Middlebury register. (Middlebury, Vt.) 1886-1937, 1905-11-24

sent out invitations for Il large dinner. /
His grandfather had been dead less |
than Il month. and society was some /
what scandalized by the plain symp- |
toms of disrcspect he was showing. No ,
one had expected him to observe a pro- |
longed season of mourning. but that ,
he should disregard the formalitics |
completely was rather shocking. Some /
of the older people, who had not long /
to live and who had heirs apparent. |
openly denounced his heartlcssness. 1t !
was not very gratifying to think of |
what might be in store for them If all /
memories were as short as Brewsters. /
Old Mrs. Ketchel changed her WILL !
and two nephews were cut off entire
ly. \ very modest and impecunious
grandson of Joseph Garrity also was
to sustain severe change of fortune
in the near future if the cards spoke
correctly. Judge Van Wort, who was
not expected to live through the night,
got better Immediately after hearing
some one in the sickroom whisper that
Montgomery Brewster was to give a
big dinner. Naturally the heirs-to-be
condemned young Brewster in no un-
! certain terms.
Nevertheless the dinner to be given
by the grandson of old Edwin Peter
Brewster was the talk of the town. and
not one of the sixty invited guests
could have been persuaded to miss it.
Reports as to its magniticence were
abroad long before the night set for
the dinner. One of them had it that it
was to cost $4,000 plate. From that
figure the legendary price receded to
a mark as low as $500 Montgomery
would have been only too glad to pay
$4,000 or more, but some mysterious
force conveyed to his mind a perfect
portrait of Swearengen Jones in the
act of putting down a large black mark
against him, and he forbore.
II wish | knew whether l had to
abide by the New York or the Mon
tana standard of extravaganza" Brew
ster said to himself. II wonder if he
ever sees the New York papers"
Late each night the last of the grand
old Brewster family went to his bed
room. where, after dismssng his man,
he settled down at his desk, with
pencil and a pad of paper Lighting
llle tdlultS, NlllCu were lLplt tuNllf
managed, he found. than lamps and
much more costly, he thoughtfully and
religiously calculated his expenses FOR
the day. hopper Harrison and Elon
- Gardner had the receipts for all mon
eys spent and Joe Braglon was keep
ing an official report. but the chief.
as they called him, could not 90 to
sleep until he was satisfied in his own
mind that he was keeping up the aver
age For the first two weeks it had
been easy-in fact, he seemed to have
quite a comfortable lead in the race
He had spent almost 100000 in the
fortnight, but he realized that the
greater part of it had gone into the
yearly and not the daily expense ac-
count. He kept a profit and loss
entry in his little private ledger, but it
was not like any other account of the
kind in the world. What the ordinary
merchant would have charged to loss
. lie jotted down on the profit" side, and
he was continually looking for oppor-
: tunites to swell the total.
Rawes. who had been his grand
fathers butler since the day after he
III NEW lOlh Cdlllc ONtl " lhC
grandson's establishment, greatly TO
/ the wrath and confusion of the latter's
} Aunt Emmeline. The chef came from
l Paris, and his name was Detuit. Ellis,
2 the footman. also found much better
5 berth with Monty than he had had in
the house on the avenue. Aunt En-
incline never forgave her nephew for
} these base and disturbing acts of
D treachery, as she called them.
One of MOntys most extraordinary
a financial feats grew out of the pur'
e chase of $4,000 automobile. He
: blandly admitted to hopper Harrison
e and the two secretaries that he intend
r ed to use it to practice with only, and
t that as soon as he learned how to run
5 al "auto" as it should be run he eX
= pected to buy a good, sensible, durable
= machine for $1,000.
{ His staff officers frequently put theil
g heads together to devise ways and
= means of curbing Monty's reckless ex
/ travagance. They were worried.
l. Hes like sailor in port protest
5 ed Harrison. Money is no object if he
), wants a thing. and-hang 1.-THE seems
Y to want everything he sees"
$ ut won't last long" Gardner said
d reassuringly. Like his namesake
Monte-Christo, the world is his just
: now, and he wants to enjoy it."
: HE wants to get rid of it, it seems
t to me-"
G Whenever they reproached Brewster
!. about the matter he disarmed then
II by saying: Now that I've got money
e mean to give my friends a good time
e Just what you'd do if you were in m!
l. place. What's money for, anyway
s But this $1,000 plate dinner
e Tin going to give a dozen of them
: and even then l can't pay my jus
s debts. For years I've been entertained
6 at peoples houses and have beer