Saint Mary's beacon. [volume] (Leonard Town, Md.) 1867-1983, 1914-09-03
THE SEVEN RECORDS
BY RICHARD BARKER SHELTON
CCopyrIght)

tCopyright.l
There were many conflicting rumors
aroat concerning old Bill briggs.
Some said there was untold wealth
concealed beneath the floors of the
dismal little house where he had lived
quite alone for more than half a cen.
tury; some said he was practically a
pauper. living scantily on the meager
pension the government granted him
- a disabled veteran.
these runners ever reached his
ears. he paid no attention to them; he
neither confirmed nor denied. RE lived
the life OF recluse In his little wealth.
er-beaten house on the outskirts of the
town; puttered about the little garden
In which he raised his own vegetables:
smoked his black clay pipe. and read
the papers, which he hobbled into
town thrice n week TO procure
He left the world to its own de-
vices. and expected the world to do as
much for him in return. His excessive
economy extended even to his words
ne spoke seldom, and then bluntly and
TO the point. II was said ne never for.
got an injury and never forgave one.
In the autumn of his sixty-ninth
year old Bin briggs was stricken with
paralysis. which left him with n pair
~ useless legs. Il was a question as
TO who should look after him-his sole
relative, a nephew. or the overseers
Of the poor
The nephew was well to do. lie
owned a grocery and a comfortable
house on one OF the pretentious
streets of the town.
II was probably the fear of gossip
ing tongues, rather than any prompt.
ings of kinship. that induced the
nephew 10 take the old man in
grudgingly. 1t is true. for he had no
faith in the reports of his uncle's
wealth.
Old Bin turned over to his nephew
the ramshackle house, the two acres
cf land and mis- pension, by way of pay.
ing HE board for the rest of his life.
Then he settled down TO pass. az
years that must intervene until the
end. And these were unhappy years
p cid BIZ briggs.
There was no attempt In his
nephew's household to conceal the fact
shnt the old man was an unwelcome
burden. Old Bills keen gray eyes and
MS sharp old eaA saw and heard far
more than his thin lips ever told.
Three years Is unwilling existence
= his nephew house dragged on;
and then. one U$tober day, the bitter
nees of his he4& merged into a great,
>ihanding peace. Old Bin died.
"A month before his death old Bill
nsyat for a lawyer, and for several days
The attorney was closeted with him.
Tho nephew. recalling the rumors OF
III old mans wealth. covertly endeav-
NC to draw the lawyer out; but the
l;I Eer was politely vague in his re
=,l'Ss. The old man opened his heart
10 him and disclosed all its ranking
lis ontent and bitterness.
: few days after old Bills funeral
the lawyer called at the house and
placed In the nephew's hands what
was probably the longest message old
briggs had ever dictated.
Horace briggs hurriedly broke the
seals, and read as follows:
Nephew Horace:
am not the pennilcsa pauper you think
r.c doubt not, IL you knew the truth.
MY treatment here in your house would b'
vastly different from that which Is now
accorded me But that Is neither here nor
there.
In the course of my life have managed
t. nake-and better yet to- sIvc-some lit
tie money. This have placed In negotia
bl. bonds.
All told. there Is something Ike sl5o.S"
worth Of them. They are stored Ia tin
;-unk and where that trunk is no one but
myself knows.
| have decided to leave these bonds to
you I do this from precisely the same
r-ason that led you to take me into your
home when l was old and broken and
nelple ss-not from any ties Of love or kin
ship. but simply because there seems
nothing else to do.
in which you dld your part-grudgingly.
The trunk and the bonds are yours when
YOU find them. The clue IA to where they
ere you will get in this way.
Upon receipt of this you win so to the
flee OF wadsworth Barstow. my law
ycrs. who will deliver 10 you n phnno-
Graph / have also left in their charge
even phonoSTaphic records Of my voice.
Six OF these viii merely implrt to you
some good advice. The seventh win give
you the clue to the whereabouts OF the
trunk.
on every twenty-third of November-the
anniversary Of the day became a mem
her OF your family-you are 10 GO TO
Nadsworth & Barstow's and select one OF
hese Tecords-only one remember. II yoi
try TO gain possession OF them in any way
ave the one I have stipulated. have the
attorneys promise under oath to destroy
them all. You will select one each year
,-ntil you have chosen the one that locates
the bonds
WILLIAM briggs.
November twenty-third of that year
found Horace briggs In a fiutter Of ex.
citement. Very early in the morning
indeed. as soon as the lawyers Office
was open-he hurried to Wadsworth q
Barstow's, and from seven uniform
packages he selected one.
He FASTENED home, and with fever.
ish eagerness he placed the record in
the phonograph. The machine buzZed
on for some time with no articuIate
| sound.
Then from the horn came the deep
zones OF his uncle's voice. He listened
breathlessly.
Never Judge a man from his out
ward appearance- Try again next
year, my dear Horace" That was all
| He suafched tho racord from the