Herald and news. [volume] (West Randolph, Vt.) 1878-1943, 1903-11-05


told me once that the old Puritan fellow
in the frame was his great-great-uncle,
and the most famous preacher in the
land. But artistocracy and ancestry
don't count when you're IS and amt
got no money"
The old man disappeared around the
corner of the street Hapgood, with
curious light IN his eyes. went quickly
across .he roadway and entered the ram
sh6ckle old mansion which Edgars had
just left. He went straight to the up
stairs room where he had seen the open
trunk. Entering he took a curious
shaped key from his pocket and sprung
the clasp Of the paddock. throwing back
the lid of the trunk With nervous
haste he picked out letter. 1t was the
one which the old man had been read
ing the day before. Hapgood read the
letter through, and a smile of salts
faction. came into his face. Then
he locked the trunk and came away.
That night Jim Hapgood scraped to-
gether all the money he could and left
for New York city Thence he went
to Newport. In three days time he was
back at his home with the light of an
almost fierce JOY in his eyes
The day after Jim Hapgood's depart
ure Hezekiah Edgars missed the daily
visit which this rough fellow had been
in the habit Of paying He liked Hap
good despite his roughness and his
Drunkenness, for the fellow in his way
had been kind to the old man. Edgars
in his loneliness turned to the trunk.
/ He unlocked it and took out several Of
/ the letters. He did not detect the alb
sence of one. He went over them one
/ at a time, while the stern face in the
portrait above looked down on him.
The great part of the letters were ad-
dressed to Aaron Burrage. the grand
son OF the man who was looking down
from the frame on the wall and the
cousin Of the father OF the old man who
was bending over the trunk. Hezekiah
/ Edgars knew the names that were
+ signed to these letters. They were the
names Of women. famous women in
+ their day a century agone, and names
still borne by people whom the world
knew for their wealth and their po-
sition. Hezekiah Edgars half shud-
dered as he read the letters and thought
of the power for evil Of his long dead
kinsman.
why were these never destroyed. %
I he asked himself. before they came
into my hands?' Then he closed the
trunk and locked it.
Three days later Jim Hapgood en-
tered the old mans apartment MIR.
Edgars." he said, Il did something
mean. but | guess you won't be sorry
when you know what come of it.
took a letter out of that horsehair
trunk the other day. and I've been to
New York and Newport, and | showed
Il where il did the most good. The
women who wrote those letters have
descendants. seen a few Of 'em
while l was away. That trunk, with
what's in It, delivered in New York
city Monday of next week, is worth
$1,000 cold cash. There 81 900 of
It for me and $4,000 of it for you,
and you won't go 10 no poorhouse
yet awhile Now, don't you look like
that, for the letters won hurt no
body and won't get published. They're
goin' to the descendants of the writers,
and they II bum EN- up q-ick. You
lust think over 1t till tomorrow, and
I'll come again
The old mans hands were trembling.
When Hapgood left he rose unsteadily
and looked about him. The room SEEM
ingly was barer than ever. The words
forty thousand dollars" went buzzing
through his brain. Then he put the
thought of the money from him, and
quickly came the vision OF that awful
place on the outskirts OF the town where
the aged paupers went
Hezekiah Edgars' eyes went to the
face in the picture. With all its Sc
verify II was a noble face that looked
down upon him. The old man studied II
and thought of his father and nj IA
theirs father They were Aole able
men" came the thought. -and ! have
been an honorable man to this day"
He dragged the trunk from the corner
20 the fireplace He unlocked It and
took out the letters in armfuls with
sort Of delight in his face and threw
them on the hearth
He had emptied the trunk. Helighted
a match and touched the fame to the
pile of paper. He watched the name
lick ND the letters. In a moment or two
( there was nothing but gray ashes on
the hearth.
The old man turned and looked square
" and proudly into the eyes Of the face
on the wall.
Jim Hapgood went TO that room the
next day. The old man was on his oed'
with a smile lighting up his dead face
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