Butler citizen. [volume] (Butler, Pa.) 1877-1922, 1905-10-26

La IERTS
LINEAGE
BY EpeE eJ. Sargent
copyrig-' = sy R. B. Mcclure

lima said to the other fellow" begaI
Preston Lambert. Then l said l want
ed to marry you. and he put the bottle
back in the cellaret."
''Then he won't let you marry meY
she said wistfully.
well, he didn't exactly say me nay,'
admitted Lambert, 'but he made one
prohibitive condition. I've got to get Q
family
"a family?" she echoed.
"Just that 1 suggested that he was
a trifie premature, but he explained
that what he wanted was back mum
bers, not future issues"
OH walled Mollie. why did ht
ever find out that he was a direct de
scendant of William the Conqueror?"
Pure cussedness," suggested Lam
bert ''Bill didn't hand down any
money or titles that reached this far
1t was Jabe7 Gordon who did most Of
that work.
Grandpa Gordon was awfully pool
when he married grandma" she as
sented. ITS funny they never thought
about William the Conqueror before
they got married"
when you're poor" declared Lam
bert, ''it doesn't matter much whether
Adam or Bill Smith stands at the head
of your family tree"
Il hate family trees" breathed the
girl yehemently. 81 wish dad never
had heard of his genealogy."
"Oh, WELL" said Lambert cheerfully
1--WE can't chop the internal tree down
I'll have to study forestry and learn
how to grow one"
Did he say you could marry me II
you did," she asked joyously.
''He said that for the sake Of the
race he wanted his daughter to marry
a man as nobly born as herself. He
sort of intimated that he lad an eye
on an English duke, with a pedigree
as long as a snakes tail"
II won't be a Duchess" Mollie pro.
tested. Il want to be Mrs. Preston
Lambert"
"And so you SHALL" he declared. "I'll
have a family tree as tall as a cocoa
nut backed up here on a truck inside
of three months"
''It took pa three years and half to
get his together" she dissented.
That's all right" laughed Lambert,
STOPPING to kiss her. I'm wonder
when l get started"
Mollie followed him to the door and
watched him swing down the street.
Then she went into the now deserted
library and gained some consolation
from making faces at the elaborate de-
sign whereby the Gordon ancestry was
traced in a direct line to royal blood.
More than one small fortune had
been spent upon the tree, and it was
the pride of Robert Gordon's life. The
millions he derived from his father
had been nothing to him until this an
cestral line had been discovered He
had been merely Jabez Gordon's son.
Gordon the elder had been q Forty
miner" and had left vast stores of min
eral wealth to his son and a faint rec
objection of his grandfather.
Robert Gordon's respect for ancestry
amounted almost to mania, and his
first attention upon becoming the heir
to the fortune was given to work on
his historical records.
None of them had been successful
until Gottfried Shackmeister had picked
up the scent, and In due course de-
livered to his client letters and other
documents to prove that the Gordons
were a branch of an old English line.
1t had not only taken him more than
three years, but also involved travel
ing far and wide. Gordon, however,
had not grudged either time or money.
1t was less than three months be-
fore Lambert sought formal inter
view with Gordon.
II have that tree you wanted" he
announced lightly as he was ushered
into Gordon's presence.
Tree" was the puzzled exclama-
ton. 81 don't remember any conver-
sation have had with you on the mat
ter of trees, Mr.. Lambert 1 leave
those matters to the landscape gar
dener"
Don't you remember" reminded
Lambert, that you said l could not
marry Mollie until l had some man
whose name has come laundering
down the ages to blame my existence
upon"
Il recall saying that it was a duty
we Gordons owed our race to marry
only into families as ancient as our
own" he corrected.
"Well," continued Lambert fiippant-
", this is itr' He placed upon the
table a small handbag, from which he
extracted old volumes, time stained
papyrus and what not.
81 find,' he ratified on, "that I am
directly descended from the Pharaohs."
Gordon rose angrily. This is an in
suit" he stormed, 'to come here with
this absurd collection of forgeries
which you presume to tell me are rec
ards dating back more than 1000 years
md collected by you within three
Will you leave or shall 1
have to call the butlerT
Hadn't better call Peters," urged
Lambert smoothly. 81 hate to do it,
but want to marry Mollie. Let me
marry her and I'll ignore the fact that
my family runs farther back than
yours"
"Neverw shouted Gordon, ~ would
see her dead firsty'
.On your own head be it then," said
impersonally. Here goes for
/ confession. I made these records
myself"
81 know you did," almost screamed
Gordon, land you come here and have
The effrontery to compare them to
ny own authenticated documents"
II made some of those too," said
Lambert quietly.
There was something in his manner
hat bore conviction. Gordon dropped
INTO chair. "How?" he gasped
'eebly.
"Do you remember" he asked, that
some years ago was suspended from
college for haZing scrape?"
"Yes." whispered Gordon.
''Well, the pater shut down on the
funds. / did not want to bother my
sister (mother was dead, yoU know,
and 1 earned some money writing for
the papers.
II could not get regular job, but
picked up dollar or two from the
Sunday editions. One day they put me
Oh the track of man who was sup
posed to have forged q manuscript.