Essex County herald. [volume] (Guildhall, Vt.) 1873-1964, 1901-01-11
By Harold MacGrath y

I cN thal ir Nohiu remember me IN his
/ will-nrver entertained the least idea
OF IL. | am independent: am earning
"A livelihood. small. hut enough and q
spare. I'll hid you good morning"
/ took n step toward the door.
Young man. sit down." said the old
man. coming back Ia his chair. IL
| want Ia talk 10 you for a few minutes
| Your uncle was peculiarly vindlctive
man. What he considered wrong he
neither forgot nor forgave. His son
pleaded VITA him not TO put In that
| final clause. He offered even To share
with you. Your uncle swore he would
| leave il all to the stablemen first. This
| journey was forced upon me. or
should not have taken ii. This is my
! advice 10 you: Accept the check and In
! the privacy of your room tear il up or
| light Il cigar with IL: that's about all
it's worth. You will feel no little salts.
f, Ion in lighting a cigar with it-that
is, If you are anything like me. Think
of tia thousand dollars to light your
cigar. 1t IL an opportunity not To he
missed. When you grow old. you will
say to your grandchildren. Once lit
Il cigar with a thousand dollar check.
The oldest inhabitant will be sllenced
forever. 1t may become history. And
then, too. if there are spirits. as Scrip
ture says there are. your uncle will
writhe at the performance. | trust
that you will forgive me my part In the
matter. | have taken a fancy to you,
and if you will accept my friendship
shall he happy TO accept yours. Your
mcle's revenge will not be marker to
the restitution his son will make
Restitution! His SOM
Yes. To my sincere regret he Is an
invalid who may or may not live the
year out He has already made will
in which he leaves all to you. The will
is in my safe at home. | return to-
night, so | may not see you again in
this world of sin and tribulation." The
merry twinkle had returned to his eyes.
II am very old"
at is worth all the trouble to have
met YOU" said |. "You should hay,
made the Jolt very easy
SO we shook hands, and he gave me a
cigar, around which was wrapped the
check. He winked; then he laughed,
and | joined him. though my laughter
resembled mirth less than it did the
cackle OF hen which was disturbed
over the future of her brood. | left
him and went down into the wineroom
and ordered n stiff brandy and soda
When that disappeared, ordered an
other. | ratified the Ice in the glass
"Ha. ha, har' | roared as the events of
the past "A hours required to me-
There must have been suicidal accent
to my laughter, for the bartender look.
ed mt me with some concern. called
for another brandy and shot the soda
into it myself. l watched the foam
evaporate. "IIa, ha ha.'
Hard luck?" the bartender asked
sympathetically
Yes" said |. l seemed to be speak.
ing to several bartenders who looked at
me with several varieties of commas.
sion.
Have another on me-" said the bar.
tender
! had another and went out into the
street. | walked down Broadway.
chuckling to myself. What a glorious
farce it all was! My fortune! Phyllis
my wife. What IL she had accepted
me! laughed aloud, and people turn
ed and stared at me. Oh. yes was
to travel and write novels and have
my pictures in book reviews and all
that! When | arrived at the Office. I
was on the verge Of total insanity. /
was obliged to ask the paragrapher to
write my next days leSder. 1t was
night before | became rational, and
once that, the whole world donned can
and bells and began capering for my
express benefit. The more | thought
of it the more l laughed. What
whimsical world it was! And was
there anything In 1t SO grotesque as
my part? ! took the check from my
pocket and cracked it between my fin
gers. A cigar was in my mouth. Should
| light it with the check? 1t was for
$1,000. After all it was more than |
had ever before held in my hand at
once. But what was paltry thousand,
aye. paltry ten thousand. to mans
pride? | bit off the end of my cigar, |
creased the check into taper and
struck a match. watched it burn and
burn. | struck another. held it |
within an inch of the check, but for
the life of me l could not light it.
"The devil take itv' l cried. flung
the cigar out of the window and laid |
the check on my desk. Courage? Why,
it needed the courage of millionaire
to light cigar with 81 1000 check!
The office boy, who came in then,
was salvation. The managing editor
wanted to see me. l sprang up with
alacrty. Anything but the sight Of
that figure / and the three demon eyes
of that $1,000 check!
Winthrop" said the managing ed
itor to me as | entered his office,
you've got to 60 to London. Hillars
has gone UNDER
Not dcad"' | cried
"No, no! He has had to give up
work temporarily on account CT drink.
IF it was any other man. I'd throw him
over in short order But | feel sorry
for Hlllars and am going to give him
another chance. l want you to go over
and take care of him if possible The
London work is not new to you. You
can handle that and Hillars too If
you can keep him in check
| shuddered. The word "check" jar
red on my nerves.
WHAT'S the matter?" asked the edi.
tor.
"A temporary chill" said. eco on"
well, if you can manage to keep
h Inn In ul..,..l-