The Barre daily times. (Barre, Vt.) 1897-1959, 1912-08-05
A $4,000
TEMPTATION
BY M. QUAD
BY M. QUAD
Copyright. 1912, by Associated Lit
erary Press.


fits size in the state. Among other in
cidents related to prove the claim ii
was told that merchant who had been
paid cents too much by customer
living twenty-five miles away hired q
man to drive the distance and back to
hand over the pennies
Again, a grocer who had warranted
q pound of coffee to be Mocha found
out that 1t was only Rio and salved his
conscience by returning the money and
a pound of tea besides.
The stranger who dropped quietly
into Tompkinsyille one day and regis
tered at the tavern as Henry Beach
was about forty years old. He had a
pleasant way with him, but physiog-
nomist would have said that he was a
cynic The day after his arrival he
called at the office of the Weekly Re
corder and took the breath away from
the editor by making his cash down
price for full page advertisement.
The thing was unprecedented. 1t was
too tremendous to be swallowed under
FIVE minutes.
There wasn't great deal to that ad.
when it appeared. 1t was headed 1.-TWO
Thousand Dollars For Some One" and
1t asked people to call ON Mr.. Beach and
give up certain information and bear
away the money. You can wager that
they began calling without delay. To
ALL and it took days to get to the last
one, the advertiser explained:
Seven years ago / had TO pass
through this town on my way to Hills
boro. l was driving horse and bug.
gy, and just in front of your town hall
one of the hind wheels of the vehicle
began to wabble. The nut had worked
OFF the axle, and the wheel was about
10 roll away and cause an accident. in
which l might have lost my life. At
the critical moment man stopped me
and pointed TO the wheel
81 was in dire haste to reach the bed
side of my dying mother, and | don't
remember that l even thanked the
good man. ran back, found the nut
In the dust and, clapping 1t on the axle,
| sped away. was in time to see my
dear mother breathe her last Then ]
had to go to South Africa and Austria
Tia on business and have been back only
few days. have felt all along that
The man who notified me of my wab'
bling wheel ought to be rewarded, and
am here to do 1t. l want to find him
and hand him $4,000"
a 70 OF VI
that same grocer who had acted so
square about the coffee. He was fat
and excitable, and when the story had
been told he was breathing like wind
broken horse.
Seven years ago, was itg' he asked
Seven to day"
LETS see? Let's see? All, yes, !
remember. Seven years ago today as
! was passing the town hall man
came along in a buggy. Whatever
made me look at the hind wheels
can't say, but noticed that
what time in the day was this?"
interrupted Mr.. Beach.
what time? UNI. Let's see! My
watch had run down the night before,
but 1 think it was about 10 O'Clock"
''Then it was some other man.
passed through here at o'clock in the
afternoon
Mr.. Kennedy, the undertaken, came
next. He listened with bated breath
to the story as told the grocer and then
replied
ut is curious how few words will
recall forgotten incident to you. Sew
en- years ago today was standing IN
front of the town hall when Mr..
Johnson asked me If had heard that
old Mrs. Harvey was sick and like to
die. That makes me sure of the date"
"Of course"
"Mr. Johnson had passed on when ]
saw man in buggy coming at fast
clip. As he was about to pass ME
saw that one of the hind wheels was
"And you held up your hand and
called outT said Mr.. Beach.
81 must have done So"
''Yt looks as IL the $1,000 was yours,
but question or two. At what hour
In the day was that?'
'Iemme think minute. What hourf
What hour? Well, sir, as near as l
can put it, 1t was about half past in
the afternoon. Yes, am sure 1t was"
But / was driving through your {
town at 8 o'clock in the morning, so {
It couldn't have been you. There must !
have been two of us with wabbly hind
wheels"
The undertaken meekly retired, but
It was afterward said that he went
home and kicked his dog and jawed his
wife.
That investigation lasted about two
weeks. and it used up almost every {
nan In the town. Even minister and !
elders and deacons called. None of
hem came right out and affirmed that
Re saw the wabbly wheel, but all con-
ended that 1t was very likely they
we're passing the town hall at the hour
famed. If they were passing and If
hey saw the wheel, why, of course, ,
hey called the drivers attention to 1t. i
Among the applicants for the reward t
we're ten women. Each one of them
vas sure OF the wheel and the wabble .
Until Mr.. Beach gave the hour as IL /.
'clock at night. When he had closed
lp his case he went back to the editor
Who had not been on the spot when
he wheel wabbled, and paid him $40
or full page adj This time it read:
ttrrompir1lxg has n nontIlotion of