The Lake County times. [volume] (Hammond, Ind.) 1906-1933, 1907-07-29
The Wheel of Fortune,
IOriginal

hIISf-
ness When the Spanish war.
> came on he enlisted. went to Cuba and
came pack in command of his comma
ny Eugene was like the father. with
an eye single TO the accumulation of
wealth They were both bent on mon
ey making.
fFlor TO going to Cuba Sumner Co
Aant mad paid some attention to Ger
truce Evans, a lovely girl with no for
tune But as Sumner was noor ana
MS father had repeatedly told him thar
, II ne didn't mend his wayS-which
meant choosing a career indicated Inv
4 the old mamie would cut him ofy a.
$ his will the boy let the matter with
TUG sfl 20 by default. In the excite
AnenI OF war he forgot all about her
ana on his return found her engaged to
MS brother. Eugene meanwhile had
gone to the orient on a business mis-
sion Tor his father. Sumner had nor
Deen at home a week before his father
suddenly died of apoplexy, leaving all
his property TO Eugene. This left
sumner out in the cold and was rare
turn OF fortune in Gertrude Evans fa- +
Vor But another sudden turn of for |
tune soon followed. The vessel on
"hlch Eugene was returning to Ameri- I
ca was lost at sea, and all on board /
peflsheo. 1hls gave the Conant prop /
erty TO Sumner as sole remaining heir
at law, and Gertrude remained Door.
1t occurred to Sumner that with
fne fortune he might have q worry Il
/ pleasant life visiting Europe. hunting Il
n nd 10
other occupations that were attractive /,
TO him. But considering that his for
tune had so narrowly missed going to
his brothers fancee he thought he
should do something for her. After
thinking the matter over he concluded
TO offer her half of the property. The
oHer he made by note. He was great
" astonished to receive by return mail
a refusal to accept the gift.
linen after much reflection Sumner
made up his mind to offer himself with
the half he proposed to give, thinking
that the gift being, as it were, legiti-
matlzed, the girl might feel warranted
IN accepting 1t. Since such a PROPOSE
ton to one who was supposed to be
mourning for his brother was a deli
cate one to put, he concluded to do as I
ne had done in the first case-write It. Z
He wrote ten letters before he nroduc- Z
ed one he was willing to send. The =
reply was, as before, a refusal No :
reason was mentioned, but Sumner nat
urally inferred that her love for his =
lost brother was an obstacle. a
But the more Sumner thought about q
the matter the more it puzzled him. 9
Here was girl without a cent in the Q
world declining the half of large for =
tune either with or without a husband. .
he thought he would write begging her =
% permit him to do something for her
Win fortune that had so nearly been
lers instead Of his. But he concluded
o stop writing letters and to 90 and =
zee her. lie did so and was received a
'ery graclouSly. He stammered some a
ncoherent excuses about treSpassing q
N her grief with his affairs. but she .
topped him to tell him that his con- q
uct had been very noble and that she =
lad been deeply impressed by his I'M .
elf1sh action. He tried hard To intro
uce another offer, but found It inpos-
iole 10 frame one that he considered
uInclently delicate. When he left her
he felt as if he had deprived =
er or what rightfully belonged to her a
no there was no pleasure for him in &
IS inheritance. He fretted and brood .
!, seeing her occasionally to make q
ome new proposition which was al =
'ays declined, till at last he made the q
Iscovery that he was desperately in =
we with her. Then he went to her =
I'd told her that If she didn't marry y
M he would blow out his brains
hen she consented to take the matter
1der consideration.
Soon after the making of this nrono- a
ton SO well fitted to enter the lad1,s
she received a note .
ON lawyer saying that If she =
ouId come and see him he would tell =
n something to her advantage. She =
lied upon him, and he informed her
at he had received by mail from
omoay q letter from Eugene Conant
allied the day before he sailed for
me containing a will leaving all his
operty to her. At the time he signed
VIII he supposed himself to be a
ssessed Of only a few thousand dol a
IS, but since his father had died tha a.
= before he had inherited the Consn+ q
rtune. The letter had come through .
mails with no great delay. The =
$ OF the ship in which Eugene sailed q
Is reported by cablegram from Alden =
Q days after the disaster occurred.
Jpon the receipt of this news Miss
ans returned to her home and wrote
inner Conant note informing him
It, after all, she was the heiress To
Conant fortune and offered him =
T OF the property. He wrote declln- a
the offer. She then wrote Offering q
self and half the property. This .
ar was also declined. She waited q q Z
' days, then invited him to come =
/ see her.