Pullman herald. [volume] (Pullman, W.T. [Wash.]) 1888-1989, 1891-07-17
THE FIRST FOLIO.'

maj ily prosperity was not deter
mined by chance alone.
MY uncle was rich Ny cousins, thouob
heithef saints nor perhaps even models of
ProprleIy' We're none of them bad fellows
one OF them was in the foreign Office an.
other was making his way slowly at tha
par, and third was, like myself. a soldier
The others possessed small private means
sufficient to enable them to live decen+Iv
and one of them at least increased his in.
come considerably by whist at his club
ana by pigeon shooting. | had gone to an
army examiners while only a lad. and
alter leaving Sandhurst went with nv
regiment to India, so that my uncle had
seen very little of me, which ultimately
proved fortunate circumstance. The
hrSt communication which had with my
uncle was made by me with considerable
dlttldence. and was not of a kind to rec
ommend me to him | had lost two
chargers, and not possessing the means
to replace them, | wrote to nv uncle
explaining the matter, and asking for
loan In reply he sent me check for
the sum required. | was very grateful
and economiZing till | had saved the
money lent me | 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. | found him very
tactiturn and apparently unsociable.
During dinner | L.,.>.. 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
manltesting i'll me was explained, for he
said, almost as if he were sollloquizing:
You were the last of my nephews to
borrow Of me, and you are the first who
has ever repaid loan"
After delivering this verdict, which APP
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, | 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 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 Il fee of 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 III which he was engaged, and
had afterwards won from him twenty
five pounds at whist. What fool
the fellow must have been! 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 | will
ingly assented. Apart from my desire to
CRAFTY my host | had a genuine interest
in rare books, and was eager to see his
valuable collection, of which | had often
heard but had been too young to appre-
ciate when, as a boy, | had last been in
his house. My admiration on beholding
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 | left the
house my uncle proposed that l should
resign my commission and become his
secretary. | did not misunderstood the
full significance of this proposal; | knew
that was not asked to give up my pro
fession without better equivalent than
a private secretaryship being in store foI
me- / 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
! might be cast adrift on the world with
out money or the means of earning Il live
ihood? Observing my hesitation, my
uncle said:
Think over the matter till tomorrow,
and give me your answer then"
This | agreed to do, and then | bade
him good night. found myself face tc
face with a very puzzling dilemma. But
the stake might win was a big one, SO de-
cided to run the risk. The result was that
a week later | 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 my
favor. | did feel many qualms, both o1
heart and conscience, on account of my
pretty cousin, whom had supplanted, but
it was not for me to interfere with my
uncles right to bequeath his property az
he chose.
Ny uncle was very well read, and was
a man of considerable refinement and cul
ture. He was Shakesperean scholar OF
great learning and his collection of books
pertaining to the greatest Elizabethan
dramas was most extensive. As his opln
ion on the authorship of these plays ought
to carry weight shall here state 1t.
II : hot IN "a
nor to Lord Bacon was due the whole
credit of those sublime creations, but that
by each of them the need of honor hac
been merited, as they had worked III col
liberation Lord Bacon, he said, hao
undoubtedly supplied both the poetry
and. philosophy, but that the stagecraf1
was manifestly that of an actor, and be-
longed to Shakespeare. The puns anc
other verbal conceits, he affirmed, hac
either been inserted by Shakespeare Oh
were the gagging interpretations of the
actors who took part in the plays, because
Lord Bacon was as incapable of these
puerilities as Shakespeare was of the vast
learning and deep philosophy. He held
other singular opinions, and asserted that
if a lord chancellor of our own day took
It into his heaA to write, say melodramas
for the Adelphi. he would undoubtedly
coIlaborate with one of our leading play
wrights, Mr.. Sims or Mr.. Grundy or Mr.;
Jones, and would permit him to take all
the renown and part of the remuneration
carefully concealing his own name ms
is no depression, but is given to snow no"
deeply my uncle was interested In SNAKE
speare.
The most valuable. or at least the most