Washington standard. [volume] (Olympia, Wash. Territory) 1860-1921, 1905-09-29
CHAPTER II.

n ONTGOMERY BREWSTER
MI no longer had prospect"
People could not now point
4 1 him out with the remark that
some day he would come into a mil
lion or two. He had realized" as
Oliver Harrison would have put It..
Two. days after his grandfather's fu-
neral a Anal will and testament was
read. and, as was expected, the old
banker atoned for the hardships Rob
ert Brewster and his wife had endured
by bequeathing 100000 to their son
Montgomery. It was bis without . re.
4tricton. without an admonition. with
out an incumbrance. There was not a
suggestion as to how 1t should be han
died by the heir. The business training
the old man had given him was synon-
ymous with conditions not expressed
IN the will. The dead man believed
that he had drilled into the youth an
unmistakable conception Of what was
expected of him In life. II he failed In
these expectations the misfortune
would be Ids alone TO bear. A road
had BEEN. carved out for him. and be-
hind him stretched a long line Of guide
posts whose laconic instructions might
be ignored, but never forgotten. Edwin
Peter Brewster evidently made his
will with the sensible conviction that
It was necessary for him to die before
anybody else could possess his money
nd ~ "A >o11
Tor him to worry over the way In
which beneficiaries might choose to
manage their own affairs.
The house in Fifth avenue went to a
sister, together with a million or two,
and the residue Of the estate found
kindly disposed relatives who were
willing to keep 1t from going to the
Home For Friendless Fortunes. Old
Mr.. Brewster left his affairs in order
The will nominated Jerome Buskirk as
executor. and he was instructed. in con-
clusion, to turn over to Montgomery
Brewster the day after the will was
probated securities to the amount Of
$1.00O.OOO. provided for In clause 4
Of the instrument And SO 1t was that
on the Goth Of September young Mr..
Brewster had an unconditional fortune
thrust upon him, weighted only with
the suggestion Of Grape that chung to It,
Since his grandfather's death he had
been staying at the gloomy old Brew
ster house In Fifth avenue, paying but
two or three hurried visits to the rooms
at Mrs. Gray's where he had made his
home. The gloom Of death still darken-
ed the Fifth avenue place, and there
was stiffness, q gentle stealthiness,
about the house that made him long
for more cheerful companionship. He
wondered dtmly II q fortune always
carried the suggestion Of tuberOses.
The richness and strangeness Of 1t all
hung about him unpieasantly. He had
had no extravagant affection for the
grim old dictator who was dead, yet
his grandfather was a man and had
commanded his respect. 1t seemed
brutal to leave him out Of the reckoning
to dance on the grave Of the mentor
who had treated him SO we'll The at
titude Of the friends who clapped him
on the back, OF the newspapers which
congratulated him, Of the crowd that
expected him to rejoice, repealed him.
1t seemed n tragic comedy, haunted,
too, by memories and by sharp regret
for his own foolish thoughtlessness.
Even the fortune itself weighed upon
him at moments with q half defined
melancholy.
Yet the situation was not without
Its compensations. For several days
when Ellis called him at Z he would
answer him and thank fortune that
he was not required at the bank that
morning. The luxury Of another hour
Of sleep seemed the greatest perQuisite
Of wealth. His morning mail amused
him at first, for since the newspapers
had published his prosperity to the
world he was deluged With letters. Re.