The Ocala evening star. [volume] (Ocala, Fla.) 1895-1943, 1908-01-17
A Fool Scientist.
tOriginal !

mother. Mrs. Overocker had unbound
ed respect for wealth and sOughr to
train her son to esteem all roads to
wealth. including marriage. The son
cared nothing for wealth and was ub
sOrbed In the sciences. Everybody
knows that there is nothing cheaper
than brains and nothing more profit
able than knack for getting rich.
This is the reason that Mrs. Overocker
lamented that her son insisted on vast
lug his time on chemistry. geology. as
tronomy. biOlogy-indeed. every science
ending In y
But when one day the young man
told his mother that he was engaged to
Lucy LIE Roy, who had come of age
and into possession Of q large estate
at the same time, Mrs. OverOcker was
much Modified. She embraced her
son half a dozen times and told him
he might waste bis time with his SCI
ences to his hearts content
There was one difficulty in the way
OF Miss lie Roy's peaceable possession
Of the LIE Roy estates. Her GRANDPA
Their had accumulated them, and as her
father, Henry lie Roy, had married her
mother contrary to the old lie ROy's
wishes. dying he had left all the prop
erty to Peter lie Roy, his only other
child, Miss lie ROy's uncle. Peter dis
appointed the old man by leading a
Wild. rowing life and had twenty-five
years before been last heard Of in
South America. From that time he
had not troubled her brother or her
brothers family, who at the old mans
death had entered into peaceable pos
session Of the estate.
But, then. supposed-to-be-dead people
have an inconvenient way Of turning
up when least wanted, and the engage
ment Of the young couple had scarcely
been announced when notice was
served on Miss LIE Roy that her uncle
Peter had returned and demanded his
possessions. The blow was a severe
one to Miss lie Roy and Mrs. Overlook
er. Reginald was engrOssed in his sci
entiic studies and experiments and did
not seem to have common sense enough
to take notice that he, poor man. had
pledged himself to marry girl who
at the end of lawsuit-if she contest
ed the claim-would likely be as penni-
less as himself. His want Of apprecia-
| ton Of the fact was very annoying to
his mother and correspOndingly re-
freshing to his fiancee.
He who claimed to bel Peter LIE Roy
had long lived under the name Of Fred
erick Briggs. He had very little resem-
blance to the boyish pictures Of Peter,
but this was not surprising, as few
people will easily recognize even a
| friend not seen In q quarter of cen
fury. He secured the services Of q
lawyer with a talent for making the
| most Of his points Of evidence. and
many people had no doubt that he was
the real Peter. However, Miss lie
Roy's counsel advised her to contest
his claim ON the ground that he was
no one else than Frederick Briggs.
1t was well known that the real Pc
ter Le Roy when a boy Of eighteen had
| haen hit In the temple with a baseball
and had consequently lost the use Of
his hight eye. Miss Ls Roy's counsel
relied On this fact to prove Briggs an
impostor and ordered the man before
IN oculist for examination. Whether
BriRgs and his counsel knew what
their opponents intended to gain by
the examination and were prepared for
their tests or whether the man was
really blind in his right eye, the ocu-
| list was unable to prove that he could
sse with It However. when the case
was called and Briggs had brought the
strongest possible proof that he was
Peter L. Roy, Miss LIE Roy's counsel in
troduced the Oculist, who vainly tried
by q number Of tests to entrap the
| claimant into reading with his left eye
closed. The trial had reached the climax,
and Miss L. Roy was % wrought up
over the probability Of being reduced
to poverty that she prevailed upon her
studious lover to leave his sciences for
ono day and 30 to court with her. BE
sat In the courtroom evidently far
| away with some problem till the oc-
ulist began biz efforts to entrap the
claimant. After that he was al atten-
ton. When the oculist failed Regi-
maid whispered something to Miss lie
/ In half an hour he returned and was
callel5npOn to examine the claimants
eyes. Giving the man a pair Of spec
| tacles to put on, Reginald held a black
card before his eyes. on which were
words written in green letters. and
oclyod hin, IN rood fhom This tho