The Days of a Man C1891 



Adorning 

 nature 



Dis- 

 appear- 

 ance of the 

 " French- 

 man" 



an artificial lake with a tiny island bearing a ruined 

 castle, to enhance (as the owner thought) the charm- 

 ing natural features of the property. Opposite the 

 cottage rose a plain but substantial brick building, 

 the lower floor of which served as office, while above 

 was housed a considerable library of Elzevirs. In 

 the immediate neighborhood several small barns 

 provided stalls for a hundred blooded cows, groomed 

 regularly each day. When Stanford acquired the 

 property, this particular corner was used for the 

 Thoroughbreds and became known as the Running 

 Ranch — in contradistinction to the famous Trot- 

 ting Ranch, a mild away. 



In vain search for enough water to supply the 

 elaborate arrangements he contemplated, Coutts 

 tunneled many of the hills, and built on Matadero 

 Creek a brick water-tower of medieval type and still 

 of romantic interest to succeeding generations of 

 Stanford students. Unfortunately, however, there 

 was something amiss about it all, some important 

 matters the French Government wished to have 

 explained. Yet the preliminary inquiry conducted 

 by a French agent seems to have turned out satis- 

 factorily to both sides. But with the advent of 

 another consul in San Francisco, Coutts suddenly 

 found it necessary to take his family East on im- 

 portant business, leaving the place still filled with 

 guests and the children's playthings scattered about 

 on the floor. Investigation then revealed that the 

 estate had been bought in the name of Eugenie 

 Chogensen, the "governess." Rumor further said 

 that Coutts had fled from France with Alsatian funds 

 entrusted to his bank during the Franco-Prussian 

 War in order that they might escape sequestration. 



c 378 -} 



