The aegis & intelligencer. [volume] (Bel Air, Md.) 1864-1923, 1872-06-28

greatest secrecy must be preserved concern
ing his future prospects. Also, at the enc
, of that time, he must be able to swear tina
he has never revealed the possession of til,
will, or the money will be left to charita
bic institutions"
, Then followed her name in full, and also
that of prominent lawyer.
Well, here was food for reflection.
could scarcely realize, at first, that it coulC
be true but thought l knew enough about
forms to be sure it was will that would
stand in law if kept the conditions. Il
was the oldest thing l had ever heard of
But she was always up to odd things; be
sides, thought she was not pleased with
my easy way of taking life, and had taken
this means to waken me up, trusting to my
well-known curiosity for finding the will
She had certainly succeeded in arousing
me. Sleep torsook my pillow that night
one moment I would imagine myself rich
and respected, then, like grim spectre
would come the conditions of the will
How could l, without any help, make ten
thousand dollars, was more than l could
tell. Unjust leave the bank, that was sure
bnt what to do, or where to go, were ques-
tions that could not be answered that night
or the next.
At last, | became so stupid and unsocial
that my friends all left me in disgust.
grew poor and haggard, and at the end of
n month could hardly realize | was the
same person as the gay careless boy of a
month before. I hardly know how it would
have ended for me, if just at that time had
not received q letter from an old friend OF
my aunt's, living in Wisconsin, saying his
daughter was going to New York to at
tend school, that she was not accustomed
to travelling alone, and as the place in
which lived was quite railroad cen
tire, to prevent her making any mistake,
would kindly meet her at the two o'clock
train on the twenty fifth of the present
month She would be dressed in brown,
would wear blue veil, and, to make her
still more easily distinguished, she would
carry sheet of music.
For once my thoughts were taken away
from my fortunes, and found myself Won
dering what she would be like, and how
she would have to wait.
The two o'clock train found me anxious.
ly inspecting the passengers as they poured
out of the cars. Sure enough, there were
plenty with brown dresses and blue wells,
but none with anything that looked like
music in their hands. concluded she had
not come, when l heard musical voice at
my elbow say
81 do believe you are the gentlemen papa
said would find here to help me- Aren't
you Mr.. Collingwood ?"
Yes, that was my name, and there was
the brown dress, blue veil and sheet of mu-
sic and more than all that, there was the
most charming specimen ofhumanity had
seen for many q day. recognized her i'm
mediately. She had to wait two hours,
and you may be sure we improved every
!. moment.
After had seen the last faint hutter of
the blue veil through the car window, l
went back to my lonely room more gloomy
than ever, and my thoughts were very much
divided between thousand dollar bills and
Miss Dalton.
Henceforth, was a changed man, was
ready to work, and willing to do anything
that was honorable and would bring mon
ey. And it was perfectly wonderful how
well / succeeded. People seemed to help me
of their own accord. There is an old say
ing, The gods help those that help them
Selves" and I proved it true. Not that I
rose to honor by any royal road, but the
end of the first year of my probation found
me with a thousand dollars to show for my
work, and better than that, had faith in
myself. If never saw a cent of the forty
thousand dollars, I could take care of my
self, and some time, not SO terribly far in
the future either, might allow myself to
think of something better than always
living alone.
About this time found a chance to in
vest my little fortune on what seemed good
security, and it proved profitable, for be-
fore l had had time to think much about
it, my thousand had doubled twice.
don't believe there ever was a happier fel
low than was then.
A few days after my good fortune, bust
ness called me to New York. l had not
forgotten my pleasant acquaintance, and
from her father had learned she was still
there. AS / had her address. felt at lib
erty to call. She really seemed pleased to
see me, and l, well, do not want to make
this love story, SO | won't tell how felt
At any rate, my visit heightened from two
days to two weeks, and at the end of that
time she had promised she would be my
wife at the end of year.
Fortune continued to favor me, in accu-
mulating money, and at the end of the year
l had my ten thousand dollars all ready.
fastened to the place had left my pre-
cious will, almost dreading to look for tear
it had disappeared, but no, it was there
and | took it to the lawyer who had sign
ed it, asking him to put me in possession
of my property, as had fulfilled the con-
ditions to the letter. He looked it over
then said,-
"Young man, am very sorry to disap-
point you, but this will will never stand in
law, for the very important reason that your
aunt did not have forty thousand dollars
to will to any one. She said she was going
to make man of you, if possible, and !
am happy to find she has done it. You
have my congratulations"
Well, must confess, at first, did feel
pretty badly about it, but l managed to
live through it. determined to visit Miss
Dalton at once, tell her all about it, and
see if she was still willing to take me for
better or worse.
AS soon as possible after my arrival,
related the whole story to her. was hard
ly prepared for the way she took it. One
moment she seemed ready to cry, the next
she could scarcely keep from laughing. At
last she found voice enough to say,
40, Charlie, knew it all the time. Your
aunt told father about it,"
The loss ofmy forty thousand dollars did
not trouble me much after that, for one
month from that time Miss Dalton became
my wife.