The Hope pioneer. [volume] (Hope, N.D.) 1882-1964, 1915-10-07
MY ODD
UNCLE
By DWIGHT

an Ill assorted marriage. In every 9TH
er respect he was to be envied or
would have been had it not been for
his marriage. He was prosperous In
business affairs and accumulated a
fortune. But no children were born to
him during the brief period Of his mar
riage, and after his separation from
his wife he never entered upon a Sec
ond matrimonial adventure.
was his only male relative, and
after hesitating for some time between
leaving his property in trust for a
philanthropic work and leaving it to
me he finally came to the conclusion to
allow 1t to accumulate through my life.
time, ! to establish the foundation that
he intended. But this plan was con.
tingent on my agreeing not to marry.
His proposition to me, If accepted.
would give me every comfort and lux
ury SO long as I lived, but would de-
prive me Of wife and children. I did
not agree with my uncle on the sub
ject Of matrlmony because l knew that,
though a splendid man. he must be a
very hard man to get Oh with. He
seemed to be fond of me, and If !
wanted anything l had only to ask him
for it. Yet ! dared 10 oppose him in
any Of his prejudices. The difference
between me and the wife from whom
he separated was that I understood
him and had the tact to manage him,
while she failed in both these respects.
My aunt was much younger than my
uncle-she was but little my senior
and. being conscious Of her inability
to get on with him, came to rely on me
to help her manage him when a dead
lock came between them. l was born
old and never given to acting upon i'm
pulse, while she was sensitive and had
no faculty for going around a stone
wall instead of over It.
My uncle's proposltion-which ignor-
ed my aunt-placed me in the position
of taking what belonged rightfully to
her. In making my decision ! was in.
duenced far more by what was my
duty to her than to carry out my un-
cle's intentions.
l accepted the condition, and my un.
Gle made his will, leaving his property
In trust to me, l to have so much of
the income as l chose to appropriate to
myself, but In consideration Of this /
gave my word to him that / would
never marry, and the will stipulated
that in case l did marry the property
was to pass out Of my hands and the
foundation was to be established. I'm
der this condition 1t would be practi-
cally impossible for me to marry, n
Of the reasons being that l would be
obliged to drop from afluence to pow
erty. a very unpleasant fall.
Before acceding to my uncle's wishes
l asked my aunt If she would disap-
prove Of my doing so, and she told me
that since she could not benefit by her
husbands property she preferred that
l should do so. However, before ac-
cepting the proposition I made bold to
tell him plainly that his separation
from his wife was principally his own
fault and that be vas doing her a
great injustice to leave her property,
or, rather, Its income, to me instead Of
to her. l expected that this would al
ter his determination, but was surprised
that 1t had no effect whatever to deter
him from his purpose. Indeed. 1t seemed
to confirm him in 1t.
l did not promise not to turn over
a part Of the income from his es-
tate to his wife. My privilege to do SO
would have satisfied me with the posi-.
ton l assumed had it not been that l
was pledged to celibacy. Moreover,
there was a woman whom l wished to
marry. When the papers had been
signed l Informed my uncle Of this fact,
though l did not tell him who that wo-
nan was. He merely said, "You should
thank me, my boy, for saving you from
a life Of misery"
Upon the completion of the agree.
ment my uncle gave me the position Of
his right hand man that l might be
prepared to manage his estate after
his death. He was certainly a very
queer man, and no one could tell what
he would do. Two years after our
compact he "a taken suddenly Ill.
He called for me and said:
II have been told by my doctor that
I have but a few days at most to live.
The approach Of death has made a
change in my feelings. 1t is q part Of
a new plan I have made that. you
should marry"
looked at him in establishment.
When l had recovered from my sur.
prise I said to him:
If I marry there is but n woman
In the world I will make my wife"
You will marry the woman / In.
tend you shall marry or i will make 6
new will, leaving you out In tho cold"
he was very weak, and I knew there
was no time to waste.
Whom do you require that | shall
marry" I asked.
1.-THE woman whose life ] have made
miserable"
My heart came up into my throat,
but I controlled any expression Of my
emotion.
Have you obtained her c~onsent"
Yes"
VERY well, l will not stand In the