Putnam patriot., 1909-04-09
\ New Way of '1 Settling Accounts.

EiatiOr-l
 John and Martin Stokes. brothers. vrre iB business together fer many sesrs They made money. but when 1eba died Martin found great diff enltv in settling up the business. Iabn.s oldest son Peter. fearing that bis uncle would absorb the dead part uar.s interest. bothered and delayed hls uneIe ip such fashion that. financial uani. coming on. what was left of the arms assets was so eufangled that 1t could onty be iiquidated after pafieut management. Martin Stokes. bres king l down in health. turned the whole mat Ter over to his nephew and Jeff for paris unknown.
 Ten years later he reappeared. sfekIy locking old man. but with some annearanee af having prospered. Peter Stokes had meanwhile saved some S2n 100 from the wreck. half of which. of eourse. belonged to his uncle But peter furnished accounts to show that the firm had been insolvent His uncle iaaEed fhefn over studied them and handed them back to his nephew with the remark:
 .rm sorry. Perer. that you got noth- l ing out of il But. after all. l may not have been away so long for nothing have Do children to enjoy what have | accumulated and have determined 10 leave II 10 you and your sisters. will nIaee fl in q safety deposit eompanyss vault and tell you where l keep the key. After my death you can unlock the box containing the securities. and they will be yours without any will and testame on my part All ask from you is bare pittance so long as I live. which will be at most but few years.
 He took long fat envelope from his peeket sealed with his own seal and wrote on it. "l give this property to mY nephew. Peter Stokes. and bis sisters. Lydia and Grace Stokes The
 words bore that days date and was signed hF tbe donor
 ..This plan he said, leaves Tt my deafh nothing 10 be settled. By Will an estate must be liquidared the some as q business And you know fhat Ill
 winding up q business there is lot If shrfnk4se You have done all the
 yaFe fa settling the affairs of John
 < Marlin Stokes with no pay. What
 eeer there may be between us Of
 bnstss,.ss nature connected with these , aaairs is settled now by this transae= fian. The envelope goes into box ef
 the Fidelity Trust company. and here
 ia the key on my ring
 . The nephews and nieces accepted l tEifh 1tar-
 rify. Tie envelope was fat enough to contain some twenty or thirty bonds f or if the property was in stocks there i nlight be twice as many certificates ' Those to whom the gift was made z desired their uncle to come and live
 with them This he declined 10 do. D He rented Il little cottage. where he z kept house hy himself He said hoth- : ing te his nephew or nieces about the
 payment of the rent but il was paid a 1 hy them He said nothing about sup . plies. but they opened accounts for :, him at provision stores. though they
 secretly instructed the tradesnen to
 keep them posted as to the amount
 the old man was being credited with. 4 At the end of the first year Peter l Slohtc ui NA4N shSe+' :. ed at about S600 But the owners of \ the estate. which could not be used LII
 after the donors death fearing that if !. they appeared niegardly the donor
 might take back his gift, expended for ,- him an additional S400. making to-
 tai of Sl LOO This they considered [ keeping within bounds
 s The old man remained for time
 very delicate Indeed, the doctors bills }. amounted to several hundred dollars. Q His loving nephew and nieces begged r. him to come and live with them, that
 they might the better administer to his
 comfort But he said he didn't wish
 to be a burden on any one, assuring .- them that they would not be the loser ,- by a cent for what money they ex- l. pended upon him After the first five }. years his health became very good if and remained so for three years. when k he died rather suddenly Before the ,. old man byeaihed his last Peter Stokes !. figured up that the amount expended Y upon him had amounted 10 exactly c So $50 But there were funeral ex- h peuses to be paid amounting to about SEQ However. since his uncle was O dead there would be no need to be
 extravasant in this respect and he re-
 solved to cut the amount down to SD.
 The first thing Peter did when his 2 uncle was pronounced dead was to ' take his key ring from his pocket d and. detaching the safety deposit key. f start for the trust company. His sis s ters exacted q promise that he would z not open the envelope till the day after
 the funeral. he same as in case or I. wills. Bringing the packet home. he V locked it in his desk and waited d The morning after the funeral the l, family gathered in the library. locked O the door. took out the envelope and
 tore 1t open Within were folded n pieces of blank parchment. on one of s which was written:
 Y Martin Stokes in account with Peter hokess To expenditures for said Martin | Stokes. Sl0coo. 10 amount due from sef- q | clement of the business of John q Martin |. Stokes. Goan Account balanced ana , | closed
 Peter read ibis posthumous message | And. exelainling 'Soldr' tore up the
 parchment. threw il on the 6cor ana d stamped on it. His sisters. excieifn- r ing The old ingrate. the old frauds
 wept few bitter tears of chagrin.
 But that was the end of the matter. | for hav of fhn