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

a'SHN'S>H>SS
a rich and distinguished relative is
by no means an unmixed blessing.
When l wrote my name in the matricu-
lation book at the university. the rector
raised his eyebrows and said:
''Ah! a relative of his excellency,
suppose"
Yes"
And yet you wish to take advan-
tage of the free scho!arships?"
1T is necessary, unfortunately-for
the present ut least
Thus began under unfavorable
auspices. | had all the notoriety at
taching to distinguished connection,
with none of its advantages. for was
poor as n church mouse. My comrades
pointed me out to their friends, saying:
Hes old Teleky's cousin, you know.
He'll have pile when the old boy pegs
OUT
This sort of thing worried me. There
was one compensation. however. My
name and presumptlve wealth procur-
ed ME the favor of young ladies and
their mammas. and for several seasons
1 basked in the smiles of beauty
My whole family, with all its branch
es-there must have been score of
persons all told-had, like myself. been
waiting for the futureZdead mans
shoes until they had become almost
barefoot My cousin in the beginning
had been nearly as poor as the rest.
He owed his Advancement and ms
wealth to his rare political abilities.
He had been a professional politician
all his life. Now he was called n
statesman.
He gave evidence of his talent in
boyhood. The neighbors' boys used to
rob his fathers orchard. One day my
cousin armed himself with knife and
a big medicine bottle with a poison
label He went to the orchard. where,
in full view of some of the suspected
pilferers. he made small incisions in n
number of the most tempting apples
and poured few drops from the bot
tie into each incision. Some of the
boys asked him what he was doing.
he responded that whoever ate those
apples wouldn't care for apples there
after. Thenceforth the apples remain
ed Undisturbed.
The bulk of his wealth came to him
through n lucky chance while he was
private secretary to a certain high
functionary.
A rich banker applied to the official
for concession, backing his applica-
tion with arguments of the most
weighty and convincing character.
But the law, unfortunately. stipulat-
ed that the holder of the concession
must be Hungarian, which the bank
er was not.
at can be arranged" said the dis
penser of patronage. you have a
daughter. believe"
"Yes."
''Teil. all you have to do is to marry
her to Hungarian as soon as possi-
bic. Then you can take the concession
in her name-that is. in her husbands .
AT that moment my cousin entered.
"Here is the man for you said his
chief. My secretary is Il Hungarian
of good family and amenable to reason.
Teleky. allow me to present you to
your future father-in-law."
The banker looked at the handsome
young Hungarian. and the bargain was
struck. the lady interposing no objec-
ton.
We never profited one silver by my
Cousins greatness. In late years in
deed he had shown the greatest ami
mostly toward the whole family. Some
of the affiliated branches who were
poorer and prouder than the Telekys
themselves murnured loudly, and II
was their complaints. the Telekys in
sisted. that had hardened the great
mans heart. On the other hand. these
relatives insisted that it was all our
fault. and so a family dissension was
added to our other mortifcations.
But in Hungary everything can be
converted into cash-even expectations
We had no legal claim on our cousins
estate. bat we found plenty of usurers
willing to take long chances.
This was carried on to such an ex,
tent that the wit of the family said he
hoped "the old man" would never die
as things were going on most com
fortably as they were. and when the
crash should come it would take the
assets of Rothscbi ITO meet the out
standing liabilities.
The old man did die however. while
1 wax still at the university. He was
I'll for long time. and the newspapers
were full of reports regarding him.
They said- among other things thai