Vermont phÅ“nix. [volume] (Brattleboro, Vt.) 1834-1955, 1894-11-16
KORBEY'S FORTUNE,

On opening the door, woman III great eN-
element said, "Where is the minister? l
must see him right away" The sexton
brought Mrs. KOrbey to my study. she
Immediately broke out, "Oh. Mister minis
ter, my husband is dying and don't wan t
him to go without prayers She then in
the same breath informed me that she wa 5
Roman Catholic, but her husband was a
Protestant, and she wanted him to die with
the last rites of his church. | immediate
" accompanied Mrs. Korbey to a basement
in Rivington street. The Korbeys lived in
kitchen and bedroom. The bedroom
contained no windows, and the black hole
in which found the sick man contrasted
strangely with the brilliant sunlight of the
street. As soon as my eyes grew accus-
toned to the darkness, l saw that korbey
was in no immediate danger Of dying. l
said GLOW do you feel today?' He took
me for the doctor and said, Doctor my
old woman here is greatly disturbed about
me and said she would send for minister,
but don't think it is necessary just yet. "
| saw that ! must first get the old man s
confidence if l was to do him any good.
So | said, 81 am not a doctor, | am a MIN
lister, and as your wife informed me that
you were sick | thought | would run over
and see you; sick people, you know, are so
much shut Off from the outside world that
it sometimes does them good to see a
friend" As l made no immediate prepar-
alton to pray with Korbey, or to hold up
before him the sins of his past life, the old
man soon felt at ease.
"What is your business, Mr.. Korbey?'
| asked With certain air of triumph he
replied, Il am an actor, SIR He then be
gan to talk in the most familiar strain
oh oil hn ri liph II
past fifty years.
He knew Macready, Edwin Forrest, the
elder Booth and many other stage celebri-
ties. | finally asked what PLAYS Mr., Kor-
hey had most frequently appeared in. For
a moment he seemed somewhat perpleXed
but said:
"Well, I'm not exactly an actor that acts
himself, but | am always around to help
them. You see l am handy with the
brush. In a few minutes | can make a
dead level prairie look like a forest or a
mountain region; | can paint rivers and
houses so that, at distance, you can hard
ly tell them from real rivers and real
houses. Then, besides, when | was a
young fellow | was good at climbing, and
when there was hitch in the scenery
was just the man to straighten things out.
When we were in New Orleans many years
ago, | fell from beam at the top of the
curtain and hurt my head; if it had not
been for that accident l would be on the
stage now, and a great actor too"
''Mr. Korbey," | said, ''you know Shaks-
pere says, 'All the worlds a stage, and all
men and women merely players. We will
all soon take part in the last act, the cur
tain will be rung down, the masks and
inery will be laid aside, lords and ladies,
nd will ,,et .
are. You are poor, sick old man; shall
L kneel down by your bed and ask Him
who is above us all to reach down His
strong hand to help vou?"
Korbey assented, he folded his hands
and closed his eyes. When I rose to 90,
Korbey put his hand on his heart and said,
"Thank you sir; that did me good. |
feel easier in here. Please come again.
Two days later, when | was holding an
afternoon service, Mrs. Korbey rushed into
the church and said to the sexton: "Tel
the minister to come Immediately, the old
man is going, surer' At the close of nv
service | went to the basement in Riving-
ton street. On entering the hall, heard
loud noises proceed from Korbeys bed
room. The various names of the Deity
were used in such rapid succession that |
thought Korbey was praying; but, to my
great establishment, he was sitting up in
bed furiously brandishing a club and pour
ing out a vOlley of oaths at his son-in-law,
who was in the kitchen just behind the
bedroom door. 1t was fortunate for the
young man that KOrbey was partly paral-
yzed. Before he noticed my entrance he
hurled the club with terrific force through
the half open door. Mrs. Korbey and her
daughte were crying, and the neighbors,
of pa, Tad hot ha IL
My pr 'sence IT 8 ored peace. | told Kor-
hey that all the prayers in the world would
be OF no avail for man who showed such
an ugly temper.
81 am sorry you seen what happened"
he said, 'but it is good for him that my
legs have no life in them, or | would pitch
him in the street, because he is iazy loaf
er and won't support my daughter" l
read few words of the great Teacher
about forgiveness and asked KOrbey to re-
peat the Lords prayer after me. Perhaps
L paused little when | came to the words,
"Forgive us our debts, as we forgive our
debtors" He went through The PRAYER
without a break and before | left said,
Don't be angry with me; since | hurt my
head | get easily excited
A few days later when | called at the
Korbeys', l witnessed a kind of family re-
union in the dark bedroom. Mr. Korbey
was sitting up in bed reading a letter. His
wife held little kerosene lamp, which lit
up the letter and her own dull red, round
face. The son-in-law, a regulation East
Side tough, and his wife, a slovenlv young
woman, were eagerly bending over the bed.
listening to the old man as he slowly STUN
bled his way through the letter. No one
heard my knock at the kitchen door; so |
walked in. When Mrs. KOrbey saw me,
she took hold of my arm and pulled me
into the bedroom and in peremptory tones
commanded the husband to give the min
lister the letter, While | read every mem
Der of the family listened with intense
eagerness. 1t was a communication from
a claim lawyer, who informed Korbey that
there was sum of money, at certain
place, which belonged to Mr.. James Kor-
hey, hut which he could only obtain
through the assistance of legal aid. The
writer volunteered to secure the entire sum,
provided it was equally divided between
himself and Mr. Korbey The family were
eager to accept this proposition, as none
OF them had the slightest knowledge of
this secret fortune.
l suggested that there were other law
yers in the world beside the writer of that
letter, If no one else could find out the
secret now in this mans possession, it
might be advisable to accept his terms, but