his wealth. She
became very religious, and to the last was a devout member of the Roman
Church. She died in 1886, thirteen years after the episode at Rieberich.
Her ashes rest in the little graveyard of the Convent des Soeurs de Ste.
Agnes, on the Charleroi road, two miles from the city, and on her
monument is engraved:
TO ELIZABETH, The Beloved Wife, Pious and True. She Served God and
Has Gone to Live with the Angels
[Illustration: "THE LOVELY COUNTESS WAVED A FAREWELL TO HER DEAD
LOVER."--Page 81.]
CHAPTER IX.
"WE HAVE ANOTHER JOB FOR YOU."
About every second day I called on Murpurgo & Weissweller in Frankfort,
and talked over matters, and easily saw that everything would go right.
All that was necessary was to produce the bonds, and they would hand
over the cash. Here in America, though we scrutinized a man's garments,
the quality and fit of the same having a certain value, we never take
much stock in a stranger because an artist tailor has decorated him, or
because he has plenty of money. But in the seventies, all over Europe,
from the mere fact that a man was an American and had the appearance,
dress and manner of a gentleman, they always took it for granted that he
must be a gentleman.
Therefore, seeing that I was taken for a capitalist, and that no
question would be asked, I told the firm my deal in Austrian copper
mines appeared so certain to be completed that I had ordered the
securities I intended to dispose of to be forwarded from London. Giving
them a list, they gave me a memorandum offer for the lot. I accepted
their offer. The next hour was a very bad sixty minutes for me. There
was considerable delay, and my suspicions were fully aroused, and at one
time I thought they had made some discovery; but, as a fact, my
suspicions were wholly unfounded.
The banker and clerks were simply hurrying around, anxious to oblige me
and have the money out of the bank before it closed. At last the amounts
were figured up and verified by myself. One of the partners hastened
off to the bank and in five minutes returned with a very pretty parcel
of 200,000 gulden; but, in spite of the evident safety of the business,
I was nervous, and resolved to put a good distance between me and the
town as speedily as possible. Before 5 o'clock I was in Weisbaden, and,
going directly to the Casino, where they kept at all times a million
francs, in addition to German money, and where the possession of large
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