Gloucester County Democrat. (Woodbury, N.J.) 1878-1932, 1900-03-22
WOODBURY., N. J, THURSDAY. MARCH % 1900

the bulk Of his immense fortune would
go to the Budapest almshouse. but that
every relative who should appear at
the funeral would receive a respecta-
BILE bequest- And, as matter of fact.
on the day after the old mans death
l received a formal invitation to the
funeral from his confidential factotum,
who added a hint that my future finan-
cial 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 large apart
ment house.
A hearse and carriage stood before
the door when | arrived, and a 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 were
entering, and blamed myself for be-
ing the last to arrive.
just then two ladies entered They
were richly dressed, but entirely in
black, and they held handkerchiefs to
their eyes, from which tears were
streaming. / 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.
NsI,oro ,o,tfT 1.a M 6oy1hf of tho conn.
ineness of their grief. Their eyes
were red and swollen, as If from pro-
longed weeping, and their handker-
chiefs were used constantly.
Still 1 saw none of my numerous rel
atives. Evidently they were all in the
inner room, where the funeral no
doubt was already in progress, while
1 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 the dead man, but he cut me
short at the first word.
"Not yet" he said. "It is not yet
time You must wait"
l waited. After a time one Of my
companions rose and approached the
inner door, which was opened obse-
quiously by the funky. 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
imperiously by the sad faced servant
continued to wait, repeating the at
tempt at intervals without success.
After / had waited some hours | dis
covered that each person before he left
his seat received an almost impercepti-
Bile sign Of invitation from the servant.
/ waited until nightfall, but no such
invitation came to me. Then my wrath
rose and went to the door again.
st is not yet your turn, sir" said
the man of mystery.
Turn! What sort of funeral was my
distinS;giissf'ssd cousin having, l won
dered. az
"See here, my man." safdsszspuOo you
know who ann"
81 do not. sir, but it can make
Il am sssEaaz zAsseisys sur deceased
masters eousinr' | thundered
The mans face relaxed into a grin.
Deceased master? he said. Tel
eky? Ho, no! Ha, ha! The Teleky
funeral, my dear sir. was on the floor
below. 1t has been over for hours
now. This is the oeu1ist'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 a full ac-
count Of the funeral and the reading Of
the will. Franz Teleky. cousin of
the deceased" they said, twas the on
ly 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 afterwardl by
the old mans order About quarter
of the estate was divided equally
among the relatives who attended TN
funeral, and the remainder Went to the
almshouse.
But then the lawyer read codieA
of recent date and in the handwriting
of the deceased man. 1t ran as fol
lows:
Gas l 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 reIa-
tive, in consideration of the independ-
ence of character manifested in such
action, shall become my residuary
legatee instead of the almshouse, and
he is hereby constituted such residuary
legatee, and my executors are hereby
directed to give, make over and deliver
unto him, the said residuary legatee,
all the rest, remainder and residue of
my property that may be left after the
sums bequeathed to my relatives pres
ent at said funeral shall have been
paid. Translated From the Hunga-
rian For the New York Press.