‘Sixty thousand louis,’ said the auctioneer; ‘sixty thousand louis are bid, and this fine property is going for only sixty thousand louis!’
The steward added five thousand louis, and the offer was at once capped by the mendicant who bid seventy thousand louis. Thus the war was carried on until one hundred thousand louis were offered, and people were aghast at this extraordinary duel between the steward of the wealthy Duke and a miserable-looking beggar.
‘One—hundred—and—ten—thousand—louis,’ slowly, but with emphasis, shouted the steward with a withering look at his ragged opponent. Bocher hesitated, for although he well remembered how heavy the strong box was, it was doubtful whether it contained so large a sum as this, and he was well aware that the penalty for non-payment was the Châtelet prison for life with all its horrors. There was not much time for reflection, for already the ‘Going, going’ of the auctioneer was sounding in his ears.
‘One hundred and twenty thousand louis,’ he shouted; and ‘One hundred and twenty thousand louis are bid,’ repeated the auctioneer amidst a breathless silence. This time there was no advance on the bidding; and after waiting the stipulated time, the property was knocked down to Bocher; and the discomfited steward of the Duke quitted the field of battle, revenging himself with a bitter jest as he passed his conqueror.
Bocher, with the penalty of non-payment of the enormous purchase-money staring him in the face, handed over the required sum within twenty-four hours, receiving in return the necessary title-deeds.
The mason became a dealer in monopolies, and finished by leaving an immense fortune and a patent of nobility to his son.
Not contented with the house in Paris which had satisfied his father’s aspirations, the son built himself a splendid château at Montigny, where he had the honour of entertaining amongst other important personages, Louis XV. and M. de Voltaire. The château was built on a hill; and puffed up with the vanity of his riches, M. de Bocher had the presumption to attempt to surpass the great work of Louis XIV. at Versailles, by bringing the water from a greater distance and throwing it to a greater elevation. He had a theatre attached to the château, and lived the life of great land-proprietors in England, a state of things quite unknown in France. His museum of natural history, his collection of pictures by the old masters, his stud of horses, were all unrivalled, and moreover he had the luck to enjoy his good fortune to the last, for he died on the eve of the great Revolution, leaving two sons behind him to enjoy his mysteriously acquired wealth.