The herald., 1916-06-01
A Fortune Lost
By EDWARD T. STEWART

live Il rear. that know. and | wish 70
have an understanding with you before
GO. We hear great deal about The
advantage Of a young man sowing his
wild oats before marriage. there h'
ART In sowing wild oats at all and !
wish you to marry young. 50 imPoF,
tapt do | consider this that / have put
a proviso in my will that, in order 10 IN
herit, you must be married before You
are twenty-five years old. On that DAY
II you are married my estate VIII be
turned over to you
Yes. uncle" was all said, but II
was not all felt. l was then twenty
two. which was old enough TO under
stand the peculiar position | might be
placed In by my unCle's viii How
ever, there was still at least three
wears in which TO find a partner, SO !
did not worry.
Nv uncle lived two years after what
he had said TO me. II was not known
that | was to be his heir, | alone pos.
sessing the secret of the condition.
Naturally II | married | desired that
nv bride should take me for myself
alone. This may have been a romantic
view TO take Of the matter, but In those
DAYS | was given 20 romance. Since
then ! have taken on more practical
views Of marriage. Indeed, the day !
was welded learned this lesson.
| was within six months Of twenty
five when | met Jennie Tisdale. She
was very feminine. very pretty. and !
said to myself | had found the girl
with whom | may enjoy my uncie'S
fortune. 4 number Of young men We're
ready to marry her; but, so far as
knew. she had not vet settled on any of
them. began 10 show her marked at
tention, and she appeared pleased with
It. She didn't cast off others who We're
attentive to her, but gave me the pref
erence in the matter of making en-
gagementS.
l had been brought up with my
cousin, Kate Chambless, and relied
much upon her judgment. ! told her
that l was considering a proposal and
arranged a meeting between the two
girls with view TO getting Hates
opinion Of Jennie. But Kate wouldn't
give It. She said that in such matters
1t was not wise TO interfere. / had
doubtless made up my mind 10 marry
Jennie If she would have me, and If
she endeavored TO persuade me not 10
do so she would surely fail.
"a cir h1rf
At any rate. despite Hates want Of
approval, l proposed TO Jennie. She
was some time making up her mind 10
accept me, but finally yielded. When
she did so there were four months left
before my twenty birthday. /
was somewhat anxious on account of
this limit Of time, for my fiancee seem
ed to find 1t hard to give up the at
tentions of her other admirers. If she
should fail me / might lose my for
tune.
This state OF anxiety lasted up to
within a few weeks of our wedding
day, appointed for a week before ]
would receive my fortune. One day.
when / dropped in to see my fiancee.
/ found a note from her stating that
one of her bosom friends had been
suddenly taken i'll and was lying at
the point Of Death. Jennie had gone
to her, but would return at the earliest
possible moment
This was within ten days Of our
wedding day, and l was worried
Jennie, not knowing how important
was our marriage within a given time,
might remain with her sick friend. II
so 1t would be too late. She left no
address for me or l would have writ
ten urging her on no account TO remain
away.
One can imagine my feelings at ex-
periencing such an uncertainty. Invent
to Jennie's home and asked her moth.
er for her address, or that she would
write her; that l insisted on her re-
turn at once for our wedding. Mrs.
Tisdale seemed TO be concealing some
thing from ne, but promised to write
her daughter. No further word came
from Jennie, and the day before my
twenty-fifth birthday l was without a
bride
In fl of desperation l went to my
cousin Kate and told her Of the strait.
l was in, confessing that if | were no
married before noon the next day
would lose my inheritance.
II would advise you" she said. mo
to rely on your fiancee. For my part, ]
question If she has not gone of witt
Scoville."
"Scoville"'
Yes. His attentions to her since yor
have been engaged to her have beer
very noticeable"
Heavens. What shall do?"
Select some good, steady girl Of your
acquaintance, tell her Of your inner
itance and the condition attached to Il
and ask her to marry you at once"
/ stood thinking for a few minutes
then, turning to my adviser, said:
Kate, will you marry meT'
Il will, TO help you out"
She said this reproachfully.
To help me out only?"
you surely deserve nothing more, t
have gone of after a fiighty little foo
when you could have had
Zone worth a thousand Of her"
Kate and l were married that sam,
evening. We returned from our wed