Five Mile Beach weekly journal., 1914-03-27
Ezra Dalton S
Will
For Reasons of Modesty the
Widow Did Not Have
1t Filed.
By ELLIOTT FLOWER
Copyright by S. S. Mcclure COM
pany.

Al ~ was SCICAa11 hnC lbOu "
be a financial transaction of the kind
customary in the polite world. Kittie
was young and pretty. while Ezra was
old and rich But Kittie was not one
of these unbusinesslike girls who leave
everything to chance. No, indeed; she
was a thoughtful and worldly maiden.
who knew how to look for herself
and her future. She insisted that his
will must be made out in her favor In
the way that she should decree and
left in her charge.
Everything must be left to me-
she said, land the will must be abso-
lutely in my keeping. Too many girls
In our set have been fooled by codicils
and other changes
To this he agreed. and the day after
the wedding she demanded the fulfill
ment of his promise.
81 will have the new will drawn up
and executed today" he said, land to-
night | will give 1t to you. l regret to
have to cut off one or two relatives
who have been kind to me, but you
SHdi nave everything
ut is because | know you will regret
that" she replied, that shall not be
satisfied with any will that | cannot
have always with me. No safe de-
post box would give me the sense of
security hat l need in order to rest
easy"
Surely you cannot be in earnest"
hn V.~okacfad GXa.. onnnNk nrr -
about with you. 1t would be lost or
stolen"
"The way that | intend to carry it"
she answered. will preclude the pos
sibility of loss or theft. and, further
more. will make it impossible for you
to get hold of it and change it. | shall
have it tattooed on my arm"
She laughed in a triumphant way as
she said this. while Ezra gasped. She
was not unmindful of the fact that he
still might make a new will. but she
thought the circumstances would deter
him, especially as the destruction of
the other would be impossible.
'tOn your arml'' he repeated, as soon
as his establishment would let him
speak.
ION my ARM" she said, with deter
mination.
'You are prepared. then, to give up
the wearing of short sleeve gowns?'
he suggested. whereat she grew sud
denly pale.
Good %heavenst" she cried. st never
thought of thatr'
"You have a beautiful arm!' he
went on insinuatingly.
''True." she admitted. land it's beau
ty must be preserved. | have no right
to deprive society of so fair an arm.
1 will have the will tattooed on my
shoulder"
would your ball gowns conceal itT"
he asked solicitously.
Again she was startled by the sug-
gestion, for in truth there was very
little of the shoulder that a ball gown
would conceal. This. Of course. was
due to the fact that she belonged to
the world of fashion. and in conse-
and provocative of comment to with
draw the shoulders from exhibition.
"Well," she said. after a thoughtful
pause, perhaps 1t would be better to
have the will tattooed where | am vac
cinated."
Now she thought the matter settled.
but this was because she was llnac-
quainted with the legal requirements
in such affairs. He looked at her and
smiled in a way she did not like.
"As you please" he returned disin-
terestedly, and her be added. as If 1t
were a matter of slight Importance, Il
presume you do not forget that the
will must be signed by two witnesses
and attested by a notary
Her perturbation was great. but In
a minuto or two she recovered her
composuIe.
'In that case" she asserted. Il shall
have the will tattooed just beneath the
shoulder blade. and the notary and
witnesses shall be women. Thank
heaven that women have invaded some
departments of the business world"
From this decision 1t was impossible
to move her. She wanted all and she
lacked confidence In him. b knew
thai it was human nature to dislike to
pay for goods mat nave peeh a ions
time in ones possession, and b fear
ed that with the passing years ne
might try to scale down the price. SO
she secured the tattooed villa will
that could not be destroyed. changed
lost or taken from her-and the only
thing that seriously disturbed her dur
ing the operation was he question OF
the notarial seal. Ezra suggested that
a large seal that could make a proper
impression upon her should be spe
cially made, but she repaid him for
that later. 1t was finally tattooed on
her from an imprint that seemed shiv-
eringly cold when it was made. Still
she was not entirely happy. She had
hoped to have the will where she could