Perrysburg journal. (Perrysburg, Wood Co., O. [Ohio]) 186?-1965, 1913-12-05

night Oh une UnlTu CnrlSL-
mas, for we do not sit in the work
room for at least fifteen minutes and
l feel sure that you will not find the
hiding place, and If it is not found you
cannot marry Elsie, and if you are not
to marry Elsie it is not wise for you
to see so much Of each other" And
Elsies welcoming kiss was strongly
tinctured with reproach Not liking
the reproachful flavor. ! Immediately
kissed Elsie to dssipate the taste.
Then l displayed the gift l had
brought, and Aunt Elise shook her
head reprovingly, even as she gloated
over the solitaire that slipped on FL
sizes white hand.
"You would better have saved your
money. Remember. this is the third
Christmas, and l don't believe you will
find the hiding place"
"Then we will be married right
away" l said please bear in mind
now have salary with which to
propitiate the wolf when he howls at
our door"
And so have l. thanks to dear old
uncler cried Elsie.
Aunt Elise. by the way, is neither
Elsie's aunt nor mine. Elsie and
are, or, rather, were, the wards of
Aunt Elise's brother. Judge Breen. who
died more than three years ago, leav-
ing the old Breen home to Aunt Elise,
who had modest income of her own,
and the remainder to Elsie and me con-
ditionally, the conditions being set
forth in the letter which Lawyer Pat
terson, Judge Breen's lifelong friend,
whom he had appointed executor of
his will, handed to us during the week
following his death. The letter ran:
My Dear, irresponsible Children-I have,
as Mr.. Patterson will tell you, converted
my entire estate, with the exception of the
old home, into money. which wish you,
| Gilbert and Elsie, to share equally.
have this money put away for you. 1t be-
! comes yours at the moment that you
| find it.
Now, I will remind you that 1 have al
| ways earnestly deplored the idle. frivo-
| lous pursuits which have occupied you
| and desired you both to master some use
| full occupation, but you have temporiZed
| and fribbled away the time, and thus l
| have allowed you to grow up without the
| ability to earn penny.
| Elsie, your artistic daubs and. Gilbert
| your long winded poems are all very well
| for harmless pastime, but you can nell
| ther eat, drink nor wear them. Moreover,
| 1t is a disgrace for any ablebodied per-
| son to be without the knowledge of some
| useful vocation.
| I suppose that l am to blame for not
training the artistic tommyrot out Of you,
but loved you both far too well to exact
1 date
| mined to atone for my weakness as far
as lies within my power. I have decided
| that you must both acquire vocation
| and have chosen my own, telegraphy, for
| you. My best and happest days were
spent in lonely little station in Arizona
| You are to master this thoroughly. No
mere smattering will answer. You are to
prove your ability by securing and accept
ably filing positions. You are to begin
| your studies at once.
Then in memory of me l ask you both
| to Join your Aunt Elise in quarter OF
an hours vigil in my workroom on Christ
mas night. / wish my inventions to re-
| main there untouched. also wish you
to wind and start the big clock which l
have just finished. 1t will run for the
| brief time that / ask you to keep tryst
! with my memory in the workroom where
| have spent SO many, many happy hours.
II after following my instructions you
do not find your inheritance, which in
tend to come to you as Christmas gift,
come again for the vigil on the second
Christmas, and II you have not found II
| then return again on the third. III 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-
sonabre amount of butter.
Do not under any circumstances tamper
with the contents of my workroom, which
/ wish to remain just as 1t Is during the
lifetime of your Aunt Elise.
You failed to obey me in life. but
! your disobedience after my death Will be
fraught with graver consequence, Tor un'
less you meet the requirements set fortf
here you will never know the whereabouts
of your legacy. This letter is writer
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 W.
knew no more about the hiding place
of our inheritance than on the day
that we received the letter. True, W.
had not followed his instructions in re
gard to telegraphy until very recently
1t seemed 30 preposterous that merel.
mastering a vocation would aid in th'
unearthing of our legacies. So Elsi
and I optimistically painted and poet
ized through the first year, serenel!
confident that the money would turn VI
without strenuous effort on our part.
On the first Christmas we wound tn
clock and sat expectantly through tn
fifteen minutes Nothing happened
We were slightly disappointed. but no
at all uneasy. Then during the mex
year between the intervals of picture
and poems we ransacked the old plac
from garret to celler. Only whole
some fear of Aunt Elise's anger pre-
vented our laying vandal hands upo
that wretched clock and disembowe
ing it in our search for clew to tn
hidden treasure. We met for ou
seance in the workroom without hay
ing so much as begun the study Q
telegraphy. Again we sat through tn
allotted time, listening to the eccentric
irregular ticking of the clock with n