Forest City press. (Forest City, Potter County, D.T. [S.D.]) 1883-19??, 1914-12-23
CHAPTER XVII.
T M. ARMAND.

IA> 1AAS VI.
got back to the office to find that
nj. Felix Armand. of Armand ct Fills.
had called. and, finding me out. had
left his card with the pencilled memo
arndum that he would call again Mon
day morning. There was another call
er. h had awaited my return-a tall,
angular mar. with Il long mustache.
who introduced himself as Simon w.
Morgan. of Usage City. La.
Poor Philip V%antine's nearest living
relative. sir" he added. II came as
soon as possible"
1T was very good of you" ] said.
The funeral will be at 10 O'Clock to-
morrow morning. rom the house"
You had a telegram from me?"
YES" l answered.
He I.itched about in his chair uneasily
for a moment. l knew what he wanted
to say. but saw no reason to help him.
He left a will. L suppose?" he asked.
at last.
ooh. yes: we have arranged to pro-
bate it Monday. You can examine it
then. if you wish"
Have you examined it?"
Il am familiar with it's provisions. 1t
was drawn here in the office"
He was pulling %furiously at his mus
tache.
Philip was a very wealthy
a l understand" he managed to say.
(OltlPclI eIllNclS MctttIiy. i Ildu Sc
curities worth about $1,250,000, besides
q number of pieces of real property
and. OF course. the house he lived in.
He owned a Very Valuabl collection of
art objects-pictures. furniture. tapes
tries. and such things; but what they
are worth will probably never be
known"
why not?" ne asked.
Because he left them all to the Met
ropolitan museum of art. Outside of a
few legacies to old servants. he left
his whole fortune to the same institu-
ton"
I put it rather brutality, no doubt. but
. was anxious to end the interview.
MIR. Morgan'S face grew very red.
He did," he calculated. .Ha-well.
l have heard he was rather crazy"
He was as sane az any man 1 ever
knew" l retorted drily. And Their l
remembered the doubts which had as
sailed me that last day. when Vantine
was lingering the Boule cabinet. But
I kept those doubts to myself.
"Ha-we'n have to see about that"
said my visitor. threateningly.
"By all IA Mr.. Morgan" I as
sented heartily. IF you have any doubt
about 1t. you should certainly look INTO
it. And now, il you will pardon me, 1
have many things to do. and we close
early today"
He got to his feet and went slowly
out: and that was the last 1 ever saw
of him. l suppose he consulted an at
torney. learned the hopeless nature of
his case. and took the first train back
to Usage City. He did not even wait
for the funeral.
out for it. There was a sprinkling of
old family friends, representatives of
the museum and of various charities
In which Vantine had been interested,
a few friends of his own and that was
all. He had dropped out Of the world
with scarcely a ripple; of all who had
known him. l dare say Parks felt his
departure most. For Vantine had been,
In a sense. a solitary man.; not many
men nodded oftener during a walk up
n avenue. and vet not many dined
oftener alone: for there was about him
q certain self-detachment which dis
couraged intimacy. He was a man,
In every country on the globe, and
friends in none.
All this I thought over a little sadly,
as l sat at home that night; and not
without some self questioning as to
my own place in the world. Most of
us. / think. are a little saddened when
we realize unimportance: most of
US. no doubt. would be a little shocked
could we return q day OF two after our
death n see how merrily the world
on! l would De missed. I knew,
scarcely more than Vantine. It was
not a pleasant thought. for It seemed
to argue some deficiency In myself.
Then. too. the mystery Of Vantine's
death had a depressing effect upon me.
So lon as there seemed some theory
TO build on. SO long as there was a ray
OF light ahead. I had hoped that the
tragedy would be explained and expi-
ated; but now my theory had crumbled
TO pieces: I was left in utter darkness.
from which there seemed no way out.
Never before. in the face of a mystery,
mad ! feit so helpless. and the feeling
wak Tor a long time after I got to
bed. IT seemed, in some mysterious
way. that I was contending with q
power greater than myself, a power
threatening and awful. which could
crush me with a turn Of the wrist.
Vanttne's will raj probated next
morning. He had directed that his COL
lection OF art objects be removed to
the museum, and that the house and
such portions Of its contents as the
museum U not care for to be sold
ready notified Sir Caspar Purden
Clarke Of the terms Of the will, and the
museums attorney "a present when
Il was read. He stated hat he had
been requested to ask me to remain in
charge OF things for q week or two,
until arrangements for the removal
could be made. It would also be neces-
sary TO make an inventory Of vantine's
collection. and the assistant director of
the museum was to ret this under way
ct once.
I acouescsd in all these arrangements.