expects to secure a compromise, has left for New Orleans. "Wonderful
coincidence," he writes, "they were all living quietly and I believe had
no intention whatever to travel, and two days after my arrival in New
York they all disappeared. The most suspicious of it all is that the
banker, his wife and children had left for Coney Island for the summer
and to spend their holidays, and certainly they disappeared without
saying good-by to their intimate friends.... I have the whole history of
Tessier's life and how he made his fortune. There is a family for the
use of whom we must give at least a million, for the fortune of Tessier
was not his alone. He had a companion who shared his troubles and his
work. According to the will they were to inherit one from the other; the
companion died, and Tessier inherited everything. I do not see the
necessity of your trip to New York; that might make noise and perhaps
delay my negotiations." Then follows the list of properties embraced in
the inheritance:

PROPERTY AND PERSONAL ESTATE OF THE HEIRS

1 The land of Central Park ceded to the
city of New York, of the value of $5,000,000.00

2 He had at the National Bank--United
States Bank--deposited in gold--twenty
to thirty million dollars. He
never withdrew anything; on the
contrary, he always deposited his income
there 25,000,000.00

3 The big house on Broadway, Nos. 100
to 118, of twenty-five stories, to-day