The Sauk Centre herald. (Sauk Centre, Stearns County, Minn.) 1886-current, 1901-01-17

throw II away, or Dufn IL. l unOer.
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"
81 knew your mother" said the law
yer. going to the window and looking
out and beyond all that met his gaze.
ITO think" went on. cooling none,
that my mothers brother should die
in this manner nourishing so small and
knew that l 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. l am independent: am earning
a livelihood. small, but enough and to
spare. I'll bid you good morning." l
took step toward the door.
Young man. sit down." said the old
man. coming back to his chair 81
want to talk to you for a few minutes.
Your uncle was peculiarly vindictive
man. What he considered a wrong he
neither forgot nor forgave. His son
pleaded with him not to put in that
final clause. He offered even to share
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 it up or
light a cigar with it: that's about all
it's worth. You will feel no little satis-
faction in lighting a cigar with it-that
is, if you are anything like me. Think
of it-a thousand dollars to light your
cigar! 1t is an opportunity not to be
missed When you grow old. you will
say to your grandchildren, Once l lit
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 fancy to you.
and if you will accept my friendship l
shall be happy to accept yours. Your
uncle's revenge will not be a marker 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 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"
ut is worth all the trouble to 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 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 a stiff brandy and soda.
When that disappeared, l ordered an
other. l ratified the ice in the glass.
"Ha. ha. ha"' roared as the events of
the past "a hours required 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 it myself. l watched the foam
evaporate 'sHa ha ha"'
Hard luck?" the bartender asked
EYES," 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 it all was! 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 l 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 l became rational, and
once that the whole world donned cap
and bells and began capering for my
express benefit. The more | thought
Of it the more I laughed. What a
whimsical world it was! And was
there anything in it 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 I
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. l watched it burn and
burn. l struck another. held it
within an inch Of the check, but for
the life Of me could not light it..
''The, devil take it, cried. l flung
the cigar out of the window and laid
the check on my desk. Courage? Why,
it needed the courage of a millionaire
to light cigar with a $1,000 check! -
The Office boy, who came in then,
was salvation The mann pin0 editor