| Show to V rif bv peter B kyne NV by rater poter n D kyne service AAA THE STORY hiram butterworth Butter woith miser decides to leave his fortune to a nephew elmer clarke ot of whom lie he has received favorable re ports I 1 L CHAPTER I 1 continued 3 file misers gaze sought the carpet and it was evident now that he was embarrassed absolom he be stammered finally 1 I got a con confession confesol fessl 0 n to make some forty years ago I 1 had a farm in illinois ill give you the full legal description later and I 1 mo mortgaged rt it to a man for forty thousand dollars I 1 wanted the money to put into the worst investment I 1 ever made an and that was a nevada silver mine consolidated virginia clr enla I 1 bought stock with that money during the days of the big comstock excitement I 1 could have sold hold out and doubled my money two weeks after id made the investment but I 1 held on and on more moie an more profit on paper until that underground river busted into the comstock lode on the two thousand foot level and ruined the mine and me inc well I 1 lost the farm I 1 repay the mortgage absolom and after there was a flood and the mississippi river changed its channel and ruined that hat farm I 1 want to repay the loan or of course the man who loaned me the money lost his forty thousand and the interest tie he got a deficiency judgment against me buti but I dodged it for twenty years and then his widow or his executor permitted the judgment to lapse mid and well absolom I 1 reckon id ought to have paid the alie widow that money however I 1 an now I 1 want to fir it in my will so s 0 that every dollar both principal and interest due lie under that jud judgment ment to date shall hall be paid to the widow or the legal heirs of tier body me ale peake cut in ill professionally old butterworth nodded and hanle banded I 1 him a fat envelope this contains all the information lie explained anything else nothing absolom except that eliat well I 1 reckon its usual to have ti the executor glye give a bond so better stipulate lu III my will that the customary bond shall bo be filed with the lie court by the executor old safely first Ile Peake repeated ill have your will ready in an hour stay where you axe are within the hour hiram butterworth had dad signed his last will and testament lie he carried it a copy of the document away with him and left the original with his lawyer on the first of the following month lie received from absolom Mcl cake a bill gor or fifty dollars for professional services drawing will the dirty cheap two for a cent legal jackal he be raved to his raan an bunker sending me a bill 1111 for drawing in my will after rill all ive done tor for him he telephoned immediately to asilom ab solom eake and told the latter in lurid hin language guage exactly what lie ho tho thought of him youre a dirty rob robber berl 1 the old man shrieked ill change my will this very adny ill learn you ile he was terribly angry so angry in fact he quite forgot the advice for which lie he had paid so heavily to six heart specialists lie mumbled incoherently into the transmitter then let it fall with it crash which was not dot lost on tho the lawyer at hn his end of the line then very faintly heard him film say pay 0 godl forgive inel me im dying dy when reached his clients place of business lie he found hiram butterworth stretched out on the grimy uncarpeted floor of his private office ile he was quite dead bunker a groy gray haired gray faced meek cowed looking little man was sitting in a chair across the room watching the dead man lie ile looked up ns its entered and a smile illumined ills his gray face for he was free at last the old mans heart went back on him bunker explained lies hes dead and although ive IS a worked for him nearly thirty years I 1 cant xay may rm im sorry you ought tobe to be glad bunker in in fact you will be glad when I 1 tell you that lils will which I 1 drew draw t two wo weeks ngo ago provides a specific bequest to you of ten thousand dollars ten thousand I 1 ten thousand I 1 the old clerk repeated repeat repe ateO eC in crescendo why he he lie he promised me for for years that hed leave me a hundred thousand ive devoted my cay life to that man and all I 1 over ever got for it was abuse arid a baro bare living and now he lies betrayed me bunkers Can kers form quivered and two tears coursed slowly down his lined cheeks ch eelis my wife will feel badly about tills this he quavered she was sort eort of figuring on it well what cant be cured must be endured I 1 suppose went back to his office two hours later in calif elmer clarke received the following telegram us catine iowa august 1 1921 1924 1 your uncle hiram butterworth died suddenly here today please wire disposition of body awas your unel uncles es attorney during his lifetime and am named d ex executor of his estate ar A federal trust this information was received by elmer clarko Clarke half an hour before his departure for the home of his hearts desire whom lie he planned to escort that evening to the municipal band concert in the plaza to this young lady illmer elmer disclosed the contents of the telegram what disposition are aie you going to make of the body elmer she inquired 1 I feel like wiring to send the old mans carcass to a medical college for dissection in order that at A id get into business for myself of course he replied the finish it might bo be said of him that once he accomplished something constructive tive something for the benefit or of the world in which ho he had his being oil please dont do that elmerl elmer oh of course not nellie lie he was my in mothers others brother even if helas he was a 1 heartless old skinflint I 1 suppose suppose I 1 he I 1 e died penniless for all his miserly thrift or his lawyer would not cot have wired me its as he did ill send a night letter and instruct him to give the old man a plain decent burial the expense of which shall not exceed one hundred and lifty fifty dollars and to draw on me at sight for the same vor for mothers sake I 1 cant have the old man buried in potters held field nellie patted elmer clarkes charkes Cl arkes baud im glad youre going to do the right thin tiling by him even it if he deserve it they went to the band concert and when they parted at nellies front gate elmer held her hand longer than seemed necessary nellie my dear youre a great comfort to me he said very seriously apropos of nothing 1 I like ilke to think that sonic some day when my ship comes in ile he checked himself rind and after a pause added but then it will v never como come in until I 1 sail in it so the use dreaming until I 1 know my dreams can come true elmer the girl replied within a week your ship is going to come come in I 1 feel it in my bones bonef somewhat what after the fashion of old men who have rheumatic twinges just before the first rains it be wonderful elmer if your uncle hiram died with just scads ot of mone money yand and left it all to you you have never met him lieve you elmer no and I 1 have never desired to elmer eliner if the unexpected should happen and you should receive a substantial stant lal sum from your uncles est estate lite what would you do ile he looked down at her very vc ry soberly art and seemed about to answer her question without the hesitation which almost instantly he developed loped lie ile bit his bis up and sighed td id get into business for myself of couse course he replied the girl nodded soberly and he had a vague suspicion that his answer had been a disappointment for she withdrew lier her hand and said good night TO ZIE BE CONTINUED |
