Iowa voter. [volume] (Knoxville, Iowa) 1867-1874, 1871-04-06

mus. again assure you that you are de-
cdWA 1HTM accidental resemblance. !
a Tor Podkon And never heardsol
him.
And with a slight bow. he walked
away.
The principle topic Of conversation that
night at the meeting of the Serious Fam
lily was the miraculous appearance Of
someho1kyeT We Tor PoultoA at Tom
csuldS Psslljy ava - Ieg Ponlton,
because Tom Potilton was dead and bur
led, and Tom Poulton's will had been
opened by which he left thirty OF forty
thousand pounds in ready money to the
Serious Family. This was held by inpli-
cation only, as it never entered anybodys
head to suggest that the mysterious
stranger could possibly have been Tom
Poulton.
The club had resolved itself into COM
mittee to consider the best means Of in
vesting or otherwise disposing Of the
landsdse kyacy which Tom Poulton had
1t was decided, as first step, that, as a
mark of respect to poor Tom Poulton's
fund scheme, every member should be
permitted to borrow twenty-four pounds
from Toms estate.
The question then. arose whether IL
| wo0ld be beftsr to apply thxh6lance to al.
lowing every member reasonable guam
tity Of spirits and tobacco for life, without
any payment whatever, or to divide |,
equally among the surviving MEMBERS
- 1,Vrn hot on
every member, after allowing for probate
and executorial expenses, nearly one hun
dred pounds each.
As this interesting question was being
put to the meeting by Mr.. Richard Harris,
Nj: Tom Peulton walked ips :.
N ASkr said h, !" This y. 1Nfyate club
room, and strangers are not admitted un-
less they are introduced by members"
"Ha, hal" said Tom; "brayo, Peterr
49,. Sir. !" said another, 1--WE don't know
who you are, but we must request you to
withdraw"
"Allow me to introduce myself" said
Tom, with much mock gravity. am Mr..
Tom, Poulton, whose funeral you attended
this morning. Andlhe took chair and
III y Spi imagine, ST. becat1se you bear
q certain distant resemblance, to cur poor
friend Tom Poulton, you are justified in
horrifying his friends with a highly indie.
cent practical joker began Peter Hodg-
A distant resemblance!e
GA very distant and, shadowy resem
blance, sir. Nothing more, assure you"
Don't be a fool, Peter" said Tom
" We've had enough Of this, haven't we,
Dick?"
eve have sir" said Dick. al must
insist on your withdrawing immediate
q "Come, come" said Tom, rather chop
fallen; " it was only my Joke. person
ated poor old chap. who happened to
bear my name, In order to sell you ALL
I Pick, Harry and q, | arranged it together;
"Sir," said Dick, II haven't the pleas
ure Of your acquaintance. You will be
good enough to withdraw, or we shall be
under the necessity of expelling you by
force"
And az the members of the club rose in
q body, with the evident intention of car
rying Dick Harris threat into effect, Mr..
Tom Ponlton withdrew, With very blank
expression Of countenance.
In order to test the feeling Of the club
on the subject, it was Immediately pro-
posed by Mr.. Dick Harris, and seconded
by Mr.. Peter Hodgson, that Mr.. Tom
Poulton was dead and buried. The mo-
ton was carried by exclamation. ayy
II was then proposed by MI. Peter
Hodgson, and seconded by Mr.. Dick Har-
ris, that il, by any miracle, Mr.. Tom Poul-
ton came TO life again, the whole Of the
legacy should be refunded to him, il posi-
BILE, without driving him into chancery
for its recovery. This motion, also, was
carried by reclamation. ito, aasft
Finally, 1t was proposed by Mr.. Dick
Harris, and seconded by Nh. Peter Hodg-
son, that the person who had Just repre-
sented himself to be Tom Poulton re-
stored to life, was not in the least like
Tom POulton, and that he had nd gclaim,
and never, by any possibility, could have
any claim, to the legacy in question. This
motion, also, was carried by reclamation.
The question was considered settled by
all but Tom Poulton himself. y
Tom Poulton bcseiged the club doors
day after day, but to no effect. The hall
porter they had started a hall porter and
many other conveniences since Tom Poul-
toms death-had received strict iniunctions
not to admit any person calling himself
Tom Poulton. He treated Tom kindly
enough, believing him to be harmless
monomaniac, but no consideration could
induce him to admit Tom within the club
threshold 49, e7' - s. II
Tom next tried the parish surgeon who
gave the certificate Of the dead Tom Poul-
toms death, But all the. surgeon could
prove was that the Tom Poulton who
died was not at all like the Tom Poulton
who stood before him. On the whole, this
materially strengthened the clubs case
particularly as the description given BY
the surgeon Of the dead Tom Poulton's
personal appearance corresponded exactly
with every member recollection of the tln.
fortunate chairman of the Serious Family
1t was finally voted that, on the shrgeot3s
evidence, poor Tom Poulton was more
dead than ever.
Do what he might, Tom Ponlton could
not prove himself to be alive. Nobody
would hear Of it for moment. Hes ap-
pealed Cat some pecuniarY loss) to his
tradesmen for Identification. They identi-
fed him without hesitation as the Tom
P0ultOn who owed them money; but they
furnished no clew that would serve To
identify him with the Tom Poulton who
had been chairman of the Serious Family.
He never restnd 4, Ho,,re >, a rod NM ;t;o,,S