Freeland tribune. (Freeland, Pa.) 1888-1921, 1903-01-12

/ tIGdSuIe So atOul VI IL
remained. Well, that morning he took
me to it and removed part of the
! case, showing me that the rear of the
| musical framework was double, with
\ space enough between the boards to
admit ones hand. In that space Is
| peculiar bit of mechanism of fathers
own devising, which he termed laugh
| ing-jack. 1t can be connected with the
musical apparatus by means of very
| slender wire, which is brought around
past the sounding board in such way
| that no one can find it unless he knows
beforehand just where to look for it.
"To show me how it worked he at
| tached the wire to the hammershank
of string near the centre of the in
| strument, and struck that note with his
| finger. At once the laughter began,
| just as it Will do now. He played a
strain or two and the thing kept laugh
| ing as long as the piano continued to
| sound. This amused me so that I
| laughed In earnest He feared that
| you might hear us, so he released the
| hammershank from the secret wire.
| "He then told me that he was think
| ing seriously of depositing his money
| in bank in a foreign country, so that
| the lawyers and sharpers would not
| be so apt to discover it and perhaps
| purloin part of it in case l should not
| be at home. He mentioned England
| and France, because of his factories
| being at the capital of each country.
| Tsanctioned the suggestion whereupon
| he explained that if he deposited his
money in England, at London, he
would attach the laughing-jack to the
| note e, by which should know that a
| letter OF introduction to the cashier of
| the Bank of England was secreted in
| this recess at the back of the piano.
| If he left the money in Paris he would
| attach the wire to the note e, mean
| ing France; if in our home city, to the
note G., signifying Germany. OF
course when he gave me these instruc-
| tions he took it for granted that 1
would get word Immediately if he
should die ere I returned so that you
would not need to be alarmed by the
laughing jacks merriment. He said
| further that If he should die SO sud-
l ubUly lllul ne tUulI hoI dltCll, " Ills
| matter, then 1 must look for the letter
in the secret recess in his desk at
home, with which you also are fari-
| liar. l searched for it there as soon as
1 reached home, but finding nothing, I
| concluded that you had either taken 1t
or that it was in the piano."
81 found nothing of Importance" re-
| turned the sister. "There was no letter
| there, at any rate-nothing but some
old bills and about fifty marks in
| money"
"Then I'll inspect the piano."
| With that Karl Vandofen arose and
| moved the instrument to lighter part
| of the room. In very few moments
he had taken away portion of the
casing, and his first act was to show
his sister the thread-like wire attached
to the base of one of the hammer
shanks, the prime cause of all that
hideous laughter With small stool
which he had brought for the purpose
he unwound the wire, whereupon he
struck the middle G note of the key
board to prove to her that the en-
chantment was gone.
He next gave his attention to the
double back of the instrument, dis
closing the unusual bit of space to
which he had alluded, with its queer
piece of mechanism within-the laugh.
ing-jacl Near the latter was care
fully sealed envelope, addressed to
Karl in scrawling hand and lettered in
faultless German-the fathers special
legacy to his son and daughter.
With trembling hand Karl opened IT.,
to find therein the following message,
also in German:
my Dear Son-The money awaits
you, as promised-all In twenty-marS
pieces. Present this letter to the cash
Ter of our national bank, whereupon
he will produce an exact duplicate of
it and will give you the key to box
in the safety vault. Take the money
and divide it equally between yourself
and Gretna; but first give the cashier
100 marks as reward for his fidelity.
although l have already paid him a
handsome sum. Sell our interests in
Paris and London, and live in the old
home, remembering the blissful days
when your mother lived and we were
an unbroken family. Awaiting deaths
call, GOTTL1EB VANDOFEN.'
Thus the magnificent piano delivered
its message, which touched a tender
spot in the heart of each recipient.
Nothing was left them but to obey,
with Karl as the principal actor in
the drama.
/; A. few months later the wishes ex-
pressed in the letter were all fulfilled
save one. And Karl had taken the in.
itial step toward its consummation
having begun to pay attention to q
buXom little lass in Berlin with view
to installing her finally as mistress OF
the Nandofen mansion.-New York
, Times.
A Multlpilcation-Additl Table.
The following table was worked cut