Wood County reporter. [volume] (Grand Rapids [i.e. Wisconsin Rapids], Wis.) 1857-1923, 1910-09-01

worth it,"
Please don't!"-and the sob clutch
ed her throat again-'T didn't come to
az. what it was worth; but to get You
to help me-"
Yes Yes; to be sure It must be
done your way" he replied, quickly.
But it's the right way. Now l want
you to tell me what to do. People have
bought property of my father, and he
failed to get the approval of the court.
I'm not sure that it was his fault-it
| must have been Mr.. Balcomb's way of
| doing It But it makes no difference,
and father takes all the blame. Now Z
| title given in this way is not rights
that what you say?"
We say usually that titles are good
| or bad"-and he smiled az her.
But there must be a way Of max
| ing this good"
| Yes; perhaps several ways That
/ is for lawyer. You are the only per-
| son that could take advantage of an
omission of that sort, I suppose"
That is what wish to know. And
| it wouldn't be very much trouble to
make it right"
| I'VE must ask a lawyer. Morris I'M
| derstands about it. He is considered a
| good man in the profession. The ad-
| vantage of calling on him is that he is
a friend and knows Balcomb"
| Il told father 1 might ask Mr.. Leigh
! ton to help u.s."
Rodney looked at her quickly. Ezra
Cameron, Zelda his daughter, and Nor
! ris Leighton! The combination sug-
| gested unhappy thoughts.
| Morris is coming up this morning.
| He said II, and he's usually on time.
| That's one of the good things about
| Morris. He keeps his appointments!
Il imagine he would. Uncle Rodney,
! I'm going to ask you something. 1t
| may seem a little queer, but every
! thing in the world is little queer Did
| you ever know-was there anything
| it was the sob again and she frowned
hard in an effort to keep back the
! tears-'I mean about mother-and Mr.
! Leighton's father?"
The blood mounted again to the old
mans cheek. and he bent toward her
| angrily.
Did he throw that at you? Did
Ezra Cameron, after all your mother
suffered from him, insult you with
| that?"
please don't! Please don't," and
I =
ingIy. Il used to see the word past IN
books and it meant nothing to me. But
now it seems that life isn't to-day st
all; it's just lot of yesterdays!"
The. old man walked to the window
and back
1T was your mothers mistake; but
it must not follow you. When did your
father tell you this?"
'Y esterday-last night I had pro-
voked him. 1t is all so hideous, please
| never ask me about it-what happened
at the house-but he told me about
that"
He's a greater dog than I thought
he was; and now he has thrown him
self on your mercy! I've a good mind
. to say that we won't help him Nor
ris' father was a gentleman and a
scholar; and Morris is the finest fellow
in the world
YES; but please don't scold! 1t
won't help me any"
mo; I can't ever scold anybody. NV
hands are always tied. I'm old and
foolish. Talk about the past coming
back to trouble US! You have no idea
what it means at my age; it's the past,
the past, the past! until to- day is eter-
nally smothered by it" And then the
bell rang and he went to open the door
for Morris
Morris" he began at once, I'VE can
omit the preliminaries this morning
Mr.. Dameron's trusteeship has expired
His daughter is entitled to the prop
erty left her by her mother or its
equivalent. There has been a sale OF
property that is not quite regular, and
-
I'VE wish to make 1t quite legal
quite perfect" said Zelda.
And we wish to avoid publicity. We
must keep out of the newspapers"
It understand" said Morris
Zelda had purposely refrained from
mentioning her fathers own plan OF
continuing himself as trustee to hide
the fact of his malfeasance; but with
Morris present, she felt that her uncle
was easier to manage.
I'VE have agreed to continue the
trusteeship, just as it has been Faith
er and l have had a perfect under
standing about it,"
NO! no! we won't do it that way"
shouted Merriam.
But Zelda did not look at him. Her
eyes appealed to Morris and he I'M
derstood that in anything that was
dO4ISg L<SId OdtHSIOI must US shield
ed; and the idea of hiding Damerons
Irregularities struck him as reasonable
and necessary.
You can give your father a power OF
attorney to cover everything he has
left of yours if you wish it," said Nor
ris.
Il won't hear to it; it's a farce; It's
playing with the law" declared Rod
ney.
Uncle Rodney, I'm glad the law can
be played with. There's more sense In
it than l thought there was You will
do it for me that way, won't you
please? And there are some people
who have paid father for an option
on what he calls the creek property.
wish to protect them, too
You needn't do that said Morris
we can repudiate the option probably
It's not your affair, as the law views
it."
But I wish to make it my affair
wish to do it. right away. I've heard
that important things can't be done
right away, but these things must be-
and she smiled at Morris and then a
her uncle.
You understand Zee, that if you
give this power of attorney you are
brushing away any chance to get back
this money"
Yes; perfectly. And now. Mr.
Leighton, how long win it take?"
Morris looked al Merriam as though
for his approval
Uncle agrees, of course, Mr.. Leigh
ton. You needn't ask him'-and the
two men laughed There was no max
ing the situation tragic when the per
son chiefly concerned refused to have
it so. She had accepted the loss of the
bulk of her fortune and the fact of heI
fathers perfdy without quaver. She
seemed, indeed. to be in excellent spir-
its. and communicated her cheer to thf
others.
If this is final" began Morris
"Of course it's final" said Zee.
I'll come back here at 4 o'clock an6
you can sign the power of attorney /
you wish. But there's one thing Tn
going to do-on my own responsibility
if necessary I'm going IN pet ha ~