Barton County democrat. [volume] (Great Bend, Kan.) 1885-1915, 1907-06-07
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RDER Drown COOKE ,7 s9eySsS5 c 19a 81

Florence Carney, and I wish, also, 10
give you power Of attorney so that
from this time on, you can conduct
the estate In my stead and supply her
with such funds ~ she may need. I
do not expect to spend much time at
Carney-Croft and / want these mat
tiers attended to now, before / 90 there
ct all"
His ideas were % thoroughly in &C
cord with his duty to his sister that I
was now anxious to carry them out at
once as he requested, lest another op-
portunity might never occur. It took
but a short time to arrange the details
Of the will, and then 1t and the power
Of attorney were signed by him In Q
trembling hand and witnessed by
members Of my Office stan.
When these formalities were over
and we were alone again, Mr.. Carney
said abruptly:
II am going 10 Carney Croft tonight
and have wired Florence to have q
carriage for me At the midnight train
and not to sit U. don't expect to
stay there long, and l should think It
would be better to close the place and
have her take q house here in town
where she would be more comfort
able"
81 made the same suggestion my.
SELF" l replied, "but she wrote that
she felt perfectly safe at home, and
that she wanted to remain until you
came to take charge Of things. As
you have turned all such responsible
ity over to me, a your attorney, there
is but one thing now to prevent her
leaving"
What else can there be-" he NUT
tered thickly.
watched him closely as answered.
DO you not know that her friend,
Miss Weston, Is with herr"
What! Annie Weston there!" he
exclaimed. rs she well?"
NO" replied, studying him. "She
Is not at all well. In fact, she is too
Ill to be moved, and that is why Miss
Carney cannot close the house at pres
emit"
Il never dreamed that Annie Wes-
ton would be in my house." he whis.
pered, as if to himself. Poor girl!
Poor girl"
When Miss Carney asked her to
come, Miss Weston did not know that
you were to return, and even now she
has not been told that you are on your
way home l continued. "Your sister
was quite upset over the fact that, in
asking Miss Weston to visit her when
she was in such need Of a companion
she entirely forgot the disagreement
between you few years ago"
Disagreement" he almost shouted,
pulling himself up in his chair. why.
what on earth are you talking about,
man? We had no disagreement, | tell
you! Nothing Of the sort. suppose
Florence told you that, but she knew
nothing about It at all. l went away
because Annie thought l ought to; but
she was mistaken, poor girl! II had
stayed at home shouldn't be in this
condition now, but she thought it was
Tor the best: Poor little woman, she
tried so hard to do the best thing for
me and-look at me now! Look at me,
Ware! But she must not be disturbed
under any circumstances. You say
she does not know I am coming homo.
She must not be allowed to know 1t.
As | told you, I shall not stay there
long, and there Is no need of her
knowing that l am in the house. I
shall not see her, Ware" he almost
sobbed. I'm not 1T to see her! I'm
not fit to see her, mani"
The poor fellows distress was 50
great that, a moment later, as | stood
by his side at the door, l could not
resist laying my hand on his shoulder
and saying gently:
Why don't you brace up, Mr.. Car
ney? 1t isn't too late by any means.
Just think Of all that life has to offer
you. You are a man of great wealth,
the head Of one Of the best known
families in the country, and every
thing that heart could wish for lies b.
fore you. Think It over, old man,
think It over! Think of your sister,
and-and-Miss Weston, and yourself,
Carney; yourself, above all else, and
leave the confounded stuff alone!"
As l uttered the last words he 10
coiled from me as If l had been the
plague and muttered hoarsely, my
God, Ware, you don't think l am
drunk, do you?"
Before l could reply he had hurried
through the door, down the stairs and
into the street.