_ THE HISTORY
CHAPTER XV
The History of William Bucholz.--
An Abused Aunt who Disappoints His Hopes.--
A Change of Fortune.--
The Soldier becomes a Farmer.--
The Voyage to New York. William Bucholz had been an inmate of the hotel for several weeks prior to this time, having arrived from Germany in the latter part of July. He was somewhat of a favorite with the people with whom he associated, and being of a free and jovial disposition had made many friends during his limited residence in the city. As he is to bear an interesting part in the sequence of this narrative a few words may not be out of place in regard to his antecedents.
The father of Bucholz, who was a veterinary surgeon of some prominence in Schweigert, had reared his children in comparative comfort, and had provided them with a liberal education.
The early years of young Bucholz had been spent with an uncle, who was very fond of him, and delighted to have him near his person. This uncle was a brother of his father, and very late in life had married a lady of large fortune, but whose appearance was not at all prepossessing. As William grew into manhood he entered the army and became connected with the "Brunswick Hussars."
Here he distinguished himself principally by leading a life of dissipation and extravagance, which made him an object of remark in his regiment. There were many wild spirits among his comrades, but none who displayed such an irrepressible and reckless disposition as William Bucholz. His uncle, loving him as a son, and whose union had been blessed with no children, forgave his follies and liquidated his debts without a murmur, but shook his head frequently in a doubtful manner, as rumors reached him of some new exploit in which William had been a leading spirit, or some fresh scandal in which he was a prominent participant.
The family of Bucholz, with that weakness which sometimes characterizes the relative of the wealthy, soon began to display a coolness and dislike toward the wife of the uncle, and as no children were born to them, they looked forward with certainty to inheriting the vast wealth of their childless relative, without seeming to regard the rights or interests of the wife, who, in Germany as well as in America, frequently exercises a potent influence in the disposition of her husband's affairs.
That this conduct was displeasing to the woman who had brought so much wealth into the family may readily be imagined, and being possessed of sufficient spirit to resent the affronts put upon her, she did not tamely submit to be thus ignored by the supercilious relatives of her husband, but determined to be revenged upon them in a manner which she knew would be complete and satisfactory to herself.
Among her numerous friends was the widow of a captain of hussars, who had been in the same regiment with Bucholz, but who had died a short time before, leaving his sorrow-stricken wife without sufficient income for her support, and with the care of an only son who had been born to them in their brief married life. To this lady William's aunt immediately offered her house as a home, and promised to take care of her child's education and provide for its future. This offer was gratefully accepted by the bereaved and impecunious widow, who, with her child, soon became domiciled beneath the roof of the uncle and the socially abused aunt.
As the boy grew into years he displayed so many traits of a noble, manly character and of a fond and loving disposition, that the hearts of the aged couple instinctively warmed towards him with an abiding affection, and the mother dying soon after, he was formally adopted by them.
The uncle continued, however, to supply the wants of his prodigal and degenerate nephew, but they increased so enormously that he was forced to remonstrate with the young man upon the recklessness of his conduct. His remonstrances were met with a spirit of impertinence and defiance that angered the old gentleman to such an extent that he declined at once to pay any further debts of his nephew's contracting, and limited his allowance to a sum which, while sufficiently large to provide for his actual needs, afforded no opportunities for lavish outlays or indiscreet dissipations.
This action excited the ire of William and his family, who did not hesitate to ascribe it to the promptings of the wife, whom they had so consistently ignored, and whose feelings they had so frequently outraged.
The relations between the brothers ceased to be friendly, and an estrangement took place which was increased by the family of Bucholz, who spoke every where in the most disrespectful terms of the wife of the brother.
While matters were in this position the uncle was suddenly attacked with a malady which resulted in his death. After the funeral the will was opened, and it was found, to the mortification and disappointment of his relatives, that instead of leaving to them the bulk of his large fortune, he had bequeathed the major portion to his adopted son, and had only left the sum of twenty thousand dollars to be divided equally among the six children of his brother.
If the widow had desired to be revenged, she had succeeded admirably in her wishes, and the solemn countenances of the disappointed Bucholzes, as they wended their way homeward after the reading of the will, from which they had hoped so much, would have been full satisfaction for the years of insult she had been compelled to endure from them during the life of her husband.
This disposition of the estate of the uncle was a severe blow to those who had so confidently expected to have been enriched by his death, and produced a marked change in their manner of living. The bright, airy castles which they had builded, faded away--their hopes of prospective wealth were rudely dissipated, and the necessity for facing the actual position of affairs stared them in the face. William could no longer be permitted to lead the idle life of a soldier, and one and all would be compelled to labor for themselves. It was a bitter awakening from a bright dream, but the man of their hopes was dead, and their regrets were unavailing.
Bucholz, therefore, obtained an extended leave of absence, and in a short time entered into an engagement with an extensive farmer to learn the science of agriculture, and became domiciled beneath the roof of his employer and instructor. The dull routine of a farmer's life was, however, illy suited to his impulsive disposition, and although he had no manual labor to perform, he soon grew tired of the monotony of his existence and longed for a change.
He had read of the wonderful success which attended the efforts of some of his countrymen who had emigrated to Australia, that arcadia of the agriculturist, and burning with a desire to seek his fortune in the new land of promise, he began to make inquiries of the place, its products, and of the possibilities of successful operations while there.
All the information which he gleaned was of such a character as to fill his mind with ambitious projects, and a desire to make his fortune in that far-off country, and he resolved to undertake the journey.
His preparations were soon made, and ere many days he was afloat upon the heaving ocean, bound for New York, where he was informed he could procure a sailing vessel direct to Australia, at a cost much less than he could by any other process of travel.
Arriving without accident in New York, he had taken up his quarters at "The Crescent Hotel," and proceeded to make inquiries concerning the continuance of his journey.
To his disappointment, however, he discovered that no vessels were likely to sail from New York directly to Australia, and the limited means he had brought with him were insufficient for the expense necessary to travel overland to a point of embarkation. He was therefore compelled to delay his journey until he could receive sufficient funds to enable him to continue farther. He immediately wrote to his family for the money he required, and it was while awaiting their reply that he met Frank Bruner, the servant of Henry Schulte, whose acquaintance was destined to produce such a marked and dramatic effect upon his future life. _