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Show :; Uncle - :::: Timothy's iii; war , B? JUDY BLAIR . 114. Wwura Niwtpapwr Union.) nrHE heirs were assembled to bear the reading of Uncle Timothy's will, but It was pretty well known that either his nephew Barry or his niece Mary would Inherit his substantial substan-tial property or more likely still It would be divided between them. The lawyer droned on. Presently he came to It: "And the residue of my estate to be divided equally between be-tween my nephew Harry and my niece Mary." The rest of the relatives resigned themselves to the expected. "On condition that they ahaU not marry with one another." The relatives looked up with a start Marry 7 Why, they had always detested de-tested each other; every one knew that "But should they marry, then the principal sum shall be forfeited In accordance with certain conditions known to my lawyers." Here was a to-do. It appeared that Harry and Mary would each receive about four thousand a year. But If tbey married not a penny. "Well, that Isn't troubling me," said Harry with a laugh. He felt almost al-most friendly to Mary. "I guess It Isn't troubling you either, MaryT" "Not so you'd noUce It," Mary answered an-swered T" The relatives laughed, too. Every one had known that the two were Uncle Timothy's favorite niece and nephew. But what an absurd condition! condi-tion! If they had cared for each other, and Uncle Timothy bad had some special spe-cial reason for not wanting them to marry, It would have been all understandable. under-standable. But the mean things they used to say about each other I It was odd, but Harry, who had never given Mary a spare thought, began to think about her quite a little after be had Inherited the money. She acquired ac-quired a new Interest In his eyes. He met her a few weeks later at Aunt Jemima's. "Wen, not thinking of forfeiting that legacy, are you, MaryT" he asked. "It Isn't worrying me," answered Mary. "Uncle Timothy must have been out of bis mind." "I quite agree with you," Harry replied. re-plied. They felt so much delight to think the legacy was safe that tbey began going out of their way to meet each other. At the end of three months Harry had discovered that Mary was really quite a nice glrL They had similar Interests, too. "Say, Mary, let's drop all this nonsense non-sense abont hating each other, shall weT" asked Harry. "It Isn't as If there was any danger ef our ever caring car-ing for each other." "It Is growing rather tiresome," Mary agreed. "We could have some good times together, knowing that there's no danger. How about taking In the opera Friday nlghtf Mary agreed. But by the end of Friday Fri-day night they knew they liked each other quite a good deal. And In a month more they coaldn't keep away from each other. "Mary, Uncle Timothy knew mors than I gave him credit for." 1 guess he did, Harry." "Why was he so set against T "Heaven knows." "Isn't It a pity. Mary I" ' Mary gave him a look that toll They stayed away from each other for two whole weeks. Then they met by accident. "Mary, It's no use. I love yon." "Harry, you muBtn't be foolish" "D n the legacy! I'm earning five thousand a year. Marry me, MaryT Mary began crying. "It's so so dreadful, Harry, I I do care so much." "Then let's do It" "You'll stop caring." "Never." It took another week to bring her around. At the end of that time the two appeared In the lawyer's office. "We've decided to get married as soon as the next quarter's Interest has come In." rhey announced. The lawyer smiled. "No need to wait for that," he said, after he had congratulated them. "It was your Uncle Timothy's dearest wish." "What I" exclaimed Harry and Mary together. "The condition Is" he broke a sealed envelope that he had extracted ex-tracted from his safe "If you two marry you are to become trustees of the property Jointly, on behalf of" "Whomr "Tour children." smiled the lawyer. |