The Newport miner. [volume] (Newport, Wash.) 1899-current, 1912-02-29
A Hunt For a
Will
BY JOEL r. WRITER'S


ton sale of furniture in a dwelling
house the owner Of which had recently
died and that among the lot were some
rare old pieces, determined to attend
the sale. This was because Of fancy
I had for such things and not because
I could afford to possess them, for
was poor. I went to the sale to see the
articles, not to buy any Of them.
Among those present was girl who
watched the proceedings with an inter-
est very different from the rest. She
attracted me 30 far that forgot the
rarities In her 1t seemed to me that
she was waiting and watching for
some particular thing to be put up
for sale. 1t came at last. A desk per-
haps a hundred years old made Of
rosewood and handsomely inlaid was
pulled forward where all could see 1t,
and the bidding commenced.
Some one made beginning by offer
ing 500 The girl I have mentioned
bid twenty-five. Another bid Of twen-
ty-f1ve followed. A number Of persons
seemed to want the desk, and 1t was
run up to a hundred dollars, when the
girl ceased to bid. / cannot forget the
SPAR, with which she gave up her eff
fort to possess it. Why it was so de-
sirable to her I could only conjecture.
She did not appear to be person who
could afford luxuries, so concluded
that between her and the desk there
must be some association. Perhaps it
had belonged to one near and dear to
her.
I had been saving in a small way
and had $500 in bank. determined
to bid as high as what thought the
desk would bring in case I wished to
sell 1t again and offered $11O. My bids
were raised till 1 finally offered $500,
when the others dropped out and Sc
cured the desk.
Turning to the girl who had been so
interested in 1t, told her that / didn't
need it and IL at any time she wished
to possess it and had the means to pay
for 1t would be happy to sell it to her
for what I had paid. In reply to this
she asked me il I would permit her to
make a thorough examination of the
desk for something she thought might
be concealed in it. gave her the adj
dress to which it would be taken and
told her that she might call the next
afternoon.
AS soon as l got the desk / opened
every drawer. searched every pigeon
hole, rammed my hand in every recep-
tacle it possessed. 1t had evidently
been thoroughly cleaned out, for l
could not find scrap of paper. The
same afternoon the girl came, and as
soon as | showed her the desk she be-
gan to press her fingers on every part
Of it.
"Oh," said, you are looking for a
secret drawer"
81 am"
At this 1 joined my efforts to hers,
but without avail. / not only pressed
with my thumb, but with little ham,
mer, tapping continuously for half an
hour. Nothing came Of it. Then in
looking for. She said that the house
and furniture belonged to her mothers
brother. who had died childless. He
had always liked her and had once said
to her, ''Pll fix you some day" He
had died without a will. There were a
great many heirs-at-law to the estate,
and she, not being a blood relative,
would get nothing. She was not strong
and could not very we'll earn a living
by working like other girls. In fact,
she had tried to do so, but had been
obliged to give it up. Her uncle had
once showed her this desk and told her
that he kept in it his most important
papers. 1t had not occurred to her
that he meant her to take note of what
he said till after his death, when no
will was found
l would have knocked the desk to
pieces. but could not afford to lose the
money | had put into it, and the girl
had no means Of her own to pay for it.
She went away very much disappoint-
ed. L took her name and address and
told her that l would do some more
hunting and if anything was discov-
cred would let her know of it. But
this was simply to break her disap-
pointment. for we had made thorough
search.
A month passed, during which I
thought a good deal of the matter and
tried to locate space capable of hold
ing a secret drawer, but | could NOT
tell with certainty without taking the
desk apart. My taste for old furniture
led me to read any book I could find
on the subject, and in one of them I
saw it stated that some secret draw
ers in desks made during the eight
zenith century had been of metal in
stead of wood
Then an idea occurred to me,
Among my odds and ends was a
pocket compass. / took it to the desk
and held it near where drawer would
likely be If at all. l had not gone very