The West Virginian. [volume] (Fairmont, W. Va.) 1914-1974, 1916-10-19
THE DAILY
SHORT STORY
Old Nick's Legacy.
BY MABEL s. MERRILL,

t0opyright, 1916. by the Mcclure
Newspaper Syndicate.)
HECAUSE he is total failure and
o blot ON the fair name Of q brad.
working family, give and be-
Queath to my great.nephew, Nicholas
Wye; nothing but the shop In the or.
chard mad the contents OF the same"
: Nicholas Wye. better known as Old
Nick, though he was neither old nor
malicious, sat on the orchard wall
and looked thoughtfully at the little
northumberland building which was
his sole share In the goodly estates
belonging to the Wye homestead on
the hill. Then he looked down at the
newspaper in his hand with its black
headline. The editor OF the Bowen
vile erald had thought old man Wye's
will such humorous document that
he had made front-page story about
Old Nick and his legacy.
Nick crumpled the paper and tried
TO cram 1t into his pocket as light
step came down the road. He knew
1t was Floris Hanson coming home
from her labors at the little old school.
house down the lane. Somehow Meek
always happened to be around some
where when Floris came along, al
though he seldom veptured to speak
to her. The village teacher was
person so much looked up to In Bow
enville that Nick's cousin, Abel Wye,
heir to the homestead on the hill, had
made bid for her favor with a view
to securing suitable mistress for his
gne old house.
To Nick's surprise. Floris stopped
today and spoke to him. She had
copy Of the Herald in her hand and
her eyes were sparkling Indignantly.
TITS shame, Mr.. Wye" she de-
clared. That editor ought to be
prosecuted and 80 had your uncle
oh. no, ] forgot he Is dead. Well. any.
way. I-we-an know you're not q
blot and total failure"
We'll. you see that was Uncle Zeb's
way O. looking at it." explained Nick
good naturally. "All the Wyes had
worked like time and saved every
cent TIL came along. Used up all
the family ginger 30 theref didn't seem
TO be any left for me- I've had To
hunt and hsh and loaf enough 10 make
up for an they missed"
When Florts had gone On her way,
he got OF the wall and gravely in.
spected the shop, tho only piece of
property he had ever owned. It was
. rough, solid little building. its two
rooms we'll lighted by big windows,
Tor Uncle FEB had used it for a paint
shop. Il was empty save for Q heap
OF rubbish IN ono corner.
Nov, II he'd left me a little some
thing to begin the world on how'd he
know but I'd REFORM unused Nicho.
las, pulling over the heap. Hello,
what's this?"
It was substantial keg Of white
paint. with a smaller one OF green rest.
ing atop Of 1t. Old Nick was q hum.
orist tn his way and his eyes began
to twinkle as he examined this find.
maybe Uncle Zeb did better BY me
than he thought" chuckled the new
owner Of the property. II might sell
THIS. but on the whole I believe III
make some use Of It myself. Used
to like to paint-and, anyway. it'll be
job to work at while She's going by"
The, capitalized pronoun stood for the
mistress In his thoughts.
The next afternoon when Floris
passed she stated in amazement. In
thfa shady orchard corner. the little
building, painted clean white with
small stripe Of dark green for q finish,
looked like the fairy house she had
sometimes seen In her dreams when
her boarding place In the village was