Evening star., 1897-03-27
A MILLION DOLLARS.
The Amount m Ohio once Seeker
Once Almost Had in His Possession.

A MILLION DOLLARS.
The Amount nm Ohio once Seeker
Once Almost Had In His Possession.
He was man from Ohio In Washington
on political BUSH ess exclusively. and In
that department Of politics coming under
the head Of rewards and endowments.
I've got a promise" he said, cheerfulIy.
to Star man, but have arrived at an
age when 1 don't believe I have anything
sure until have 1t sure. Which reminds
me OF an incident once in my career ex-
employing the same. About twenty years
ago, when 1 was, say. twenty-five, had
| some business in Cincinnati, and I wen.
down on q morning train from the east
! from Columbus, where 1 was living at the
| time. l took a seat in the smoker of the
sleeper to enjoy my after-breakfast cigar,
| and in a few minutes 1 was Joined by a
| handsome. finely dressed man of sixty or
| slxty-fve He paid no attention to me. de-
| voting himself to a pile of legal-looking
papers which he took out of mis- pocket.
| Half an hour later however. he seemed
| to see me for the first time and .he sight
| of me appeared to startIe him. He stared
| at me until l became nervous, and was go
| ing out, when he begged my pardon in the
gentlest, sweetest way ina aginable. and
| asked me my name l told him, and that
gave him another start. Thep he asked me
! questions,
| pleased him more and more, and finally lis
face fairly beamed, and taking me by the
| hand he told me that 1 was the very man
| he was looking for, as a distant relative OF
| mine In the east had died, leaving me an
| estate of million dollars.
| Il gave the nice old gentleman the ele-
| giant 'haw. haw, which hurt his feelings
| very much, and told him didn't have any
| rich kin. and, if 1 did have 1 would only
| believe he or she was dead and had left
me a fortune when l got my hands on part
| of 1t. In other words, thought the oid
| party was crank of some sort. But he
| upset all my notions in a minute by going
| into his breast pocket after package. and
| taking from it ten one hundred dollar bills,
| handed the amount to me. Then had hot
| and cold chills and creeping sensations,
| and in my nervousness 1 actually bit the
| bills to see If they were good. All TINS
| time the old gentleman was enjoying my
| good fortune more than l was, and kept
| asking me if l believed him now, anu other
| questions Of the same kind.
| II put the thousand around in my pockets
| for safe keeping and after a while l cooled
| down enough to start in on a million or
! two questions / wanted to ask my new
| friend and benefactor about who TINS reia-
| tive was and how L happened TO De the
| lucky legatee, and more OF the same hlno
| He answered everything as a lawyer would,
and gave me his address in Philadelphia.
| where l was to meet him in two weeks for
| a final settlement preparatory to my tax
| ing possession of the estate
For quite awhile after we had finished
our talk I gave myself over to delightful
| dreams and every few minutes would take
| a hundred dollar bill out of my pocket and
look at it to serve as a pinch 20 let me
| know l was actually awake and had the
| money right there. AS the train came into
| the suburbs of Cincinnati the porter came
| in to dust his passengers, and l stood up
! to get mine, when, just as l was telling my
companion what hotel l was stopping at.
he jumped for me, and, with an oath, he
bore me to the floor. knocking the porter
clear out of the smoker There was a
| scrap for instant, relieved by the con-
| ductor and the porter. and when we rose
| to our feet, and l was so surprised was
| SpeechleSS, the old gentleman charged me
with stealing thousand dollars from MIN,
| and deman anded that the conductor searcn
| me. This was beyond the conductor 1pr-
| isdiction, however, and to relieve him
went through myself and handed over the
ten 800 bills. l thought that would end 1t,
and that an explanation would satisiy the
| conductor. but the old gentleman, IN the
| calmest manner. insisted upon his charge,
| and further insisted that l be turned over
to the police soon as the train reached
| the depot. | offered my explanation, ana
| insisted that the old fellow was crazy, but
he was so much cooler than / was, ana
kept his temper so much more equaoiy man
I did mine. that the case went against me,
and the conductor and porter both SIDED
| with the other man.
| There was but little time to argue the
matter and / began to think that l would
spend the day in a prison cell or some othcr
| equally uncomfortable place. when the
train slowed up and stopped In the depot
I told the conductor to bring on his officers
and take me away, and in a few minutes
| railroad detective came into the compart-
ment, which, by the way. had been closed.
so that the other passengers didn't know
what was going on there. AS he entered
the door the old man, who had been sitting
| in the corner gave yell that would have
| frozen the water in the steam boiler, and
| Jumped square upon the detective, with his
| fingers at his throat. He was like devil,
| and when the conductor, the porter and
| myself got the detective out OF the en-
| tanglement he looked as if he had been
run over by slow freight, and the old
| man was swapping at everything like a mad
dog.
THAT was all the evidence / wanted, and
| my old friend was turned over to the au-
| thorities instead of myself, greatly to my
| comfort and peace of mind. Later L
| learned that his malady had come upon
him Unexpectedly, though he had been in
| failing health for several months. He was
| a very rich man, and had been attending
| right along to all his business, and was at
the time of my meeting him on his way
| to see the heir of an estate of which he
! was trustee. When he died, three months
later, he had not sufficiently recovered his
wits to leave me that thousand dollars.
which had for time given me the most
| delightful feelings l ever experienced In
the whole course of my life"
| ssyK,ptn o1s in The Star nav because thew