Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1909-11-07

the eyes before spreading a sheet over
the rigid form.
And now, what. Mr. AMBER" he
asked.
Amber had returned to the table He
pondered his problems for some time be-
fore answering; a distasteful duty de-
volved upon him of questioning the ser
want about his masters secrets. Of delv-
ing into the mystery which RuttOn had
chosen always to preserve about himself
which. indeed, he had chosen to die
without disclosing to the man whom he
had termed his sole intimate. Yet this
task. too. must be gone through with.
Mr.. Rutton spoke Of a dispatch box,
Doggott. You know where to find it?'
Yes SIR
The servant brought from Rutton's
leather trunk battered black-japanned
tin box. which. upon exploration. proved
to contain little that might not have been
anticipated. A bank book issued by the
house Of Rothschild Freres. Paris. showed
a balance to the credit of III. ID. Rutton
OF something slightly under a million
francs. There was American money,
chiefly in gold certificates Of large de-
nominations. to the value Of. roundly,
twenty thousand dollars together with a
handful Of French, German and English
bank notes. which might have brought
in exchange about two hundred and fifty
dollars. In addition to these there was
merely a single envelope. superscribed:
ITO be opened in event Of my death
Amber broke the seal and read the in
closures once to himself and a second
time aloud to Doggott. The date was
barely year old.
sufi3cient,' Rutton had written. II choose
not to make formal will. I shall die,
probably in the near future, by my own
hand. of poison. I wish to empha size
this statement In event the circumstances
surrounding my demise should appear to
attach suspicion Of murder upon any per-
son or persons whatever 1 am widower
and childless What relations may sur
vive me are distant and will never appear
to claim what estate ] may leave-this
know. I therefore desire that my body
servant. Henry Doggott. an English citi-
Zen, shall inherit and appropriate to his
own use all my property and effects. pro-
viding he be In my service at the time
Of my death. To facilitate his entering
into possession of my means. whatever
| they may be. without the necessity of
legal procedure of any kind. ] fnclose q
check to his order upon my bankers.
signed by myself and bearing the date of
this memorandum. He Is TO fill II In with
the amount remaining to my credit upon
my bank book. Should he have died or
left me, however, the disposition Of my
wholly careless"
| The signature was Enthusiastically gem
uine-the formal III. ID. Rutton' with
which Amber was familiar. It was un-
| witnessed.
The Virginian put aside the paper and
! offered DOggott the blank check on
Rothschilds'. This he said, makes
| you pretty nearly Independently rich.
Doggott."
| Yes. SIR" Doggott took the slip of
paper in a hand that trembled even as his
voice, and eyed 1t incredulOusly. I've
never 'ad anything like this before sir;
/ 'ardly know what IL means"
1T means. explained Amber. that.
when you've filed In that blank and had
/ the money collected from the Rothschilds,
you'll be worth--with what cash is here
in the neighborhood OF fOrty-five thou
sand pounds sterling"
Doggo,t gasped. temporarily inarticu-
| late "FOrty-five thousand poundsi
| Mr. Amber" he declared. earnestly, 81
never looked for nothin' like this IL
never-I---' Quite without warning he
| was quiet and composed again. Might
| ask IL of you as a favor. sir. to look
after this'-he offered to return the
! check-'for a while. till ] can myke up
my mind what to do with it,
| Certainly Amber took the paper.
folded it and placed IL in his card case.
| I'D suggest that you deposit II as soon
as possible i'm a New York bank for col
J lection. In the meantime. these bills are
yours; you'd better take care Of them
| yourself until you open the banking &C.
| count. I'll keep Mr.. Buttons bank book
] with the check" He placed the book In