Phillipsburg herald. [volume] (Phillipsburg, Kan.) 1882-1905, 1882-09-21
THE WIDOW WICKETT,s WINDOWS.

For my Love and me to marry IN.
Mary 4. Barr, IN Our Continent.
THE WIDOW WICKETT'S WINDOWS.
Mr.. Tibbetts was riding slowly along
the road, thinking for once in way
what brief life this was and how
quickly we left it behind us. He had
Just been making old Mr.. Parkman's
will, and it was doubtful if old Mr..
Parkman would live until night. The
pompous, bustling, dictatory man was
dying, and the world would get along
well enough without him, as it would
without any of us.
One person would grieve for him, and
that the very one who would be benefited
by his death. Years ago Mr.. Parkman
had picked up in the streets of New
York, on a cold winter night, poor
little italian boy, who had been sent by
his padrone to scrape the violin on
bleak corner. Mr.. Parkman had found
that the little fellow was ill-treated, and
had taken legal measures to release and
adopt him, and this boy, now grown to
be seventeen years old, was the old
mans great pride and comfort.
al want to give everything to Ludo-
VICE. he had said to the lawyer. ''He
deserves it, and love him. Mynephew,
Ralph Werner, would pounce upon every
thing if I left no will. No, I should
make one even if had never found this
boy. 1 should leave all to some charity.
Ralph is a brute rich, greedy con-
temptible. Ludovico will carry out my
ideas and do good with his money"
So the will was written, and it was
now in the lawyers breast pocket to be
carried to his Office and locked up in q
certain box.
Il may live for years. said the old
man, ''and Ralph would make no bones
of destroying the will. He's bad fell
Iowa very bad fellow"
But at the door Mr.. Parkman's man
had told him that the doctor had said his
masters hours were numbered; that he
would not see the next sun rise. No
| wonder Mr. Tibbetts felt that this was
an uncertain sort of world,
But the boys down in the hollow be-
side the road on which his horse slowly
trotted, who were making the most of a
! holiday and some fre-crackers and other
gunpowdery play-things. such as one
might fancy Satan had invented for his
| offspring, were troubled with no grave
| thoughts or solemn emotions. The black
figure of the lawyer, long and lean, seat
| ed on his quiet old horse, instead of
awakening awe in their small bosOms,
aroused them to deeds of mischief. Sud-
denly an invention resembling bomb
shell, though smaller and less destruc-
tive. hurled through the air, hit Mr..
Tibbetts in the small of the back, and
exploded. Mr.. Tibbets started; the horse
| reared, and in a moment more Mr.. lib
belts was on his back in the hollow, the
4 Al
will sticking in the solitary gooSeberry-
bush that decorated the Widow Wickett' S
front door yard.
Now the Widow Wicket was one of
those people who are always wretchedly
poor, no matter what is done for them,
and though she had more given her than
any other person in the town, she always
had broken panes of glass in her window
and was always patching them up with
pastebOard, tin pans and straw-hats.
TOddling out shortly after the acct
dent, of which she heard nothing, being
down cellar at the time, she found fine
piece of stiff parchment sticking in her
bush, and as it was just the size of two
panes of glass, appropriated it at once,
fastening it well on with many tacks.
AS she could not read writing, the names
upon the sheet never struck her eye, and
as for the red tape. she used that for q
shoe string Immediately.
Meanwhile, down at the hotel to which
he had been carried, Mr.. Tibbetts came
to himself, found he was not greatly in.
jured, expressed his opinion of boys in
general, and waited for his clothes
which were being brushed for him.
And, by the way" cried MIR. Tlb
belts, suddenly, bring me the docu
ment in the waistcoat pocket, William
It's very valuable
William could not turn pale; he was
the color of charcoal but he stared al
Mr.. Tibbetts
'''FOr de Lord, massa, your watch
an pocketbook, an penknife, an card
case, an handkerchief, is all dere was
in de pockets!'' he said. 90 Dere wasn't
no dockyment darr'
A paper-a parchment" explained
Mr.. Tibbetts.
''Sartinly. 1 is aware what docky
ment am, sah," replied William, with
proper dignity g but dar wasn't none
sah.''
Vain search was made on the road, in
the hollow everywhere. The will wa;
gone. Sore as he was from his fall, Mr.
Tibbetts had himself driven back to the
Parkman mansion. He arrived there
before the sun set, but old Mr.. Parkmar
was already dead; and all rewards tha
were offered failed to bring the will tt
light. The Widow Wicket never reaC
the newspapers.
The law had its course. The nephew
came into the property The two ole
servants, who had been well provided
for by their master, sought other situa
tions, Ludovico was left without {
penny; but he had good education
and Mr.. Tibbetts offered him place il
his law Office, on a salary that saved hin
from starving-a better salary than hi
would have given any other boy. Some
how he felt himself responsible for the
boys changed fortune; and he never
quite gave up hope about the will. But
six months passed a year-two-anC
nothing was heard of it.
Now, Mr.. Tibbetts had charge of the
Van Note property, and as every one
J knew the Widow Wickett's house wa:
upon it. She owned the building, but
not the land, and paid modicum Of
ground-rent. Mr.. Van Note being very
, ''close, it became every year some ones
painful duty to extract that small sum
from the Widow Wicket. It was worse
than ii would have been to extract hel
/ ffa1r