The county record. [volume] (Kingstree, S.C.) 1885-1975, 1904-07-28
CHAPTER NNII.
TWO CONFESSIONS.

and stood by the window for minute
or two, gazing at the street. Presently
he resumed his seat, and handing me
the letter asked very quietly what l
thought Of it.
This question, coming from such a
source, greatly embarrassed me. and
nv embarrassment was increased
rather than allayed by my uncle's un-
expected behavior in these peculiar
circumstances Instead Of indignant
ly repudiating the charges brought
against him, or admitting their truth
by some outward and visible sign OF
depression he contented himself with
merely asking my opinion of the mat
ter, and while he awaited my reply
sugared his coffee and buttered his
toast with as great an air Of indiffer-
ence as if he had asked my opinion Of
the weather.
81 don't know what to think: my
brain is in a whirl. l no sooner sur
mount one difficulty than l am con-
fronted by another. Are the state.
ments in my fathers letters true?"
You are too discursive,' said uncle
Sam. LET US settle one thing at a
time. If you don't know what to think
l can tell you-at least so far as re-
CARDS the subject of that letter. To
allow your brain to get into what you
call a whirl whenever you receive un-
welcome intelligence is bad; you must
conquer that weakness. or you will al
ways be the sport of events. OF course,
as soon as you surmount one difficulty
another difficulty confronts you; it was
ever so with every man, and you will
find the process continue until you are
confronted by death-the last difficulty,
not to be surmounted or evaded by any
Of us. AS for your direct question !
unhesitatingly assure you that the
statements in your fathers letter lex
cept where he seeks by spurious an
alogy to associate me with the loss Of
his sequins) are perfectly true, and
not only are they true. but, as regard
the game of life, they are perfectly
justifiable."
This declaration shocked me. I had
never before met with anybody who
entertained such unscrupulous opin-
ions, or was so honest in the express
sion of them.
Most people" continued uncle Sam.
would infer from that letter that I
was guilty of great treachery to your
grandfather Wolsey, whereas the very
reverse is the case. 1 loved his eldest
daughter (she who afterward became
your mother), and my suit was ap-
proved Of by no one more than by
William Wolsey But when later on
your father bent his glances in the
same direction that same William VOL
sey discouraged my visits to his farm.
favored the visits of your father, and
not long afterward coerced his daugh
ter into marrying him, we'll knowing
that she had promised herself to me.
And why was this? Not because o.
any fault in me. real or alleged, but
for that sovereign quality in the new
suitor-ownership Of couple Of thou.
sand Suffolk acres. forsoothr'
Here uncle Sam paused and laughed
scornfully. Presently he continued:
1T was that circumstance which first
gave my mind a cynical turn, and in
duced me to devote myself to the ac,
QUESTION Of money. which l conceived
was the prime mover of our kind.
Twenty years experience has confirm
ed the opinion then formed. l have
not gone out of my way to avenge the
wrong old Wolsey did me. but when
about four years ago l accidentally
met one who greatly resembles the
girl used to ramble with in the fields
and lanes of Holdenhurst l did not re-
strain myself by any consideration for
the man who had treated me so badly.
That she has secluded herself from
her father as long as possible has been
ner own wish. and was always mat
ter of Indifference to me-
Uncle Sans SOphistry was very fas-
cinating to me. Systems of reasoning
which in others l should have de-
nounced as illogical and absurd when
presented in his words. and with the
ease and charm Of manner for which
he was distinguished. seemed to lack
none of the essentials of truth. At
first 1t appeared to me monstrous.
But my uncle's way of stating his
case obscured these considerations, and
led me rather to think Of the perfidy
of my grandfather Wolsey, which was
the origin of the trouble, and to marvel
how my father could have accepted
for his wife a woman whose love he
had not fairly won. That the state
ment was true l had no doubt what
ever, for uncle Sam had very effect
lively alluded to the circumstance
when he denounced his brother, and
the latter had suffered 1t to pass with
out challenge. Another, though an en-
tirely different consideration. afforded
me much qualification. and that was
the promptness with which my uncle
~ Il al,