Alpena weekly argus. [volume] (Alpena, Mich.) 1871-1893, 1883-03-21
THE WIDOW wICKETT'S WINDOWS.

dying, and the world would get along
well enough without him, rs 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.. Parkmar
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 q
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.
II want to give everything to Ludo.
vico, >" he had said to the lawyer. ale
deserves it, and love him. My nephew,
Ralph Werner, would pounce upon every
thing il | left no will. No, l should
make one even if / had never found this
boy. / 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, land 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
would not see the next sun rise. No
| L., COLI 4,
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 fire-crackers and other
gunpowdery play-thngs, 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
horses mile away up the road and the
will sticking in the solitary gooseberry-
bush that decorated the Widow Wicket 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
h. Il,
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 taoks.
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 a
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 Mr.. lib
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 at
Mr.. Tibbetts.
"'For de Lord, massa, your watch.
an pocketbook, an penknife, an card
case, an handkerchief, is all dere was
in de pocketsr' he said. Dere WASH
no dockyment darp'
"A paper-a parchment" explained
Mr.. Tibbetts.
"Sartinly. is aware what n docky-
ment am, sah," replied William, with
proper dignity; "but dar wasn't none,
sah."
Vain search was made on the road, i'm
the hollow-evcrywhcre. The will was
gone. Sore rs 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.. Parkman
was already dead and all rewards that
were offered failed to bring the will to
light. The Widow Wicket never read
the newspapers.
The law had its course. The nephew
came into the property. The two old
servants, who had been well provided
for by their master, sought other situa-
tons. Ludovco was left without a
penny but he had good education,
and Mr.. Tibbetts offered him place in
his law Office, on n salary that saved him
from starvi ga better salary than he
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-and
nothing was heard of it.
Now, Mr.. Tibbctts had charge of the
Van Note property, and as every one
knew the Widow Wickett's house was
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 Wickett. 1t was worse
than il would have been to extract her
few remaining teeth.
Ludovico was set at the work this
time, and being young and sympathetic,
came out of it quite crushed and miser-
able At the tenth visit a little pile of
the dirtiest bills and crookedest coin pro-
durable lay at his elbow, and the widow
thus held forth
"Therc's your money. Now you've
extortioncd il out of me, take IL. 1t was
give me by good lady TO put the glass
in my windys and save me from rheu-
mates agin the winter but no, I've got
10 suffer now. ] hope you'll think Of
that when you're warm rs toast in your
feather beds and blankets --yahr'
Indeed it's not l. couldn't ask il