The Albany register. [volume] (Albany, Or.) 1868-18??, 1877-02-16
The aTIser's clock.

Monica uy we were the heirs, Ethel
and I. of he miserly, vicious uncle,
Triptolemus Forbes, who lived and died
in oversee. and was buried without a
tear. The only good word ever said
for him was in ,"ommemoration OF his
exit. in conseone "a, ,>e OF which we took
possession of the ,gl oomy old homestead
that stood midway between the town
hall and tue court-h otNSe In the pretty
little village crownin.g the head OF one
of the most romantic I'f the many bays
that dent the coast Oh Massachusetts.
With al! my good fortune, am inclined
to quarrel. with even the mite At credit
afforded Friptolemus Forbes, ID the
supposition that we enjoy a c.0mpetency
= acquired from him; hold that we are
really and actually heirs of am old
Dutch clock, with dingy dial, a9d
gTimy, cracked case, on the tep OF
which an autonaton shoemaker h'es 1s
a pink-aud-blue wife with a stroke for
(. everv unit of the hours that adorn 1he
face. Ethel's uncle might have accG-
mulated twenty millions, instead of the
modest hundred thousand he left, but
we, probably, would not have been
where the lawyers letter found US had
: It not been for the clock.
We were very poor, reduced to straits
30 terrible that only crime seemed to
5 stand between us and starvation, when
one morning, the intrequent postman
called on us with portentious looking
missive, addressed to James Mountford
Tracy, Esq, No. 229 NARROW Street,
CITY. With the address was the hand
..somely Autographed card of legal firm
on Broadway, and | was too perfectly
impressed with the idea that it was
citation into court TO answer the de-
rnands of some irate creditor, to- break
the envelope; Ethel, however, weak
woman though she was, had the nerve
I lacked, and taking the letter, tore it
open and ran her eyes over the contents.
/ noticed her growing paler and paler as
she proceeded, and presently she dropped
the written page and sank back in her
chair without word.
Picking it up my dependency rapidly
changed into exultation as / now read
MaKefees & Makefees, ATTORNEYS, etc.,
had pleasure in sorrowinlly informing
Mr.. Tracy that his wife's uncle, Trip
tolemus Forbes. ESQ.,, of Oversee, was
lately deceased and no will appearing
or being in probable existence, they con-
graduated Mr.. Tracy that his wife was
heir TO the Oversee estate, real and
personal, which was supposed to be in
existence, though of what nature Make
fees & Maketees were unable to state,
as their correspondents at Boston had
not been explicit IN their advices of the
9Th of Octhber and subsequent dates.
They have been making strenuous eff
forts for over three months 10 find the
heirs. and were delighted that they
had succeeded, and if Mr.. Tracy called
at their Office at his earliest convenience
they would be, sir, his most obedieni
servants.
At the lawyers office was received
by Mr.. I1eonidas Makefees, who an
nounced himself as testalory and genera
contract member of the firm, and bowed
me into bis diminhtive but neatly fur
nished den.
"Ah? Tracy, heirs to Forbes.' ht
said, striking into the heart of business
at once; emo question about the identi
ty, suppose? / mean you can estab
lish the fact of Mrs. Tracy's being Ethe
Forbes, only child of Poultney and ONLY
blood relative of Triptolemus Forbes
late deceased 2''
l had, of course expected this, anC
was armed with reserIpt from the bap
tisrnal register, certificate of vaccination
marriage lines, and multitude OF per
sonal references.
every good, Mr.. Forhes,'' said Nj
Leonidas, after examination. 81 ap
prehend no difficulty in putting yon il
immediate possession. A month a
the farthest, willgsee that consumma
tion.n
I am afraid that cut the interview
impolitely short in my anxiety to max,
Ethel sharer in the extent of my joy
Mr. Leonidas knew that thousand
upon thc:saadf of dollars in govern