, 1888-10-11
THE FIRST FOLIO.'

MANY nave attributed my good fortune
simply to luck, but when | make known
all the facts of the case | think that re-
Elective readers will come to the conclu-
sion that my prosperity was not deter
mined by chance alone.
My uncle was rich. My cousins, though
neither saints nor perhaps even models of
propriety, were none of them bad fellows.
One of them was in the foreign office, an
other was making his way slowly at the
bar, and q third was, like myself, a soldier.
The others possessed small private means,
sufficient to enable them to live decently,
and one of them at least increased his in
come considerably by whist at his club
and by pigeon shooting. / had gone to an
army crammer's while only a lad, and
after leaving Sandhurst went with my
regiment to India, so that my uncle had
seen very little of me, which ultimately
proved a fortunate circumstance. TIL
first communication which | had with my
uncle was made by me with considerable
difidence, and was not of a kind to rec
ommend me to him.. l had lost two
chargers, and not possessing the means
to replace them, l wrote to my uncle
explaining the matter, and asking for
n loan In reply he sent me a check for
the sum required. / was very grateful.
and ~economizing till l had saved the
money lent me l repaid it to him. Soon
afterwards | returned with my regiment
to England, and on my arrival in London
had an invitation from my uncle asking
me to dine with him. l found him very
tactiturn and apparently unsociable.
During dinner l noticed That he fire.
quently looked at me furtively, as though
he found in my appearance some cause for
surprise. When we reached the dessert,
however, the interest that he had been
manifesting in me was explained, for he
said, almost as if he were ~soliloquizing:
You were the last of my nephews to
borrow of me, and you are the first who
has ever repaid n loan"
After delivering this verdict, which ap-
peared to give his mind relief, my uncle
became quite talkative. and amused me
very much by relating the various
causes which had led to his disin-
heriting his different heirs. While
he spoke, l could tell by his indig-
nant shorts, and by the fire in his eyes,
that he must be a terribly irascible old
fellow. The barrister, who was "a convey
ANGER and equity draughtsman, had pro-
posed that he should examine all the title
deeds of the real property, which he had
learnt he was some day to inherit, and,
when he had finished his investigation.
had limited that n fee of a hundred guineas
would be acceptable. This sum had been
handed to him, and his name forthwith
struck out of the will. The way in which
my uncle told this story was very conf
cal. My cousin who was the crack shot
had bored him, it seemed, one night by
telling of the forthcoming pigeon shooting
matches in which he was engaged, and
had afterwards won from him twenty
hve pounds at whist. What a fool
the fellow must nave beenl Still
more foolish, if possible, had been
That cousin who, on seeing my
uncle's splendid collection of rare books
and first editions, had said that if
they were his he would soon turn them
into cash. Finally, he told me that his
niece was now his heiress, and | could see
that he was not altogether satisfied with
this arrangement. After dinner my uncle
offered to show me his library, and l will
ingly assented. Apart from my desire to
crafty my host | had n genuine interest
in rare books, and was eager to see his
valuable collection, of which l had often
heard, but had been too young to appre-
ciate when. as aaboy, l had last been in
his house. My admiration ON beholdinc
his treasures was not feigned, and my
uncle was sharp enough to understand
that. We spent the remainder of the
evening in the library, and so well did we
get on together that before l left the
house my uncle proposed that l should
resign my commission and become his
secretary. l did not misunderstood the
full significance of this proposal; knew
that l was not asked to give up my pro-
fession without a better equivalent than
a private secretaryship being in store for
me. l was the only one of his nephews
whom he had never appointed his heir.
On the other hand, what guarantee had |
that | should not meet the same fate as
my cousins, or rather a worse, seeing that
l might be cast adrift on the world with
out money or the means of earning a live
Ihoodf Observing my hesitation, my
uncle said:
Think over the matter till tomorrow,
and give me your answer then"
This agreed to do, and then | babe
him good night. | found myself face to
face with q very puzzling dilemma. But
the stake might win was a big one, so l de-
cided to run the risk. The result was that
a week later l was installed in my uncle's
house as his secretary, and was also in
possession of the comforting knowledge
that his will had been altered in nv
favor. | did feel many qualms, both OF
heart and conscience, on account of my
pretty cousin, whom | had supplanted, but
1t was not for me to interfere with nv
uncle's right to bequeath his property as
lie chose.
My uncle was very we'll read, and was
a man of considerable refinement and Gull
ture. de was a Shakesperean scholar of
great learning, and his collection of books
pertaining to the greatest Elizabethan
dramas was most extensive. AS his opin-
ion on the authorship of these plays ought
TO carry weight shall here state it.
He thought that neither to Shakespeare
nor to Lord Bacon was due the whole
credit of those sublime creations, but that
by each of them the need of honor had
been merited, us they had worked in col
iaooratlon. Lord Bacon, he said. he'd
undoubtedly supplied both the poetry
and philosophy, but that tho stagecraft
was manifestly that of an actor. and Ee-
longed to Shakespeare. Tho p.:us and
other verbal c5nccits. lie a-.yi.cG. Lad
either been inserted Gy -..fa rr