Yorkville enquirer. [volume] (Yorkville, S.C.) 1855-2006, 1911-08-25
BOOK III-THE FLOWER.
CHAPTER VII-Continued.

BOOK I'LL HE FLS"G"
CHAPTER VII-Continued.
They retired for another consulta-
ton. Stuart replaced the papers and
put the key in Bivens's outstretched
hand.
1t was plain that he was sinking
rapidly.
ASK Nan to come here minute" !"
he said feebly.
Stuart walked to the door and whis-
pered to a servant. When he returned
to the bedside, the dying man looked
up into his face gratefully.
You don't know how 1t helps me to
have you near, Jim, old boy. I'm lone
ly! Nan I guess is i'll and broken
down. I've lavished millions on her.
I've given her all possess in my will,
but somehow We never found happi-
ness. If 1 could only have been sure
of the deep, sweet, unselfish love OF
one human soul on this earth! II l
could only have won a girls heart
when / was poor; but was rich, and
I've always wondered whether she
really loved me for my own sake. At
least I've always thanked God for you.
You've been a real friend. Our hearts
were young together and you stood by
me when-I-was-a-po -poor-lonely-
friendless-dog-"
His voice sank low and he gasped
painfully for breath. Stuart knew the
end had come. He bent low and whis-
pered:
GIVE me your hand, Cal, old boy,
we must say goodbye. 1 must go in
minute"
To his surprise the hand was not ex-
tended.
An hour later when the covering was
turned back from the dead body he saw
that the smooth little cold hand had
gripped the key to his treasures in a
last instructive grasp.
Stuart drew the curtains of scarlet
and gold, touched a spring and raised
the massive broad window. The death
chamber was flooded with fresh balmy
air and dazzling sunlight. All that
was left Of him who boasted his mas
terry of the world lay on the magnif-
icent bed, a lump of white cold flesh
and projecting bones. The little body
looked stark and hideous in the SUM-
light.
The reporters down stairs were pry-
ing into his affairs like so many ferrets
to find out how much he left. One of
them asked Stuart his opinion.
The lawyer gazed at the young re-
porter, thoughtfully, while he slowly
answered:
There's only one thing sure, young
man, he left it ALL"
Through the open window Stuart
caught the perfume of flowers on the
lawn. The Italian gardeners were
working on the flower beds the little
man loved. The great swan like form
of a Hudson river steamer swept by,
piling the white foam Of the clear wa
ters on her bow, bearing high on the
side the gilded name of a man who was
once Bivens's associate in great VEN
lures, but who was now wearing a suit
of convict's stripes behind the walls
of a distant prison.
A long line of barges loaded with
brick for new houses came floating
down the stream behind busy little
tug. On the soft morning breezes the
young southerner's keen ear caught
the twang Of banjo and the joyous
music of negro brickmen singing an
old-fashioned melody of his native
state; while over all, like an eternal
chorus, came the dim muffled roar Of
the city's life.
He looked again at the lump of cold
clay, and wondered what was passing
in the soul Of the woman who was now
the heir Of all his millions.
Why had she shown such strange
and abject terror over his death-an
event she had foreseen and desired
He recalled the hoarse unnatural voice
and the blind fumbling at her tele-
phone.
A horrible suspicion suddenly flashed
through his mind!
He determined to know at once. A
few skillful questions would reveal the
truth. She might be able to conceal
it from the world, but not from him.
He called a servant and asked to see
Mrs. Bivens Immediately.