Evening journal., 1912-04-24
THE

By MARY PARKER DEANE

Uent6 Cney nnQ over bomcLnlnk hre.
Plum nverred would happen some day
or other to lift them out OF poverty. en-
able them to live more comfortably,
clothe the children better and make
them generally happy.
"Iu the first place. Maria" Mr.. Plum
would say. nothing ever comes from
rainbow chasing. In the second place.
n a hundred thousand dollars were
suddenly dumped upon us we wouldn't
be any happier than we are now"
Wouldn't we? I'd just like to try It
oncew
You can bet your bottom dollar that
unless work hard and you run US
cheaply we won't even keep up to what
we're doing now, let alone putting on
airs"
do you mean to tell me there's moth
Ing in luck7"
Mighty. little. At any rate. no great
piece OF luck like an unexpected wind
fall will ever happen to more than one
person In a million"
But haven't we got Just as good a
chance to be that one person as all the
rest7"
Dan Plum shrugged his shoulders.
but did not reply to this argument. He
went to his work every day. as usual.
and his wife pinched and saved One
day when he came home In the even
ing he found her in a wild state OF op-
timism.
"Oh. DAN" she cried. "did you ever
have grandmother by the name Of
( PrendegastY
mot to my knowledge" was the So
ber sided reply. "Why do you ask?"
Because there was man here this
morning who asked me II you had"
What did you tell himT
THAT I didn't know"
did he say why he wished to
know"
mo. but I'm sure your grandmother
is dead and has left us a lot Of money"
"Oh. Maria. you make me .tiredl I
couldn't have grandmother much less
than hundred years old. and women
of that age don't often have fortunes
II they have their descendants are
spread out like a fan and none of 'em
gifts more than few dollars"
II don't care. I believe we are on
the verge OF some great blessing"
'I'll tell you what I'll do. Marie I'll
make a bargain with you Whatever
this blessing is I'll turn it all over to
you on condition that you never say
the word 'windfalr to me again"
Done"
Remember. give you all that comes
in this case. and If nothing comes you
are still bound by your side OF the
agreement"
That's right"
They had scarcely struck this bar
gain when there was a ring at th'
bell Mrs. Blum went to the door an,
: ushered a man into the sitting room.
r This is the gentleman who calle'
this morning" said Mrs. Blum
your WIFE" said the visitor
,, couldn't answer the questions aske,
her. so concluded to come back whei
! sou were at home. Did you have
! grandmother named Prendegast?"
mot that I know OF And l didn'
have a grandmother by the name o
Foote OF Stedman OF Williams or Hun
kins either"
Did you ever hear Of any Of you
progenitors named McDermotT
"McDermot? Why. yes. My grand
mother on my fathers side was name'
McDermot"
Her name was Sarah. She mar
ried Enoch Prendegast. They ha,
one daughter who married Thoma
Follansbee, and they had a daughte
who married Daniel Spooner Plum"
Mr.. Plum's eyes were growing large
i've got this by searching the rec
ords Of some property owned by
Mrs. Prendegast. who had recent.
: died in the John Brown hospital. age
ninety-two years. I figure it that sh
! was your grandmother"
4 "If I've had a grandmother living
4 didn't know it,"
0 "Nor she. She came to the hospita
. before you were born to be treated 70
0 some disease When she got well he
memory had left her She didn't know
who she was or where she came from
A EuN was hliVnC4 70 tAog AhNAN "a
h lived more than fifty years there an
I in that condition. Just before she die
1 her memory came back to her. Sh
g said she was Sarah McDermot Prer
10 degast. Deeds to property we're foun
- where she had kept them in a trunl
% The hospital put them into the hand
Of a lawyer. who says they came dow
to Daniel Plum through Ellen Fo
lansbee and JuliR Plum"
How much is itT gasped Mr.
Plum.
Its house and lot that fifty year
ago was on the outskirts Of the tow
It is now on the biggest shoppin
street and is worth a mil"-
You. DAN" cried Mrs. Plum-"yo
make deed of that property to me
And within six months be did. b
k he says they must have dreamed 1t y
j. Thus far the optimlst has the bet
y OF the argument hundred thousar
e dollars was dumped down upon q
e couple. but It remained to be seen ho
much happiness was TO be added
!, the Plum family.
y Mrs. Plum had always desired to
v sumo some social position. She hi
rs scme friends whose incomes were tho
~ s>nSs - her hundreds. They took b