Five Mile Beach weekly journal., 1910-03-04
BY EDGAR. FALEs MooDEv.

N~tt N
Its too ridiculous"
"Ridiculousl Can anything that sep
arates us be ridiculous? | will not
bring trouble on you and on myself by
marrying you. who, having been
brought up on expectations. have made
no preparation for earning a living"
perhaps not, but you'll laugh all the
same when | tell you to whom my
aunt left her property"
ITO whom did she leave ft?"
81 am next of kin and at the death
Of the present incumbent will succeed
to the estate"
81 didn't ask that. l asked whom your
aunt made her heir"
~ am thinking of killing him."
"Oh. Edward"
ITS the only sure way open to me.
Ii the other branches of the family
hear of how the matter stands they'll
break the WILL"
but in that case you will get your
share"
"That would be a few thousand only.
There are several hundred relatives. /
want the whole property"
Cant you compromise with this per-
son whom your aunt made her heir?"
mo. He isn't capable of making an
agreement. He does nothing but strut
about
"Come, come. Tell me the legal
points. l have more head for such
things than you suppose"
stNxyAlI ~ ot,nt Iofk thu Awanaw4xx 80
this person. and. considering who be
is, the bequest is ridiculous. That will
be the plea of the relatives II they try
TO break the will. But l. being the
heir of this legatee at his death. will
take possession of the property. The
other heirs will still have good cause
for a suit. but | will have the sinews
OF wal. Understands"
ayes, perfectly. But this person to
whom the property has BEEN
when you see him you will see a
coxcomb."
what was your aunt's attraction for
himY'
HE was her husband"
Her %husband!"
30 she cOusluereu MIN.
But l supposed your uncle died lGng
ago."
$50 he did"
Well JtthuaIi.: lkaw H. Il that AhhAs's
.Bigamist"-
~"BigamistY'
.That's what he is. He has a couple
of dozen wives"
Edward. Pm not going to stand this
any longer. You are attempting to
make a fool of me-"
81 assure you that everything l have
said of him is true. and, worse, he has
never been married to one OF the wives
with whom he lives"
"The beast!'
HE is not a beast at ALL"
'.Then for goodness sake what kind
Of a person is he?"
Listen to me. My aunt in her
younger days was a great student. She
studied everything-science. religion,
philosophy. She passed from one sys-
TEN to another until she became a
strong believer In the transmigration
of souls. She was much attached to
her husband, who humored her In her
different faiths. There Is no proof
whatever but that she was sound in
mind in her latter days, though she
firmly believed that at her husbands
death his soul passed into a little
chick that broke through its shell the
exact minute my uncle died. She at
| inc took the greatest care of this
chick, ordered a special house to be
built for him and always called him
'Dearie,' the pet name she had had
for my uncle. He grew up to be a
fine rooster. and my aunt never re-
Taxed the attention she had shown him
from his birth.
Well, when the old lady died and /
came to look over her will, what did l
find but that she had left her whole
fortune to her husband in the body of
this chicken"
"Ha, ha, hap
Didn't 1 tell you you'd laughY
"It's too ridiculous"
"That's what / said too"
"Welr"-after a pause-"what are you
going to dol"
xiii Dearie."
"And then?"
snake application for the estate as
his heir"
"Why not as next of kim"
"There are too many next OF kin /
would rather inherit 100000 from a
rooster than a few hundred from a
human being"
"Well then. why don't you kill himT'
"He is protected. The woman to whom
my aunt paid a large salary to take
care Of him never let's him out Of her
sight. Force Of habit from knowing
when my aunt lived that IL Dearie
suffered she would lose a fat job leads
her to still watch. But I'm going to
try to get 1T him tonight with a
Ratchet"
Goodness graciousr'