Little Falls herald., 1913-12-19
By EARLE HOOKER EATON
1THEY march to Santa's reindeer shed,
Too serious far for play,
Where they break rank. and get aboard
The good old saint. big sleigh.

Christmas. and II you nave not IOuIu ~
then return again on the third. Ii you
have not found it on the third Christmas
you will have forfeited your legacy and
will find your knowledge of telegraphy
most useful to provide bread and rea-
sohable amount Of butter.
Do not under any circumstances tamper
with the contents Of my workroonl, which
I wish to remain just as it is during the
lifetime Of your Aunt Elise.
You failed to obey pie in lie. but
your disobedience after my death will be
fraught with graver consequence. for I'M
less YOU meet the requirements set form
here you will never know the whereabouts
OF your legacy. This letter is written
with heart full Of love for my spoiled
children. From, UNCLE AMBROSE.
And now the time of the vigil Of the
third Christmas had arrived. and we
knew no more about the hiding place
of our Inheritance than on the day
that we received the letter. True, we
had not followed his instructions in re-
gard to telegraphy until very recently.
1t seemed 50 preposterous that merely
mastering a vocation would aid In the
unearthing of our fegacies: So Elsie
and optimistically painted and poet
lied through the first year, sereneiy
confident that the money would turn up
without strenuous effort on our part.
On the first Christmas we wound the
clock and sat expectantly through the
fifteen minutes. Nothing happened.
We were slightly disappointed, but not
at all uneasy. Then during the next
year between the intervals Of pictures
and poems we ransacked the old place
from garret to celler. Only whole
some fear of Aunt Elise's anger pre-
vented our laying vandal hands upon
that wretched clock and disembowel-
ing it in our search for clew to the
hidden treasure. We met for our
seance in the workroom without hav-
ing SO much as begun the study of
| telegraphy. Again we sat through the
| allotted time, listening to the eccentric,
| irregular ticking of the clock With no
visible results, save that Aunt Elise
caught fearful cold. @H
"Gilbert," said Elsie soberly that
night when we had adjourned to the
CHEEKY parlor. do you know. l don't
believe Uncle Gilbert had any money
to leave. think he had lost 1t and
that was why he was so worried to
think that we were not fitted to sup
port ourselves: We disobeyed and dis
appointed him in nfe Now let us
atone as far as we may by obeying
his last wishes. Gilbert, dear, let us
learn telegraphy-not for the sake of
| the money. but because he wished it,
because of what we owe him."
| And so we mastered telegraphy. e.
sic much more readily than l. We
had been full fledged ''brass pound
ers." with fairly lucrative positions for
almost three months preceding the
third Christmas. We were burstingly
| proud of our jobs-that's what we
| called 'em-and we felt that our dear
old guardian had, in forcing upon us
the gift of independence. bestowed up
on US a treasure of greater value than
the legacy for which we had hoped.
| So with no further expectations or
hopes concerning the hidden inner
itance and with cheerful resignation
to it's loss we met in loving compli-
ance With his request for our third
and last vigil in his workroom. with
his many inventions. which Aunt Elise
kept carefully covered. looking like
shrouded ghosts
Aunt Elise alone of the trio seemed
gloomy and despondent.
IF you don't find where the money
is hidden tonight suppose we would
better plan for you to marry Percy
/, Gaines: Elsie she said as stepped
upon the table to wind the clock. or.
rather. crank it. for its mechanism
was set going by giving some dozen
turns to a handle protruding from its
left side-a handle not unlike that OF
an old fashioned coffee mill
'.'Rut he sort of sniffles. and his socks
and neckties are so shrill.'' protested
Elsie. referring to Mr.. Gaines.
Well. then. there's old Mr. Rinney.''
suggested Aunt Elise. I've noticed
that he is quite neutral In his dress -
But he talks 20 himself and ges-