actually finished a work which would establish my reputation as an author if I 1 could only find a bookseller to buy it I 1 have petitioned my employer for an increase increase of salary 11 I 1 exclaimed anxious to contribute to the chorus of lamentation and he told me that for forty louis a year he could get 0 more clerks than he wanted 11 it would not so much matter said george thoughtfully if be besides beides ides being poor we did not seem poor could one of us only be thought rich what is the use of the shadow wi without without the sub stance 9 I 1 asked k of 1 said d albert 1 I with ever every use ai aree agree george the sha shadow ju 0 w sometimes makes the subs substance the next best thing to capital is credit especially returned george the credit of having a good fortune fortuned 1 have none of us a rich uncle in in L I 1 indian la A cousin cousin of mine mine went to jamaica or martinique I 1 forgot which I 1 said innocently and he never cc capital that is all one requires exclaimed george we will conjure up this cousin of yours or could we no not kill him yes yec james meran of martinique deceased leav leaving ing i a sugar sugar plantation a hundred negroes and a fortune of of a hundred thousand louis to his well beloved cousin louis meran 22 we lati laughed bed at the joke oke and I 1 thought no more of it but G george e orge and alber albert t slightly excited by the f fumes unies of a bowl of punch which I 1 had sent for to do honor to the testator lost no time in concoct concoction concocting ing and af afterwards ter wards publishing a full account in a local newspaper of the fortune that had been left lef t me trie tire next day sundry friends dropped in to compliment me of course I 1 endeavored to undeceive them but they would by no means take a denial in vain I 1 assured them it was a hoax it was of no use several people remembered my cousin james very well ivell anti and had seen him at nantes before he embarked in 1789 among others came my tailor to whom I 1 owed a small sum which it was not quite convenient for me to pay at that moment no doubt the rumor 0 of m my y c cousins 0 asins decease had shar sharpened ened his memory 1 I wished i d my two friends at a place that shall be nameless good ma morning aning mr mayer I 1 suppose you are come for those fifty francs franes 12 1 I hope sir you dont think I 1 came tor for such a trifle as that no sir I 1 came to take your orders for a suit of mourning A suit of mourning yes sir cousins mourning dark bronze frock 0 for O r morning wear black trousers trow sers and waistcoat at the sent moment mr mayer 1 I hope sir I 1 have done clone nothing to forfeit your patronage but bat I 1 repeat I 1 have received no money at all 1 I hope sir you wont mention suh such a thing there is no sort of hurry exclaimed the tailor who busily emp employed oyed himself in taking my measure with slips of paper after f ter all ray my wardrobe did want some additions addition s an and I 1 said nothing more my dear sir said the next visitor 1 I have a very great favor to asklof ask of you buy my house you are very rich you must be on the lookout look out for safe and lucrative investments sixty thousand francs are nothing tor for you amere fraction of your income with me the case js is different I 1 thought mr felix had made up his mind to purchase the premises and now I 1 hear he has changed his intentions what is to become of me I 1 have heavy demands i to lo meet and I 1 dont know klow k low where the money is to come from 1 I buy your why it would be madness to thing thin of such a thing madness no such a thing g you could not find a better investment anywhere in two years with trifling repairs it will be worth double its present value you will never see such anch a good opportunity again say done 11 aud im olt off and he be was off without leaving me time to put in a word two hours after in walked mr felix evidently not in the best of tempers realy really sir 11 he began you have taken me quite by surprise that house is indispensable to me I 1 reckoned on it as if it were mine and offered fifty fifth thou francs because the owner is embarrassed and I 1 felt sure that he would be dobli obliged ed to take them with you sir the case is different so 6 I 1 come to ask if you will wi I 1 I 1 let me have it for seventy five thousand francs fifteen thousand francs dropping all at once into the lap of a poor fellow who bad to work hard to gain eight hundred francs a year I 1 could hardly believe my ears t 1 I cannot give you an answer just now sir I 1 said but if you will take the trouble to call again at five ill see what I 1 can do 11 at a quarter to five mr felix made his appearance I 1 spoke to him with candor 1 I should tell you sir that I 1 had no idea of buying the house till the owner prevailed on me to do