Hot Springs weekly star. (Hot Springs, S.D.) 1892-1917, 1897-01-01
UNEXPECTED $4,000.

WINE sSiliitu WIS lJ-pfcttv, VlVl-
cious. ambitious. hut just now the very
much discouraged owner of the Smith
plantation and its encumbrunces. Two
weeks before she had been summoned
from her school at Staunton by the
death of her grandfather. and, as there
was no other relative. had entered at
once into possession of the property.
y few days after the funeral the OWL
or of the mortgage had made an Osten-
sible visit of coincidence. hut had SO
interpolatcd his expressions of SYM
patlly with matters of practical signi1i-
II that when he left Willie was for
the first time aware that she was only
the nominal owner of her plantation.
AT first she was stunned. for she had
already begun to make plans for the
improvement and extension of the an
cestral acres. The poor cabins of the
negro tenants We're to he replaced by
new ones. neglected fields were to he
again fenced and brought into cultiva-
ton, and better methods and better
machinery were to he used. Her grand
father had been e%asy-going and I'M
practicable, but she had supposed that
her schooling and the house expenses
had been met by the rents paid him by
negro tenants. Now she knew that the
mortgage had been gradually increased
to meet the deficits.
This morning she was in the kitchen
helping Aunt Chloe with the ironing,
but her thoughts We're busy with the
formidable problems of the future.
There were tlle expenses and the in
terest to be met. and. worst of all. there
was 500 still due her school Mt Stlun-
ton. She could not see any possible
way to pay it. for the season had been
bad, and the renters. instead of paying
what they owed, We're beginning to
clamor for advances OH the next years
crops; and the creditor had d%elicntely
limited that her grandfather had al
ready raised the mortgage on of all
proportion to its security. III anxious
succession her mind went WI her own
accomplishments i'll search of some
thing that would he money-producing.
She was fond of scribhling. and was
vi SoOO Hl VI Va iNSlSs III
had won n school reputation as IL lin
guist. But She was too honest and
practical to overlate these accomplish
ments. They were good things to
know, but would moi help her at this
crisis. No. She must struggle as best
she could until the creditor foreclosed:
then she would go out and seek a place
among the wage earners.
"Heyer's yo' mail, Mis- Willie." called
Uncle Tobe's voice through the open
window. and n black hand was thrust
in with Il package of letters. She took
them and glanced over the postmarks
carelessly. Most of them were from
school friends ut Staunton. Several
were circulars. and one was one from
Leadville. Col. She selected this and
examined it curiously. She had no
correspondents in any part of the West.
Inside was Il check and Il short letter,
with the printed address of a Leadville
banking house. The letter read:
willie Smith. Talbottom, Ca: We
are requested to forward you the In
closed check for ten thousand dollars
(S1O.OOW. Please acknowledge receipt.
and oblige, yours truly.
"wALDRON & CO."
She stared at it for Il moment. then
hurriedly examined the check. Yes. it
was for $4,000, made in favor of Willie
Smith. But, of course, 1t was Il mis-
take. If she had any relatives in the
world, they were SO far removed as to
have been overlooked, and certainly
none Of them was rich enough to send
her $4,000.
TalbOttOm was a small, unprOgres-
sive town, whose struggling arms
reached out drowsily to the line fence
of the Smith plantation. Willie cross
ed two fields and went down n short
lane, and was then in the principal
street. There was but one bank, and
its cashier was an old friend of her
grandfather's. She went directly to
him and explained her errand.
II reckon it's all right, Willie" said
the old man, after he had carefully ex-
amined the envelope and its contents.
Its directed to Willie Smith. Talbot
tom, and you're the only Willie Smith
I know. And Waldron & Co. are all
right. Our house has dealt with them.
And I'm bcand to say, my DEAR" put
ting down the papers and looking Mt her
beamingly, I'm plumb glad for this
windfall. 1 can almost hear yo' grand
father chuckle in his grave"
"But 1t can't be mine," insisted Will
| lilo st <1nnst nx,n, l,,N,r, tint I 1c,,0 "a
relative in all the world"
Somebody yo' family has lost sight
Of" said the cashier genially. "Now,
there's a nan owe in Jasper County
got a fortune from a cousin he hasn't
heard from in thirty years. l reckon
this Ia something that way. It's likely
20 mothers cousin or somebody else.
Anyhow. It's all right. and I'm willing