Yorkville enquirer. [volume] (Yorkville, S.C.) 1855-2006, 1909-01-19
CHAPTER II.

Montgomery Brewster no lOllSeI HStu
prospects" People could not now
point him out with the remark that
some day he would come into million
Oh two. He had realized" as Oliver
Harrison would have put it, Two
days after his grandfather's funeral
final will and testament was read, and,
as was expected, the old banker atoned
for the hardships Robert Brewster and
his wife had endured by bequeathing
81, ,O0O, 900 to their son Montgomery. 1t
was his without restriction, without
an admonition, without an incum-
brance. There was not suggestion as
to how it should be handled by their
heir The business training the old
man had given him was synonymous
with conditions not expressed in the
will. The dead man believed that he
had drilled into the youth an unmis-
taxable conception of what was eX-
pected of him in life. If he failed in
these expectations the misfortune
would be his alone to bear road
had been carved out for him, and be-
hind him stretched long line of guide
posts whose laconic instructions might
be ignored, but never forgotten. Edwin
Peter Brewster evidently made his
will with the sensible conviction that
it was necessary for him to die before
anybody else could possess his money
and that once dead 1t would be folly
for him to worry over the way in which
benefciaries might choose to manage
their own affairs.
The house in Fifth avenue went TO
sister, together with a million or two,
and the residue Of the estate found
kindly disposed relatives who were
willing to keep it from going to the
Home For Friendless Fortunes. Old
Mr.. Brewster left his affairs in order.
The will nominated Jerome Buskirk as
executor, and he was instructed, in
conclusion, TO turn over to Montgomery
Brewster the day after the will was
probated securities TO the amount OF
81. 900, 900, provided for in clause of
the instrument And so it was that on
the 26th of September young Mr..
Brewster had an unconditional fortune
thrust upon him, weighted only with
the suggestion of Grape that clung to
it.
Since his grandfathers death he had
been staying at the gloomy old Brew
ster house in Fifth avenue, paying but
two or three hurried visits to the rooms
at Mrs. Gray's where he had made his
home. The gloom of death still dark
ened the Fifth avenue place, and
there was a stiffness. a gentle stealth
| mess, about the house that made him
long for more cheerful companionship.
He wondered dimly if a fortune always
carried the suggestions Of tuberoseS.
The richness and strangeness Of 1t all
hung about him unpleasantly. He had
had no eXtravagant affection for the
grim old dictator who was dead, yet
his grandfather was a man and had
commanded his respect. 1t seemed
brutal to leave him out of the reckon
ing-to dance on the grave Of the men,
! tor who had treated him so well. The
attitude of the friends who clapped him
on the back, Of the newspapers which
congratulated him, of the crowd that
expected him TO rejoice, repelled him.
Il seemed a tragic comedy, haunted,
too. by memories and by sharp regret
for his own foolish thOughtlessneSs.
Even the fortune itself weighed upon
him at moments with half defined
melancholy.
Yet the situation was not without its
Conversations For several days when
| Ellis called him at I he would answer
him and thank fortune that he was
not required at the bank that morning.
The luxury of another hour of sleep
seemed the greatest perquiSite of
wealth. His morning mail amused him
at first for since the newspapers had
published his prosperity to the world
| he was deluged with letters. Re-
quests for public or private charity