Audubon County journal. (Exira, Iowa) 1884-1993, 1914-08-20
An instrument
Of Providence
By WILLARD BRAKEMAN


ing the waves come rolling in before
a gale and throwing up driftwood
when u bottle was tossed at my feet
1 extracted paper from it on which
was written:
We are going to pieces. Whoever gets
this go to Norman d. Carlisle and tell hin
he will find my will in my desk in secrei
drawer.
This was all-no date. no signature
no address as to where Norman ID
Carlisle would be found.
That night went to bed thinking
about the message. Suppose it was
genuine. Somebody was enjoying prop
erty that belonged to another. But ii
seemed to me- that if it were genuine
the writer would have given at least
the city in which the person for whom
it was intended lived. If the perpes
traitor was doing the thing for sport OIL
to pass the time or because he hadn't
any more sense he would have given 1t.
And yet perhaps that's just what
he wouldn't do. He might not like to
particularize. On the other hand,
man who is about to be dumped into
roaring ocean might leave something
out that he should have put in.
was impelled to find Norman D.
Carlisle. didn't wish to engage in
looking for needle in a haystack, but
l couldn't resist the feeling that Il
was my bounden duty to do so There
were then some 100000 people in
the United States alone. The name
was Anglo-Saxon. and the person
might be somewhere in the great Brit
ish countries. Nevertheless when l
found that | couldn't let the matter
alone went into it methodcally.
! put personal advertisement in one
, newspaper in every city in the United
States whose inhabitants numbered
: 100000 or over for the said Norman D.
Carlisle. l received several replies
signed Norman D. Carlisle. the middle
name usually differing. wrote each
of them. asking if he had lost rela.
tive at sea, but they all answered in
the negative-that is. so far as they
knew
/ After six months put in another
advertisement for Mr. Carlisle and re-
ceived reply from Norman D. Car
! Isle living in town of about $4,000
J people He had seen the adj while in
the city where it had been inserted
asked him if he had lost relative at
sea. and he replied NO" dropped
the matter so far as he was concern
ed. but later he wrote me that he was
lawyer and had had client who
had sailed from Rio de Janeiro in g
vessel that was catalogued among
missing ships.
! After some correspondence he sent
me check for expenses. and l went
to see him. He made an engagement
for me to meet lady in his office.
and I was introduced to Miss Edith
Parks, twenty-one years old and come
ly. She appeared to be lady. but
was shabbily dressed. was informed
1 that her uncle had been lost on the
missing vessel from Rio brought
out the paper I had found. which l
had carefully kept and as soon as
d. u
It had been written by her uncle. Some
of his letters were produced. and all
doubt was removed. The message.
though scrawled hastily in trembling
hand, was found to correspond with
the uncle's writing.
was then told that Miss Parks had
been brought up by this uncle, who
was wealthy. he being unmarried and
without children After he had been
declared legally dead the courts had
set about administering his estate and
had already found forty persons who
were heirs at law
Since Mr.. Weatherby. the man who
had been shipwrecked. had given Miss
Parks to understand that she was to be
his heir it was likely that the will men
toned in the message gave his proper
ty to her. But the desk-where was
1t? Mr. Weatherbys furniture had
been sold year before. Who had
bought the desk? No one could tell.
Since had gone so far in the matter
did not propose to be beaten now.
| Advertising having availed. adver-
tised for the person who had bought
desk at sale of the effects of Cyrus
| Weatherby. In due time received a
reply from the purchaser. wrote him
that niece of the deceased wished to
redeem it and asked him to fix Il price.
He said he would sell it for 500. Miss
Parks had no money to pay for it. so
mailed the man Il check for the
amount. The desk was sent to me,
and, taking it into a cellar, chopped
/ n into Eindlinp wood Amono tho ri h.