Lexington gazette. [volume] (Lexington, Va.) 1871-1962, 1903-02-04
WISDOM FROM
BEYOND THE GRAVE


u VIII Deque;it tHiS HIS EtlEc tSldic u
his nephew. Wallace GlcndOwcr. his
only brothers son. Wallace had feared
that his uncle would disiiihcrit him foi
the reason that he had not acceded Il
the old mars wishes in the matter Ct
marriage. Arthur GlrnGGwer's vii.
had married him for his fortune and
had led him Il miserable life In tn
veins Of Gertrude Reid. II girl to whom
Wallace was betrothed. ran the blood
of the Pages. from among whom Ar
thur Glendower had chosen his life
companion. In vain the old man had
warned his nephew against any and
all members Of the Page family. Wal
lace stood firm even to the sacrifice of
his expected fortune. Now that the Old
man had left him the estate and free
to wed the girl of his choice he was RAJ
dainty happy.
One morning Resale ChandOn, a pro-
tegee of the dead GlendOwor, came TO
him with a sealed packet Oh which was
written:
Give this to Wallace twenty days before
the date fixed for his wedding and tell
him to open It,
Wallace tore off the cover and re-
vcaled will, dated subsequent to the
one that had been offered for probate,
bequeathing all Of his estate save $10,-
600 to Wallace, to Resale Chandon.
Wallace was thunderstruck
"Rosalie," he said when he had some
what recovered, "uncle has given all
but pittance to you. While | confess
to my disappointment, 1t is rather on
account Of the noble girl who is TO he
my wife than for myself Were it not
for this l would rejoice"
"Uncle left all to me, and you about
to be married! How cruel Of him! [
won't have IT," And she would have
torn the will to pieces had not Wallace
stopped her.
Wallace Glendower had not the heart
to tell his affianced bride, engaged, as
she was, In preparation for the we'd
ding, that the fortune of nearly Il MI
lion which she had expected with h..l
had been reduced TO $4,000. lnst@ /
he wrote her note informing her r
the fact and offering to release L,r
from the engagement should she de-
sire to be free This done, he waited
eagerly for her rcply-a reply that
would show that disintereStcd love Of
which he had so often tried to convince
his uncle. Two days elapsed belize a.'l
answer came. 1t was Il long lcite..
telling him that Gertrude had taken
the time to consider the altered conli
ton of affairs rather with her head
than with her heart and cataloGu'nG
reasons why it would not be wise for
her to marry him. Wallace read on
fearing the worst, till lie came to the
end Then his head sank OH his arms
on desk before which he was sitting.
He was aroused by touch on his
shoulder, and, looking up, there stood
ROsalie. To her he poured forth hJ
grief, cOnfcSsing thnt his uncle had
been wiser than he, and now that Ger
trude had thrown him over he was
really pleased that the wealth had fall
Ell into her hands. Rose cUmforted him
as best she could and before parting
said to him:
wallace, will you give her up with
out an efforti"
"Yes. She has disappointed me-"
Her prudence Is perhaps praise
worthy. Wait. When you succeed on
your own merits, she may reverse her
decision"
"She has not offered to wait. She
has ended the matter in order that she
may look out for another fortune. In
Gle was right. She inherits her selfish
ness from the Pages, who have always
been fortune hunters"
"And your engagement is irrevocably
brokenf"
YES"
"Then take this"
She handed him sealed envelope On |
which was written:
Give this to Wallace upon the breaking |
Of his engagement TO Gertrude Reid.
Breaking the SEAL he withdrew | L /
Of note paper on which was written:
Inc VIII DeQueutnlnS the DUH Oh NY
fortune to Rosalie Chandon was not sig ned
by me. My signature was initiated fer inc
under a special agreement with my Law
yer.
"Dear Wallace said Rosalie, her
eyes wet with tears. How glad | am
Wallace stood mutely staring Mt her.
"Oh. uncle" he ut last exclaimed,
chow much wiser than |. How sure
that Gertrude would not stand the test!
Now see what he has never told me
that the treasure lies not In Gertrude
but In you. Rose. will accept nothing
except what you viii share with me-"
Both stood silently thinking Of the
dead. He had loved both. He had
been wise to see the selhshncss Of Ger
trude Reid and that Wallace and Rose
possessed every condition to make each
other happy. But his browning wiz
dom was In showing them the way,
with never a word Of suggestion to ell
ther and after his lips were mute in
death. And how certain he had been
of the result! He had left all to Wal
lace, relying OH his good sense, after
being convinced of Gertrude's heart
lessness and Of Rosalie's uIHelfsh IA
ture, to touch the chord that had been
set vibrating inharmonlously
Wallace" said Rose at last, IF III.
Gle were alive would cling to HIN
alone"
But since II was his wish
"And yOurs"-
"My blessed hope
81 consent. And now, Wallace, TT
me tell you the loveliest feature Of all
this The dear old man knew thai I,
was and always had been my wish
There Is an old maid to whom ia
Of Wallace and Rosalic Gl.e,-
dover Is insufferable. She consid ~
her loss Of fortune owing TO the vindlc-
tiyeness of that "Old curmudgcon Ar.
thur Gendower."
EDNA BURKE APPLEBY.
Stove For Sale.