so you say you want the house any other will suit me equally well so I 1 accede to your terms you shall have a draft on paris tor for the amount in a fortnight replied replied mr felix who bowed bowe dand and withdrew apparent apparently y enchanted at my way of doing business I 1 A draft upon paris the circumstance appeared so unusual tome to me that I 1 thought I 1 ought to send it to paris to get it cashed I 1 wrote accordingly to flanges and bergeret Bw geret the only firm I 1 knew there I 1 was in the habit of receiving through them the interest of a small sum that had been left me by an uncle I 1 informed ahem them that having funds f at my disposal I 1 wished for information as to the best mode of investing them the signification of the word funds fun Js varies very much according to the name and position in life lif e of the speaker the rumor of my legacy had reached paris so that when I 1 spoke of funds it was evident I 1 meant a considerable sum this was proved by the following letter sir we e are in in receipt hecei t of your esteemed favor of the current which whick reached us just after af ter the conclusion lusion of the last loan negotiated bythe cortes in in which our firm has an interest desirous that our mends friends should have an opportunity of participation in in investment which we consider profitable we have hav e aken the liberty of placing twenty thousand tu to you credit should ghoul the amount appear to considerable sid fid erable the rise of those securities admits your selling t out s it at a premium aw we e remain remain sir yours to command FLANGES co 21 to thi this was added a postscript written by the lead of or the firm i we e have heard with tire of the recent good fortune fallen to the lot of our old friend and correspondent and beg to offer shim him our services as occasion my iny require 13 twenty thousand pias pias tres I 1 let the letter fall in sheer cheer amazement what would have been my a ment if more conversant with terms of com neice and more attentive to the enc enclosed losea account ur rent I 1 bad seen that what I 1 took hook for the prini pal was only a yearly interest I 1 lost no time in art biting to my correspondents to inform them ahat the lum was too large 1 11 I have received no money I 1 laid from martinique and it would be impossible for ne to meet my engagements 13 I 1 an answer came by return of post we learn with i egret that you have misgivings with regard 0 to o the spanish loan according to your order we sold out halt half the stock assigned to you which which brings you in already a net profit of eighty thousand francs with regard to property at 0 mai ti unique we are too well acquainted with the decays which bequests at such a distance must necess lily rily involve to think for a moment that you oin ean be mediately put in posse possession sion of your inheritance but ur simple signature will suffice to procure you all je ie money you way may require in in the mean time we ke he ahe liberty lib e artir of reminding you of the advah advantage tage of dicing I 1 tim timely cly investments lest when the legal ar I 1 range ments are ended you should find some difficulty in nr get getting ang good inter interest t est for so large a capital with the hope that you may entertain a better opinion of german securities than you do of spanish we ha hand n d you a prospectus for establishing a bank at gruenin gen you will please to observe sir that no deposits required and that as calls are only made at long intervals it will be easy for you to sell your shares should you change your mind without your having occasion to make any payment we have placed fifty to your credit an and have the honor to remain ac eighty eig ech ty thousand francs f the amount was a perfect mystery to me no doubt the clerk had made some mistake mista ke in the figures fi my position was becoming embarrassing congratulations C poured in in from all quarters especially when hen I 1 made my appearance pe arance in black from head to foo bodt t the th journal de thought it right to publish a biographical sketch of my cousin and the editor wrote to me asking for f urther further particulars ladies connected necked with all sorts sort of societies begged that my name might be added to their list of subscribers and the money money I 1 had to pay tor for po stages was somewhat alarming to escape from this avalanche of i inquiries i i I 1 eastly departed for paris directly I 1 got there I 1 called on my bankers by whom I 1 was received as heirs to a large property generally are that you haves have s uch itch a of the spanish stock 21 said monsieur berge bergeret Ber gerel r et there has been a great reat rise however we only sold out half your you parcel arcel 1 would would you havethe have the goodness to let me know what the present value