After that night, I was confined to my bed for a week;
but as soon as I could get about, I went to the dead-house
books and got the number of the house which Adler
had died in. A wretched lodging-house, it was.
It was my idea that he would naturally have gotten
hold of Kruger’s effects, being his cousin;
and I wanted to get Kruger’s watch, if I could.
But while I was sick, Adler’s things had been
sold and scattered, all except a few old letters,
and some odds and ends of no value. However,
through those letters, I traced out a son of Kruger’s,
the only relative left. He is a man of thirty
now, a shoemaker by trade, and living at No. 14 Konigstrasse,
Mannheim—widower, with several small children.
Without explaining to him why, I have furnished two-thirds
of his support, ever since.
Now, as to that watch—see how strangely
things happen! I traced it around and about Germany
for more than a year, at considerable cost in money
and vexation; and at last I got it. Got it, and
was unspeakably glad; opened it, and found nothing
in it! Why, I might have known that that bit
of paper was not going to stay there all this time.
Of course I gave up that ten thousand dollars then;
gave it up, and dropped it out of my mind: and
most sorrowfully, for I had wanted it for Kruger’s
son.
Last night, when I consented at last that I must die,
I began to make ready. I proceeded to burn all
useless papers; and sure enough, from a batch of Adler’s,
not previously examined with thoroughness, out dropped
that long-desired scrap! I recognized it in a
moment. Here it is—I will translate
it:
’Brick livery stable, stone foundation, middle
of town, corner of Orleans and Market. Corner
toward Court-house. Third stone, fourth row.
Stick notice there, saying how many are to come.’
There—take it, and preserve it. Kruger
explained that that stone was removable; and that
it was in the north wall of the foundation, fourth
row from the top, and third stone from the west.
The money is secreted behind it. He said the
closing sentence was a blind, to mislead in case the
paper should fall into wrong hands. It probably
performed that office for Adler.
Now I want to beg that when you make your intended
journey down the river, you will hunt out that hidden
money, and send it to Adam Kruger, care of the Mannheim
address which I have mentioned. It will make
a rich man of him, and I shall sleep the sounder in
my grave for knowing that I have done what I could
for the son of the man who tried to save my wife and
child—albeit my hand ignorantly struck him
down, whereas the impulse of my heart would have been
to shield and serve him.
Chapter 32 The Disposal of a Bonanza
‘Such was Ritter’s narrative,’
said I to my two friends. There was a profound
and impressive silence, which lasted a considerable
time; then both men broke into a fusillade of exciting
and admiring ejaculations over the strange incidents
of the tale; and this, along with a rattling fire
of questions, was kept up until all hands were about
out of breath. Then my friends began to cool
down, and draw off, under shelter of occasional volleys,
into silence and abysmal reverie. For ten minutes
now, there was stillness. Then Rogers said dreamily—
Copyrights
Life on the Mississippi from Project Gutenberg. Public domain.
