The Caldwell tribune., 1905-11-18

"Shoe' Ut Is IL n0tT
hard common sense" said George.
80 1t is," said David. ''It's alwa Va
nara common sense when he takes an
other mans land" - ~. ~ i
\ am sorry for you, George" the old
man went on; yet his face expressed a
certain satisfaction. Nobody will blame
you, I'm sure; or me either, for that
matter; and when your poor father bor-
roWed the money the land was worth
three times as much as it is now, so
that nobody will blame him. don't ex-
pect ever to get the value of my money
back. So we're all losers by the hard
times. shall want a tenant, George"
the old man went on, "and we will not
quarrel about the rent Easy terms you
shall have, and when you've got your
head we'll above water again, we will
consider about you and Mary. Don't
think shall be hard upon you"
NO" said George; II am going to
emigrate."
ITO foreign lands, George? Has it
come to that? Dear-dear!
Il am going to Tasmania"
Tut, tut; this is very bad. To for
eign lands! David went to foreign lands
and see how he came home George
you had better stay at Sidcote and be my
tenant"
NO." George said, shortly "Well, the
long and the short of it is that we are
here to-day--Mary and Ito ask your
consent to our marriage"
mo, George; l shall not consent.
What! let Mary marry man Gho has
lost his own land and is going to foreign
lands? Certainly not! not on any ac-
countr'
when your Sister left Mary all her
fortune"
1T was mine by rights. I made 1t
for her"
She put in the clause about youl
consent to protect her. You know, as
well as |, that she herself would never
object to me for Mary's husband"
''She began with thousand pounds.
BY my advice she made 1t into six thou
sand pounds. Do you mean to tell me
that l am to have no voice in the dis
posal of all this money!
'This kind of talk will not help any.
body. Well, l have had my answer,
suppose. Mary, dear, it is for you to
choose between your uncle and me-"
II have chosen, George, you know
we'll. Uncle, you will have to give that
money to David or to me. Here is Da-
vid, and here am l. To which of us
will you give it?"
Suppose, Mary" David interposed-
suppose there was secret arrange
ment-I don't say there is, but suppose
there was-betWeen your uncle and me.
Suppose that l was to sell my chance
for so much down, and he was to keep
the rest"
Uncle! you would not-you could not
do such a thing" Mary cried.
Suppose, l say"-David went on
that arrangement was to exist. Then,
you see, George and Mary"-David put
the thing in his slow and elaborate man
ner, 80 as to bring out the full meaning
of the ransaction-"you see that if you
don't marry without his consent, he will
lose the money he's got to pay me; but if
he does not pay me that money before
you get married, he will have to pay me
the whole afterward. Therefore he nat
urally wants you to marry without his
consent. You are going to play his game
for him."
At this unexpected blow Daniel was
covered with confusion. When two peo-
pie make such a treaty, secrecy is the
very essence of it; and for one of the par
ties concerned to blurt out the truth is,
in sense, a breach of contract. The
old man actually turned red-at seventy
he had still the grace to husband hung
his head, but he could not speak.
"Oh! you have speculated on our mar
rying withouty our consent! You have
actually bought Davids chance and now
you want us to marry, SO chat you may
keep the whole to yourselfr
mot the whole" said David. "What
will be left after he has bought me outw
Mary" her uncle replied, evading the
question, "why do you want to get mar
ried yet? Stay with me. Let George
stay at Sidcote and be my tenant. And
l will consider-I will consider. Besides.
think, Mary; l am an old man now, and
you will have all my money and all my
land when l die"
Have you bought up David so that
you may keep the money as long as you
please, by always refusing your consent?
Answer that" said George, hotIy.
81 shall answer nothing" Daniel re-
piled angrily-"nothing- You
have come here and asked, for my con-
sent to your marriage. Very well; re-
fuse it. Now you can CO."
Mary" said George, lit is no longer
possible to leave you in this house. Your
uncle has deliberately set himself to rob
you. Come with me, dear; my mother
will take care of you till we are mar
ried." Mary hesitated. go, Mary, put
on your hat and come with me. AS for
you, Daniel Leighan"-he waited till
Mary had left the room-"we leave you
alone. Nothing worse can happen to you.
When you have no longer Mary to pro-
vide beforehand all your wants-when
you are alone all the day and all the
evening, you will remember what you
have thrown away. Oh, you are seventy
years Of age, and you are rich already,
and you rob your sisters daughter In or
der for year or two to call yourself
richer still"
The old man crouched among his pill
lows and made no answer. Mary was
leaving him. But If she stayed he must
give his consent, and then he would lose
the land. Ten minutes later Mary re-
turned, carrying a small bag in her hand.
'T have come to say good-by, uncle"
Her eyes were full of tears. ~ knew