ARTHUR.T Stories ------500 Million Dollars --II---Page 08

_June 25, '02._

My dear M. Lapierre:

We have had a terrible voyage. A horrible storm broke loose in

mid-ocean, endangering all our lives.... The waves, like mountains, threatened every instant to swallow us all; the spectacle was

terrifying. I fell from the top of the stairs 'way down into the

hole (_sic_), hurting my right leg in the centre of the tibia bone.

The ship's doctor, who is nothing but a stupid fool, left me

helpless almost the entire day.... If ever I should have dreamt what
would occur to me in this trip, not for all the gold in the world
would I have embarked. But, now that I am here, I shall not retreat
before any obstacle, in order to arrive at the fulfillment of my
enterprise, and no matter at what cost, even at that of my life. It
is necessary that I succeed--my pride demands it. Those who are in
the right shall triumph, that is sure.... In the mean time, will you
kindly give my regards to Madame and your son, and all of your
relatives, not forgetting your good old servant. Squeezing your hand
cordially, I bid you adieu.

Your devoted,

Pedro S. de Moreno.

"Can you not see the waves, and observe him falling down the hole?" asks Madame Reddon,

"Mais, voici une autre."
     _July 11, 1902._

M. Jean Lapierre.

_My dear M. Lapierre_: As soon as I could walk a little I began my

research for the impostors of the inheritance Tessier. Without a

doubt some person who is interested in the case has already advised them of my arrival in New York, and to take the necessary
precautions to lead me astray in my researches.

Already I have discovered almost everything. I know even the house in which resided the deceased before his death. It is a house of
twenty-five stories high, which resembles the Church of Saint
Magdalene in Paris. To-day it is the biggest bank in New York. I
have visited it from top to bottom, ascending and descending in
steel elevators. This is a marvelous palace; it is worth more than
five million dollars. The house itself has the numbers 100, 102,
104, 106, 108, 110, 112, 114, 116 and 118. In other words, it covers the ground of ten other houses made into one.

I have also visited six houses belonging to him, which are worth millions and are located around Central Park...

As soon as the brothers Lespinasse knew that I had arrived in New
York they immediately took their departure, one for Paris to find

his father, Emmeric Lespinasse, the other to the city of Tuxpan, in

Mexico, to visit the properties stolen from the heirs. I have come

to an understanding with the Reverend Father Van Rensselaer, Father Superior of the Jesuits, and have offered him two millions for his
poor, in recompense for his aid to recover and to enter into
possession of the inheritance. He takes great pains, and is my
veritable guide and confidant...

I have visited Central Park, also a property of the deceased; this
property alone is worth more than twenty million dollars.... I have
great confidence in my success, and I am almost sure to reach the
goal, if you are the heirs, for here there is a mix-up by all the
devils...

The wound of my leg has much improved, the consequences which I

feared have disappeared, and I expect soon my complete

convalescence, but the devil has bestowed upon me a toothache, which makes me almost crazy with pain. I shall leave, nevertheless, to
begin my campaign.

Will you be kind enough to give my regards to your wife and son, and to our old friend, etc., etc.

PEDRO S. DE MORENO.

"May the devil bestow upon him five hundred million toothaches!"
exclaims Lapierre, for the first time showing any sign of animation.

The other letters were read in their order, interspersed with Madame Reddon's explanations of their effect upon the heirs in France. His
description of the elevators of steel and of the house that covered an entire block had caused a veritable sensation. Alas! those wonders are still wonders to them, and they still, I fancy, more than half believe
in them. The letters are lying before me now, astonishing emanations, totally ridiculous to a prosaic American, but calculated to convince and stimulate the imagination of a _petit bourgeois_.