Spirit of Jefferson. [volume] (Charles Town, Va. [W. Va.]) 1844-1948, 1900-05-29


the funeral would receive a rcspecta-
BILE bequest. And, as a matter of fact,
on the day after the old mans death
| 1 received 4 formal Invitation to the
funeral from his confidential factotum.
who added hint that my future finan-
Gal welfare would depend largely up
on my presence or absence.
OF course l went. 1t was my first
visit to the capital, but had no diff
Guilty in finding my late Cousins town
residence, which was in a large apart
ment house.
A hearse and carriage stood before
| the door when l arrived. and great
crowd of idlers had collected to see
what they could of the distinguished
mans funeral. l saw none of my rela-
tives among the few people who We're
entering. and l blamed myself for be-
ing the last to arrive.
Just then two ladies entered They
| were richly dressed. but entirely il
black, and they held handkerchiefs to
their eyes. from which tears were
streaming. l followed them to an
apartment on the second floor. where
we found goodly company of ladies
and gentlemen. many of whom seemed
! as deeply affected as the two ladies'
who had just arrived.
There could be no doubt of the genu-
ineness of their grief. Their eyes
We're red and swollen. as if from pro-
longed weeping. and their handker-
| chiefs were used constantly.
Still / saw none of my numerous rel
! atives. Evidently they were all in the
l inner room. where the funeral no
doubt was already in progress. while
was cooling my heels with the out
! siders in the anteroom.
! A sad faced domestic. clad wholly in
black, stood at the door leading to the
inner room. approached him and en-
deavored to explain my connection
with tho dead man, but he cut me
short at the first word.
Not YET he said. ut is not yet
| time. You must wait"
l waited. After n time one of my
companions rose and approached the
| inner door, which was opened obse-
quiously by the Hunky. In little
while another did the same. When
three or four thus had passed behind
the mysterious door, l made the at
tempt myself, but was waved back
1
| 1 continued to wait, repeating the at
tempt at intervals without success.
| After had waited some hours l dis
covered that each person before he left
his seat received an almost impercepti-
BILE sign of invitation from the servant.
1 waited until nlghtfall, but no such
! invitation came to me. Then my wrath
rose, and went to the door again.
''It is not yet your turn. sir" said
the man of mystery.
Turn! What sort of funeral was my
distinguished cousin having, Won
dered
"see here, my man." said, "do you
know who am?r
'I do not, sir, but 1t can make no.
81 am Franz Teleky, your deceased
masters cousinr' thundered.
The mans face relaxed into grin.
| Deceased master?" he said "Tel-
eky? Ho. no! Ha. ha! The TelekS
| funeral, my dear sir. was on the floor
below. 1t has been over for hours
now. This is the oculist's Officer
| l went back to the university, ours
ing myself for fool and bitterly envy
ing my fortunate relatives-to say
nothing of the almshouse.
The next days papers had full ac-
count of the funeral and the reading of
the will. Franz Teleliy. a cousin of
the deceased,i they said. was the on
Iy relative absent"
The will was found to agree with
the forecast of its contents. which had
been printed and which had been given
to the papers q learned afterwarD by
the old mans order About a quarter
of the estate was divided equally
among the relatives who attended the
funeral and the remainder went to the
almshouse.
But then the lawyer read codiciI
of recent date and in the handwriting
of the deceased man. 1t ran as fol-
lows:
"As I am well acquainted with the
grasping character OF my relatives
feel certain that not one of them will
fail to attend my funeral if he thinks
he can make anything thereby. Never
theless it is my whim to order that If
any one of said relatives shall absent
himself from said funeral said rela-
tive. in consideration of the lndepend-
ence of. character manifested in such
action, shall become my reslduary