On hearing of these social strides, Desnoyers could not but think of the
pecuniary sacrifices which they must represent. He knew Karl's past,
for on the ranch, under an impulse of gratitude, the German had one day
revealed to the Frenchman the cause of his coming to America. He was
a former officer in the German army, but the desire of living
ostentatiously without other resources than his salary, had dragged him
into committing such reprehensible acts as abstracting funds belonging
to the regiment, incurring debts of honor and paying for them with
forged signatures. These crimes had not been officially prosecuted
through consideration of his father's memory, but the members of his
division had submitted him to a tribunal of honor. His brothers and
friends had advised him to shoot himself as the only remedy; but
he loved life and had fled to South America where, in spite of
humiliations, he had finally triumphed.
Wealth effaces the spots of the past even more rapidly than Time. The
news of his fortune on the other side of the ocean made his family give
him a warm reception on his first voyage home; introducing him again
into their world. Nobody could remember shameful stories about a few
hundred marks concerning a man who was talking about his father-in-law's
lands, more extensive than many German principalities. Now, upon
installing himself definitely in his country, all was forgotten.
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