Ten years have elapsed, and MM. Ramin and Bonelle still live on. For a house which would have been dear at fifty thousand francs, the draper has already handed over seventy thousand.
The once red-faced, jovial Ramin, is now a pale, haggard man, of sour temper and aspect. To add to his anguish, he sees the old man thrive on that money which it breaks his heart to give. Old Marguerite takes a malicious pleasure in giving him an exact account of their good cheer, and in asking him if he does not think Monsieur looks better and better every day. Of one part of this torment Ramin might get rid, by giving his old master notice to quit, and no longer having him in his house. But this he cannot do; he has a secret fear that Bonelle would take some Excellent Opportunity of dying without his knowledge, and giving some other person an Excellent Opportunity of personating him, and receiving the money in his stead.
The last accounts of the victim of Excellent Opportunities represent him as being gradually worn down with disappointment. There seems every probability of his being the first to leave the world; for Bonelle is heartier than ever.
=Popular Work! Twelfth Thousand Now Ready!=
Author of “Silver Lake Stories,” etc., etc.
ALDEN, BEARDSLEY & CO., AUBURN, N. Y., } WANZER, BEARDSLEY & CO., ROCHESTER, N. Y., } _Publishers_.
“Mother! thy gentle hand hath mighty power, For thou alone may’st train, and guide, and mould Plants that shall blossom, with an odor sweet, Or, like the cursed fig-tree, wither, and become Vile cumberers of the ground.”
Brief Extracts from Notices of the Press.
* * * A tale which deserves to rank with “The Wide, Wide World.” It is written with graphic power, and full of interest.--_Hartford Repub._
* * * Her writings are equal to the best. She is a second Fanny Fern.--_Palmyra Democrat._
* * * It is recommended by its excellent moral tone and its wholesome practical inculcations.--_N. Y. Tribune._
* * * Full of grace and charm, its style and vivacity make it a most amusing work. For the intellectual and thinking, it has a deeper lesson, and while it thrills the heart, bids parents beware of that weakness which prepares in infancy the misery of man. “Lewie” is one of the most popular books now before the public, and needs no puffing, as it is selling by thousands.--_N. Y. Day Book._