Butte record., 1855-12-15
NTNRT

John?'
destitute, is She" said john
"With children, too. Why, this is
another case, sir. You surely ought
to notice her-to assist her. Confound
it, I'm for letting her have the hundred
year"
"Oh, John, John. What break
down. said Mr.. Collett. $50 you
were trying to follow Peter Finch
through Stony Arabia, and turned
back at the second step. Here's a
brave traveller for you, Peter John,
John, keep to your Arabian Felix, and
leave sterner ways to very different
men. Goodbye both of you. I've no
voice to talk any more. I'll think over
all you have said"
He pressed their hands, and they
left the room. The old man was too
weak to speak the next day, and in
three days after he calmly breathed
his last.
As soon as the funeral was over, the
viii was read by the confidential man
Of business, who had always attended
to Mr.. Collett's affairs. The group
that sat around him preserved decor
Gus appearance Of disinterestedness ;
and, the usual preamble to the viii
having been listened to with breathless
attention, the man Of business read
the following in a clear voice:
Il bequeath to my neice, Emma
Briggs, Notwithstanding she shocked
her family by marrying an Gilman, the
sum of four thousand pounds; being
fully persuaded that her lost dignity,
if she could even find it again, would
do nothing to provide her with food or
clothing, or shelter.
John Meade smiled, and Peter Finch
ground his teeth-but in a quiet re
spectacle manner.
The man of business went on with
his reading.
"Having always held the opinion
that woman should be rendered a ra-
tional and independent being,-and
having duly considered the fact that
society practically denies her the right
of earning her own living hereby
bequeath to Mary Sutton, the only
child of my old friend, Frederick Sut-
ton, the sum of ten thousand pounds,
which viii enable her to marry, or to
remain single, as she may PREFER
''John Meade gave a prodigious start
upon hearing this, and Peter Finch
ground his teeth again-but in a man
ner hardly respectable. Both, however
by violent effort, kept silent.
The man of business went on with
his reading.
81 have paid some attention to the
character Of my nephew, John Meade,
and have grieved to f1d him much
possessed with feeling of philanthro-
py, and a general preference for what
ever is noble and true over whatever Is
base and false. As these tendencies
are by no means such as can advance
him in the world, | bequeath him the
the sum of ten thousand pounds
hoping that he will thus be kept out Of
the workhouse, and be enabled to paint
his great historical picture-which, as
vet, he has only talked about.
GAS for my other nephew, Peter
Finch, he views all things in so saga
cious and selfish a way, and is so Ger
tain to get on in life, that | shall only
insult him by offering an aid which he
does not require; yet from his affec-
tionate uncle, and entirely as a testi-
mony of admiration for his mental
acuteness, | venture to hope that he
will accept a bcquest of five hundred
pounds towards the completion of his
extensiue library of law-books."
How Peter Finch stormed land called
names-how John Meade broke into a
delirum of ioy-how Mary Sutton
cried first, and then laughed, and then
cried and laughed together; all these
matters shall not attempt to describe.
Mary Sutton is now Mrs. John Meade;
and her husband has actually begun
the great historical picture. Peter
Finch has taken to discounting bills,
and bringing actions on them; and
drives about in his brougham already.
KING OF THE PUMPKINs.-A curl
Gus custom prevails in Paris of annu-
ally proclaiming the King Of the Pump
kins, and of making solemn process
sion in honor Of the largest vegetable
of the species which can be discovered.
The King" of the present year was
grown at St. Mande: and weighed
three hundred and forty-eight pounds,
being a little less than seven feet in
circumference.