The true northerner., 1901-01-25
By Harold MACCrath -

| OF Indignation swept over me. / un-
| derstood. 1t was his revenge. To
have a man make sport of you after
he is dead and gone leaving you i'm
potent and with never a chance to re-
taliatel keep it." | said again;
throw 1t away, or burn IL. / UNDER
stand. He has satisfied a petty re-
venge. 1t is an insult not only TO me,
but to my dead parents. You are, OF
course, acquainted with the circum-
stances of my mothers marriage. She
married the man she loved, disregard
ing her brothers wishes"
Il knew your mother" said the law
yer, going to the window and looking
out and beyond all that met his gaze.
'To think" | went on. cooling none,
that my mothers brother should die
in this manner nourishing so small and
petty a spite! When he did this, he
knew that | should understand his mo-
tive. In the first place, | never dream
ed that he would remember me in his
will-never entertained the least idea
of it. | am independent; | am earning
a livelihood, small, but enough and to
y
took step toward the door.
Young man, sit down." said the old
man, coming back to his chair. IL
want to talk to you for a few minutes.
Your uncle was a peculiarly vindictive
man. What ne considered a wrong he
neither forgot nor forgave. His son
pleaded with him not to put in that
ola 10 off 10 ch hap
with you. Your uncle swore he would
leave it all to the stablemen first. This
journey was forced upon me, or |
should not have taken it. This is my
advice to you: Accept the check and in
the privacy of your room tear ii up or
light a cigar with it; that's about all
it's worth. You will feel no little salts
faction in lighting cigar with it-that
is, If you are anything like me. Think
of it-a thousand dollars to light your
cigarl 1t is an opportunity not to be
missed. When you grow old, you will
say to your grandchildren, Once | lit
a cigar with thousand dollar check
The oldest inhabitant will be silenced
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 be happy to accept yours. iour
uncle's revenge will not be a ma "ker to
the restitution his son will make"
Restitution! His sonY
eyes. To my sincere regret he is an
invalid who may or may not live the
year out. He has already made a 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.
81 am very old"
1T is worth all the trouble 10 have
met yOu," said l. you should have
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 1t did the
cackle of a hen which was disturbed
over the future of her brood. / left
him and went down into the wineroom
and ordered a stiff brandy and soda.
When that disappeared, ordered an
other. l ratified the ice In the glass.
''Ha, ha, ha!' l roared as the events of
the past "a hours recurred to me.
There must have been a suicidal accent
| to my laughter, for the bartender look
ed at me with some concern. l called
for another brandy and shot the soda
into 1t myself. / watched the foam
evaporate. "Ha, ha, ha!'
Hard luck?" the bartender asked
alphabetically.
Yes" said l. l seemed to be speak
ing to several bartenders who looked at
me with several varieties of compass
| sion.
"Have another on me-" said the bar
tender.
had another and went out into the
| street. l walked down Broadway,
chuckling to myself. What a glorious
farce IL all wasl My fortune! Phyllis
my wife! What If she had accepted
me? laughed aloud, and people turn
ed and stared at me. oh, yes! l was
to travel and write novels and have
my pictures in book reviews and all
that! When | arrived at the office,
was on the verge Of total insanity. l
was obliged to ask the paragrapher to
write my next days leader. 1t was
night before | became rational, and
once that the whole world donned cap
and bells and began capering for my
express benefit. The more l thought
of 1t the more l laughed. What a
whimsical world II was! And was
there anything In 1t so grotesque as
my part? l took the check from my
pocket and cracked IL between my fin
gers. A cigar was in my mouth. Should
1 light II with the check? 1t was for
$1,000. After all IL was more than /
had ever before held In my hand at
once. But what was paltry thousand,
aye, paltry ten thousand, to a mans
pride? j bit off the end of my cigar,
creased the check into a taper and
struck match. i watched IL burn and