The Mobridge news. [volume] (Mobridge, Walworth Co., S.D.) 190?-1917, 1910-07-15
UNCLE
AARON'S
WILL
BY q. A.


When my uncle died, the people Of
frankfort were almost distracted be-
tween the conflicting emotions OF grief
and curiosity.
They knew, or thought they knew,
my uncle as the richest man by far
IN the city. Silent, cold and reserved,
no one had ever presumed to be his
confidential friend.
He died without kith or kin of any
Kind in the world, except myself,
whom he heartily detested. We had
not spoken to each other for years,
and both were glad Of It. I regarded
him as an avaricious, coldly calcu-
lating machine, without heart, con-
science or human sympathy. He
thought of me as an idle, shiftless
dreamer, with the heart Of a poet and
the head of a fool.
Whatever the people thought Of
him, it is but fair to his memory to
say that they agreed with his judg-
ment of myself.
Therefore, when l returned to
Frankfort-for / never long remained
in the uncongenial hole-the inhab-
itants Of that town were properly
curious as to whether he would leave
his money to his unworthy nephew, or
TO some worthy charity.
After the funeral / was called into
q private ROOF where two men were
seated. One Of them l recognized as
my uncle's lawyer, the other as his
banker.
They greeted me in a c%uriously
quiet and constrained way that struck
me as ominous for my future well
fare.
Mr.. Boles, the lawyer, got up and
lighted the gas, pulled down the
shades, and locked all the doors. The
banker remained seated, offering no
comment, while / gazed with fas-
cinated interest from one to the other.
Mr.. Boles having at last secured the
proper privacy seated himself and be-
gan:
mr.. Gordon, / have a strange COM
m%unication to make to you. The
strangest that you ever heard. 1t is
concerning your uncle's will. We
three are the only persons on earth
that are TO know the contents Of this
strange bequest, and If you refuse to
abide by the provisions enumerated
therein, you are forbidden ever to
speak about 1t. Do you accept this
preliminary requirement."
II do" / said without hesitation.
1.-The first Of all, you must know
that your uncle was far richer than
any one imagined. He died possessed
Of almost unlimited wealth. Not one,
but many, many millions. II you ac-
cept the terms of his will, your letter
of credit with Mr.. Brenton will be un-
limited. No check however small or
great, win be u%nhonored; your wealth
will exceed the dreams Of Monte Girls.
TO. II you refuse the terms Of the
will all his wealth goes to charity"
Go on" said / n~ervously.
"The provisions of this strange
document are in brief these: That all
Of this great fortune is TO be yours,
TO spend In any manner you choose,
provided you remain within the cor.
porate limits of Frankfort always;
and further, that you tell no one of
the contents Of this bequest."
The two men looked at me curious
ly; / was strangely embarrassed.
Never Ia my widest Imagination had
/ DRAINED of anything like this.
"Once more tell me the restrictions
that win be placed on me II l accept?n
"That you are never to leave the
corporate limits of Frankfort willing
iy OF unwillingly, and that you tell no
n Of the conditions Of the will. The
minute you break any one Of these re-
Quirements the money passes out Of
your hands"
| thought rapidly. That I should be
compelled to remain in such a place
was a terrible idea to me. That I
should lose q fortune rich beyond I'M.
agination was not to be thought of by
an idle beggar like me.
Il accept the terms" / said brief
iy, and hurried out lest l change my
decision.
My uncle, I reflected, could have In
ficted no greater punishment than
that OF compelling me to live inside OF
the city limits OF Frankfort, and yet
who in the world would not jump at
the chance of being absolute monarch
and dictator of one of the hustIing
young American cities, for such !
would be?
Though | possessed the contempt OF
most of the Inhabitants that knew me,
did not have an enemy there. and I
knew that as oon as unlimited money
was mine. these people would be fawn.
ing sycophants at my feet,
The best hotel that the town pos.
sessed was the Elks, q three-story
building that stood on a prominent
corner II was old In design, rather
bAhind the times and had been en-
iarged m or twice Every one with
proper eric pride way sensitive as 70
the Eikasyot recognized the fact that
va $50 l.zs
with the landlord. George Graham, ID
staxtmsSa new hosiery, for the rea-
Epn shnz e@iiigs buEasns space
wns too valuable. and the price Of
labor and building material too high
% make the Investment profitable.
A. entered the lobby ana "a