Iowa voter. [volume] (Knoxville, Iowa) 1867-1874, 1871-08-17
YES, he lives near at hand. can send

les, De ives dear at nAnu CoA eo"o
!. for him now"
Better send for him them said Mr.
Thompson.
Ii less time than the old man had ex
pected, there came rap on the door, AND
the brown, sunburned face OF man o.
thirty, tall, and uncouth in figure, peepec
in. Want to see me, Squirrel"
Yes" said the lawyer; come in, Mr.
Matthews This is Mr.. Thompson, gen
tleman from the far South, who has taken
a notion TO settle down in W. and Is
looking for some eligible property"
With this introduction, the three sal
down, and in half an hour the bargain was
struck Mr. John Thompson had pur-
chased Of Mr. Caleb Matthews all his
night, title, and interest in the ten acres
aforesaid, in consideration Of the sum OF
ten one thousand dollar notes, all crisp
and new counted out on the table before
I him. the said Caleb Matthews, Slightly be-
wlldered) by him, the said John Thomp-
son las cool and self possessed as cucum-
ber). Then Mr.. Thompson, reiterating his
request that the purchase might for the
4 present he Kept perfect secret, babe the
other two good cay, promising to call TO-
morrow for his papers.
But, spite of the Injunction OF secrecy
/ laid upon him, Caleb Matthews, with his
ten new bank notes rusilipg in his pocket,
i found the news too good, and too surpris-
/ ing TO keep it long to himself Between
him and garrulous wife and half dozen
brothers and their wives, the information
soon spread itself through the village, and
Of course it gathered strength and dimen-
sions with each repetition. Stories of the
faI 81 hav rcfa nctra
were circulated, and it was with deferen-
tial regard that the chances Of those he
INST on his daily rambles were directed
toward him Day by day the public Gu
riosity about him became greater, but he
seemed to care not a straw-in fact, ap
peared unconscious of being the best no.
ticed man In the village He had no in
tercourse with any casual acquaintance
AS the days went On he even grew
moodier and more reserved than ever,
passing an hour or two every morning
surveying his newly bought ten acres,
tramping them over and over again, and
busying himself in all sorts Of quiet spec
ulations. One day, just week after the
purchase, he called on Squire Jessup
The kind hearted lawyer received him
cordially, as before, and wondered that he
had not called sooner for his papers.
GIVE been very busy, all by myself"
was Mr. Thompsons answer. "ADd
now I've called to engage your services
again. Let me see. The deed is all right,
is it,"
Perfectly. There it is, sir, signed,
sealed and delivered"
Mr.. Thompson took the document, read
it carefully through, asked one or two
questions, and then, folding it up again,
laid it away in his capacious wallet, and
proceeded
II wish to begin building at once. The
plans and specifications for the proposed
edifice have here with me, and ready for
the builder. Now what | want you to do
is to obtain for me fair estimate of the
total cost of materials and labor required
for its completion before the 10Th Of next
December"
Mr.. Jessup stretched ont his hand to
take the drawings which his visitor had
produced, and glanced over them hastily.
"Why," said he, "this calls for larger
and finer building than any we have in
town."
Mr.. Thompson's eyes sparkled for a
moment "Indeeds' was all he said.
"Of brick, with one hundred and fifty
feet front and one hundred feet Depth"
the lawyer read. why. you don't mean
to occupy such house as this all alone, /
hope" he said, laughingly.
Not replying Mr.. Thompson continued:
eff the estimates, which, by the way, |
should like you to submit within week,
are satisfactory l would ask the privilege
of naming you, sir, as my representative
in carrying out the details of the work, in
drawing up the contracts, ard in making
the payments when they fall due +; in return
for which you have only to name your
compensation. have my particular rea-
sons for asking this Of you, and hope
you will consider it favorably."
81 thank you for the trust you desire to
repose in me-" said the Squire, and &C
cept it,"
"Send in your bill whenever you de-
sire" said Mr.. Thompson; and let there
be no unnecessary delay in the estimates
Do as you would do for yourself, and my
word for it you will not regret it."
And 80 he left the puzzled lawyer to his
reflection. Straightway there went forth
Mysterious summonses from the dingy
little office to carpenters and joiners, and
bricklayers, and plasterers, and painters,
and for several days thereafter there was
quiet little conclaves where figures and
Piabo anu
held high revel, and, finally, within the
time appointed, Squire Jessup sent his
client word that he was ready 10 zee him
again. The terms were concluded saiis-
factorily, the papers were signed, Mr.
Thompson deposited check for one half
the amount of the estimate, took q receipt
for II, and directed that the work should
be begun at once. II am going away for
a while,s said he, sand will keep you ad-
vised of my whereabouts, so that you may
write me from time to time what progress
is being made"
"You have placed in my hand" said
the good old lawyer, "a trust which
hope you will find has not been misplaced"
And they shook hands and parted, and
the next days stage coach took away Mr.
John Thompson in the direction from
which he had come.
A month passed away, and then another
and another, and the calm, genial days of
the Indian summer came around once
more to throw their garments of scarlet
and gold and russell over the fields and
orchards and woods about the pesct fol
little village upon which we have looked
Add day by day the walls grew higher.