The Madison journal. (Tallulah, Madison Parish, La.) 1888-current, 1914-05-02

located, so far as neighbors were con-
cerned. Her father. Sebastian Gooch.
shrewdly foresaw the day when land
In this particular section Of the sub
urban world would return dollars for
pennies. and wisely bought thousands
Of acres: woodland, meadowland.
beachland and hills. inserted between
the environs OF New York city and
the rich towns up the coast. Years
afterward he built commodious sum-
mer home on the choicest point that
his property afforded, named 1t South
look, and transformed that particular
part of his wilderness into a million
aires paradise, where he could dawdle
and putter to his hearts content,
money with a prodigality that came 80
late in life to him that he made waste
of both in his haste to live down q
rather parsimonious past.
Two miles and a half away, In the
heart OF a scattered colony OF purse
proud New Workers, was the country
home of the Wrandalls, an imposing
place and older by far than South
look. II had descended from we'll
worn and time-stained ancestors to
| Redmond Wrandall, and, with others
OF its kind. looked with no little scorn
upon the modern. mushroom struc-
lures that sprouted from the seeds of
trade. There was no friendship be-
tween the old and the new. Each had
recourse to a bitter contempt for the
other. though consolation was small
in comparison.
| It was in the wooded by-ways Of this
despised domain that Challis Wran'
dali and Sara, the earthly daughter OF
Midas, met and loved and defied all
things supernal, for matches are
made in heaven. Their marriage did
not open the gates of Nineveh. Sebas
tan Goochs paradise was more com
pletely ostracised than it was before
the disaster. The Wrandalls spoke OF
1t as a disaster.
Clearly the old merchant was not
over-pleased with his daughters
choice, a conclusion permanently es
tablished by the alteration he made
In his will a year or two after the mar
rage. True, he left the vast estate tC
his beloved daughter Sara, but he fast
ened a stout string to 1t, and witt
this string her hands were tied. II
must have occurred to him that Chal
lis was a profligate in more ways thar
one. for he deliberately stipulated II
his will that Sara was not to sell {
foot OF the ground until period o.
twenty years had elapsed. A yer!
polite way, it would seem. Of making
his investment safe in the face OF con
siderable odds.
He lived long enough after the max
ing of his will. am happy to relate
to find that he had made no mistake
As he preceded his son-in-law into TIT
great beyond by a scant three years
It readily may be seen that he wrough
too we'll by far. Seventeen unneces
sary years of prescription remained
and he had not intended them TO
Sara alone. He was not afraid o
Sara, but for her.
When the will was read and the con
dition revealed, Challis Wrandall tool
1t in perfect good humor. He had tn
grace to proclaim in the bosom OF hi
fathers family that the old gentleman
was a father-in-law to be proud of. "a
canny old boy" he had announces
with his most engaging smile, quit
free from rancor or resentment. Cha
lis was we'll acquainted with himself
And 80 the acres were strapped tc
gether snugly and firmly, without 8
much as a town lot protruding.
So impressed was Challis by the faI
sightedness of his father-in-law tina
he forthwith sat him down and mad
will of his own. He would not hav
It said that Sara's father did viii
better by her than he would do. H
left everything he possessed to hi
wife, but put no string to 1t, blandl
implying that all danger would b
past when she came into possession
There was a sort of grim humor 1
: the way he managed to present hin
self to view as the real and read
source of peril.
CTO BE CONTINUED)