The Dakota chief. (Gann Valley, Buffalo County, S.D.) 18??-1913, 1894-02-22
common erfand-boy in Il grocery

WY" CIlOl(N1. nnn
C,'e re cicah, TOO a great deal nicer
man ii good many other things. |
MINK. BESIDES, errand boys ALWAYS
make their fortunes RIGHT away
Dld you ever hear of a millionaire in
il book who didn't begin by swoepiny
out a store?'
"Ah. il your Uncle Icdekiah had
only left you all his money. as he
promised" sighed the widow, taking
up the battered sock again.
"lnstead Of only his name ana the
old clock. eh, MOTHER"
oh. yes. 1t was too bad of uncle.
he ought to have been ashamed, tnd
AFTER making us give you hi, horrld
Name, too"
Never mind, mother. It's an
honest name, even though the first
nan that owned it wasn't much in
the way Of a King He's icen dead
so long that the naInc ought to have
grown respectable again by now"
"And n TO leave You nothing
after ali.'
Il don't believe, do you know.
that he had Anything to leaye. Folks
say he was really very Door"
Poor: Not he" Mrs. Barnes was
reused to indig alton. IL guess he
wasn't But he was an awful miser
Tor years before he died, and he lived
FOR ali the world like a beggar. We
fancled he'd have left you hundreds
and there was LOthing"
"DOn I forget the clOck..'
The clock" sc%ornfully. s.Ah. bv
the way, that reminds me: there was
a peddler here this morn ng-not that
1t IS much good for anybody with
anyth ne to sell to come here--he
saw the old clock and seemed TO fancy
it somehow: he said ned give YOU a
couple OF dollars for it if you liked
and | thought you'd be glad enough
to let him have it,"
led looked rather taken aback.
The d clock? why, no. mother.
l guess | wouldn't"
You wouldn't:" echoed his
mother, in scrpriSe, mingled with re.
proach. 1.-The children are badly off
for boots, and two dollars are two
dollars Besides, it'll have TO go next
week with all the other things, and
may lie it won't bring rs much as
that at the sale" This with a little
sigh
"Pcrhap> | shall not sell it, said
Iedekiah, slowly.
ed, YOU must he crazy"
No, I'm not" he had risen and
was wandering about the 1oW-cclicd
room. his hanlS deep in his pockets
lat least. | dOn'u think ! am But
somehow it goes against me to paIt
with , nclc Lei'S legacy. Hasn't it
been in the family as long as there's
any record, and didn't my great
grandfather, generations back, bring
it with him Ihen he came TO Amer
ica:"
$50 I've heard tell, Zed."
His wandcrings became more encr-
gctic.
well then" he said. II don't be-
leve we Dug mt to let it go while we
can stick to it. 1t isn't just b cause
it is the only thing VIC shall have left
when we leave here to let the chill
dren know that We came Of a family
that was W Tito. do once. If they
don't make people respect them for
themselves, it isn't much use having
a tail OF grandfatherS behind them,
but when | think CT the poor Old
grcat.grandlather bringing that big
clock across the sea to his home in
the new country. be"aused he pred
it more than anything he had, and
when | think OF all the generations
it has licked for, I can't find the
heart to let it go into strangers
hands" lie brought himself up
short before the tall cid clock in the
corner. no, the clCck shan't go"
he said.
- ed, you're the Qucerest.' said
his III jther, with an u~n>peakable con-
sternation. .'Qucercr eve than your
poor father: and | never could make
him out"
But ~Zcdekiah was contemplating
the old timepiece with It's once
stately carving OF black oak and its
dial of D lisned trass, where beneath
the 'Giles Henbest me lecit, London
1903" ran Il half -obiiterated legend
and the name 'Jabob. Barnes, Exeter,
1121."
81 believe it's worth ever so much
more than 50" he said. examining h
quaint engraving tn car. ANY
way, its not going for that, nor for
ANYTHING. ! dOn's mean TO say L
wouldn't sell it to keepu IL from starv-
ing. but we're not t ere yet, ana L
hope We sha'nt be-
Heaven forbid" said the widow,
But | dean to set that before me
10 work for. A home TO put you ana
the little girls and the clock in. Whv'
Pm certain the Harrises would give
it. n corner in their kitchen TIL i
could claim tiff it only went ana
kent good time, that is" lie BENT