Show I KNOWED ID BE THAR Ito I Quaint Story of the Peculiar Codicil to an Old Miners Will The V other day we met on Kearney street an oldtime Wasnoe acquaintance called Jem Brigs whose usually well worn miners apparel was on this occasion oc-casion replaced by a gorgeous display of velvet vest check l pants red scarf and ponderous watch chain while his I honest and simple face shone above V these evidences of prosperity with the 1 placid contentment of a full harvest I 1 moonHello Hello Jem we said glad to see you looking so prosperous Must have struck It rich recently So I have said Jem and then as his tanned face saddened a little lie continued but I had a mighty tuff loss though My partner Ned Blmbcr Vyou remember Nodhas gone UI the shaft shaftDead Dead ehllt V Yes Ill tell yon how it was You I see Ned and I had a quarrel about two years ago Dont matter now what it was about Mebbe Ned was wrong and V inebbc I was but all the same neither of us would back down coupler dam V fools youll say and so we were and the upshot of It was that we parted and agreed never to speak to each other again And didnt you 1 No sir more shame for us for vo had been pards thick and thin for fifteen fif-teen years together Well about six V months after that Ned got a good gravel grav-el claim up on the Feather where they havo been turning the river bed and he V struck it richcleared up nigh onto V 250000 in ten months And how were you getting on Oh clean broke Working up at Gold hill for 53 a day Well I was kinder sneaking glad to learn of Neds luck for all we were outs but the next thing I heard was that he had been killed by tho banks caving In on him lie lived just long enough to malce his will Well the lawyers wrote as how Ned was worth just about 200000 and the will gave 5000 apiece lo each of the three distant cousins of hisn they had all come out from the East when they heard of Neds find and the same amount to me mind you Just as though we had not qunricled But Ned allers was a centric sort of a cuss and the will provided that none of us should get the money If we attended the funeral He didnt want anybody at the funeral but just the undertaker The will said ho had lived lonely and ho wanted to be burled lonely Thems just tho wordsand I felt they were Intended for me sure The disposition of tho rest of the estate about 200000 was provided for another codicil to bo opened the day after the funeral but we all supposed It was donated to some charitable object for Ned hadnt any kin cepting the cousins Of course you stayed away from the V funeral V Thats just the point Somehow I felt so miserable and downhearted you sec Ned was the onllest partner I ever hadthat I determined to go and see him sent down on his last cage anyway money or no money and I did V didAnd And the cousins None of em went Fact Is they were so disgusted with the dlvy that they cleared out down to Frisco to sec about breaking up the will So I was the only mourner at the funeral My friendsall thought I was fit for the oraayhouse to throw away the 5000 like that Well I just couldnt help It It turned out though to be tho best lead I ever struck V How as that 1 Why the next day when the main will was opened wo found it really gao the entire balance of the cleanup to whichever of us four disobeyed the condition con-dition of the 5000 bequest so you see I came In for the whole sum Just like a knife And do you know continued the legatee as he hastily steered us into a saloon to conceal the gathering moisture mois-ture In his eye as sure as guns iron I shall allers believe that Ned put up the whole Job a purposccausQ he knowed Jd be tharSan Francisco I Examiner |