St. Paul daily globe. [volume] (Saint Paul, Minn.) 1884-1896, 1890-06-08
GREAT UNCLE DECIMUS.

been found dead in his bed that very
morning.
~ have to thank you ALL" he said,
''for answering my summons at once.
George, William and Adolphus reside
in the country, so it's no use waiting
for them. We," said Jasper proudly.
"are the nearest relatives of the de-
ceased. | take it that our first duty is
to see that our uncle is inferred in a
! manner BETTING his position in life.
AS the head of the family, with your
approval, it will be my duty to see to
this"
We all bowed to Jasper in sign of
assent.
cit will next be our painful duty"
continued my brother JASPER, ito
search for the will of the deceased.
Hobson & Jobson may know something
about it. Perhaps had better write to
HobSon & Jobson."
Again we all bowed; but we all felt
that Jasper was putting himself Tor
ward rather unnecessarily.
"You all know this little book, L
think" said Jasper, taking Great Uncle
Decimus' fat little memorandum book
from his pocket.
OF course we knew 1t; and Pm
ashamed to say that the eyes of some of
us Sparkled with anticipation.
perhaps we had better inspect it"
said Jasper.
We eagerly accepted his suggestion.
Jasper Hodgetts put on hic spectacles
and turned over leaf after leaf of the
little book.
"The first page he said. a little
proudly. contains the names and dates
of birth of my own family"
Nothing more?" we all asked in a
sort of chorus.
Jasper got very red in the face.
'There Is an absurd memorandum" he
said, lat the bottom of the page, which
is purely personal"
You'd better read it," said shortly;
There ought to be no secrets between
US as brothers,
Jasper passed the book to me. l read
the entry; it ran as follows: MRS.
Jasper's pastry is simply atrocious."
felt very sorry for my brother Jaspe +
Eaah page of the book was very SINH
lar to the first. There was a record Of
every member of the entire HOdgetts
family, and then there invariably fol-
lowed some unpleasant remark as to the
was nothing else-absolutely nothing
else.
Great Uncle Decimus was an extra
ordinary man," remarked my brother
Jasper.
We chorused our assent to this propo-
sition.
"Of course. there must be no expense
spared as to the funeral" remarked JAS
per.
This was carried mem. con-, and the
cermOnV was fixed for New Years day.
when [ receive the answer from
Hobson 81 JobsoD," said my brother
Jasper, lit will perhaps be better if l
do not break the seal until after the
ceremony, when the family will meet
again in this ROOM" 1t was very
thoughtful of Jasper.
There were TWENTY-FIVE mourning
carriages at the funeral of Great Uncle
Decimus, besides three private brough-
ans, two handsome cabs and four
wheeler. Over sixty of US sat down
after the ceremony i'll Jasper's drawing
room; it was like the meeting of joint
stock company. Jasper cleared his
throat, praduced big blue business
letter, opened it and turned very pale.
Then he read the letter aloud. 1t ran
as follows:
Dear Sir: In answer to your inquiries re-
spectlHg lHo VIII anu H!ldHclai posltlon VI
the late Mr.. Decimus Hodgetts. formerly for
many years in our employ, we have reason
to believe that the deceased died intestate.
The fact is that his entire income consisted
of e10O year, which he received from us as
compassionate allowance" and which,
of course ceased on his death. Yours ODE
diently. HoBsoN & JoBsoN.
Gentlemen" said my brother Jas
per, and he waived his hand for silence,
1.-The funeral expenses of Great Uncle
, Decimus have amounted to hundred
and thirty-nine pounds four and seven
pence"
The funeral of Great Uncle Decimus
proved salutary lesson to the entire
Hodgetts family, and | really believe it
was worth the money it cost US.