of the remainder mig might h t be I 1 replied certainly sir ten thousand pias tres stock at seven seventy ty the piastre being at five francs thirty five centimes cen times the sum already paid being if you sell out today to day you will with the proceeds of last sale have from two hundred and two If hundred undred and ten to twenty thousand francs very well you said something 0 about a german bank I 1 think yes the government made some difficulty about granting grantin a charter but it is all settled now and the promised shares have risen considerably can I 1 sell out certainly you have fifty at four hundred and fifty floring profit that will bring you in about sixty thousand f francs ranes 11 without any calls to pay I 1 none whatever that seems strange but you are no doubt well weil informed I 1 should ile like to 0 find a d secure investment for those sums would you have the goodness to tell me what would be the best you cannot have anything better than our own five per caits I 1 know of nothing more secure at the present price of that stock you get six per cent for your our money I 1 can easily understand that you should be e worried by such trifling details as these you will soon have more considerable consider considerable alle sums to looks look after then if I 1 invest the combined produce of the german and spanish stock in the five per cents what should I 1 get a year let me see three hundred thousand francs f funds at eighty eigl eighteen iteen twenty yes twenty thousand francs a year 12 ahl ah twenty thousand francs a year and when can the investment be made tomorrow to morrow morning tha t is if you will allow allon 0 ir firm to conduct the transaction certainly in whom could my confidence he better placed the banker made a polite bow and now I 1 continued 1 I should f feel eel obliged if you would have the goodness to advance me a few louis as I 1 am rather short of cash my dear sir all the cash I 1 possess is at your service how much do you want two hundred four for hundred thank you fifty will be quite sufficient may I 1 hope added the banker when I 1 rose to take leave that our firm may be favored with the continuance of your patronage certainly 1 I replied there are few moments of my life on which I 1 look back with more satisfaction than on those occupied in in my interview with M bergeret I 1 doubt if I 1 should have believed in the twenty thou thousand band francs a year if it had not been for the afif fifty ty napoleons in in the mean time my two friends were shocked at the success of their story and were not a little alarmed at my sudden journey to paris which was attributed tri buted by others to legal business george and albert then began to fear that I 1 really believed in the authenticity of the invention they had concocted three days after my return they came in to see me with I 1 long 0 ng faces my dear louis said george you know your cousin is not dead 1 I cannot be sure of that for I 1 am by no means cun convinced vinced of his exi existence 8 tence well but you know that this inheritance is only a hoax to tell the truth I 1 think we are the only people who are of that opinion we have been very wrong to originate uch ouch a foolish invention for which we are very sorry on the contrary I 1 aan am N ery much obliged to you but itis it is our duty to contradict it and to confess how foolish we have been truth cannot remain long concealed concealed people began to wonder that no news r came ame from I 1 martinique a rtin ique the wise and prudent shook their heads ominously isly when in my name was mentioned the most ludicrous feature in the case isal is said one that he has ended by believing in the truth of his own invention for my patt part I 1 must say that I 1 was always rather sceptical about that inheritance and I 1 also said mr r felix though it has cost me fifteen thousand francs on seeing a dozen letters letter on my table one morning I 1 p that the bubble babble had burst their contents were much alike for instance mr mayors mayers respects to mr meran and having heavy payments to meet will feel obliged by a cheque for the amount of the enclosed my replies disarmed all doubts of my perfect solvency 1 I mr r cerans thanks to mr mayer for having at last sent his account and encloses a cheque for the amount my cool and unconcerned demeanor kept curiosity alive for a few days longer what a lucky fellow said one luck has nothing to do with it rejoined another he has played his cards well and has won once or twice I 1 confess I 1 felt compunction rf df conscience but a moru moments ens reflect reflection ioD convinced me that my own exertions had no nd share in my good fortune and that I 1 owed all to a universal public worship of the golden calf and to the truth of alberts axiom the next best thing to capital is credit 25 |
