Alpena weekly argus. [volume] (Alpena, Mich.) 1871-1893, 1882-09-27

show did you get onf i hope the old fell
low didn't bore your
indignation, II think You needn't have
treated me so thoughtlessly. You might
have considered what you were doing
when you asked me to spend tho evening
with A."
With whats" he asked, raising his eye
brows.
"well, II you must have it, with ma.
Mac"
"My dear fellow, what do you meanp
snow, Graham" 1 replied, rather saw
agely, "don't make matters worse. III It's
your idea Of joke to expose a man to the
"Lunaticw he exclaimed, ''what does the
man meani Has my uncle's wine been too
much for you, CimexW
"Graham, do be serious, please. Either
you knew your uncle was mad, or else you
didn't. II the former, consider 1t most
unfriendly in you to have left me to find It
out; II the latter, why, Pm very sorry Tor
you; that's all l can say.
"Upon my word, Howard" he answered,
and could see that he was quite serious,
II never knew that my uncle was not as sane
as L am myself What on earth has he done
or said to make you think otherwisep
"O,he hasn't done anything; but he said.
three times over, things which would quail
fy him for Colney Hatch Immediately II the
Commissioners had heard him"
VIC, GOOD cd, gracious, Howard what is IT.
"Well, first he said that man who was
grown up in James IFS time was his father
Ipaused to see what effect this would have
upon Jack. To my surprise he merely
smiled, and asked
"What nextW
"Next he said that his brother-i n-law--
your uncle's own brother-in law, you un-
derstand- fought at the battle Of Edgehill
in 1922
"All right" said imperturbable Jack;
"The third count is that the poor old gen.
tleman talked about nephew OF his--not
you--, Jack, but another nephew-.a noble-
man, who fancy must be dead by now,
seeing that he was ninety-one years older
than his uncleW
SIS that alli" asked Jack, still unmoved.
"What else would you haveW
..But is that allS Are you sure there's
nothing elseW
"Really, Jack, old man, I didn't listen to
anything else. thought these three things
were well. stumpers. didn't hear any
thing else OF the same sort, i Confess
And you think from those three things
that my uncle is non con,pos, eh, Sim? mad,
ehW
Gas mad as halter or March hare, 1
should say" was my reply. 'I'm very
sorry for you, Jack; but 1 don't see what
explanation can possibly be given. 1t can
hardly have been joke, surely"
mo, IL wasn't toke,o said Jack.
"Then Pm afraid there is no escape from
my conclusion; and I'm very sorry for you
and your family, old man. By the way, l
hope II isn't hereditary, Jack?'
"Hope what isn't hereditaryY'
madness, mania, monomania or what
ever 1t ought to be Called"
jacks color rose visibly as he replied,
hurriedy:
- 4,
symptoms whatever of insanity in my fami-
"Then how on earth, may | ask, do you
account for the acknowledgements
isms into which he fell. and to which / am
ready to testify on oathW
"My dear fellow" he replied, ats entire
ly your own fault II you have been made
uncomfortable by anything you have heard.
Remember, / was going to tell you all about
l. myself, only, you were too impatient to
listen to me.'
"Confound it all, Jack.o said 1, for was
beginning TO feel very impatient again at
the nonchalance with when he treated the
matter, "don't humbug q fellow, but just
let me know at once, will you, what on
earth your uncle meant by those extraordi-
nary statementsW
"IIe meant nothing but the TRUTH
1.-THE truth" echoed. "What that no
had brother in-law born In the reign of
James the First--not George the First ,mnd
that would be bad enough--but James the
FirstW ,
sank back in my chair. Had Jack gono
mad, tooY What dreadful thing!
AT least he continued, "what is your
definition Of u brother-in- law"
"Wife's brother, or sisters husband,"I
replied. ,, .,,,,,, ., ,,.,,., .,..
husband, won't your In fact, il q man has
two sons-in law, they are loosely spoken of
as brothers-in-law to each other, you I'M
derstandr'
"Oh, yes, I'll give you that in. don't
see that TN make much difference"
swell, IL you admit that, 1t is quite true
that my unce's Drother-in-law was born In
1924"
81 don't believe it," l exclaimed; "it's
simply impossible
at can't be impossible, Norfolk" said
Jack, in his matter.of-fac tone, "because
it's true. Look ut this. have the whole
thing written down here;" and he went TO
a drawer and took out notebook. "It is
rather curious history" he added; "but
you wouldn't let me tell you when / was
going to-
! enough for that" replied; ''if you eau
explain these mysteries, I shall be very glad
TO believe in your uncle's sanity But 1
felt very skeptical.
"well, shall begin at the end and work
backward, or ut the beginning and work
up to the present timer It's all the same
to me-"
"'Bcgin at the beginning" ! answered,
quoting a favorite author, "and go straight
on till you come to the end: then STOP"
"All right; then here goes! Edward,
third son and fifth child Of Matthew In
gram, and Eleanor; his wife, only daughter
80, bother all that Jack! just come to
the point, and miss out everything elsc."
"Very well, then. Edward Ingraham,
afterward knighted by Charles H., was
born in 1924, and died in 1908. A few
enty- eight. he married Elizabeth Kennedy,
young girl of seventeen. Do you follow,
Norfolk?o
ayes, Pm all attention. Miss Kennedy
must have been born in 1GS6''
'shc was. Her father, Sir Duncan Ken.
nedy, had married very young. He was
born in 1865, and In his old age he married
again, and had more children. His young
est child, Gertrude Kennedy, born In 1879,
was my aunt"
"ImpossibleW
"Fact, though. can't tell you all the
circumstances, but the bare fact is this, that
IN 1916, she, being seventy seven, was mar
ried i'm Scotland to my uncle whom you saw
| to- day, aud who was then only nineteen.
have never been able to see how he could
do sucn tnlng; Dut icar ner properly
was an attraction"
elbow old was her father when she Was
bornp'
"Let me see he must have been seventy
four i'm that year. o, don't think that i'm
possible, Sim. Don't you know Campbell,
the poet. was scyenty-fve, years younger
than his father, who was also seventy.five
years younger than his fathcr!"
"Well, IL Is a curious combination Of odd
marriages, / confess. And, after all, there's
nothing which may not have happened. No
body rs old as eighty seems to have como
into it. But who would have thought Of
such a thingW
"Yes, it is unusual, was jacks calm re.
mark.
sand the nephewwI asked; "who was
her Lord somebody
"Lord Creditor. He was the son of Lady
Ingram by her second marriage. Old SIR
Edward died in 1908, only two or three
months after his ridiculous marriage, and
IA orI tInx