The Punta Gorda herald. [volume] (Punta Gorda, Fla.) 1893-1958, 1916-08-17
MY ODD
UNCLE
BY DWIGHT NORWOOD

an III dSSortSu ulalIldSe' III every Otn-
er respect he was to be snvied OF
would have been had 1t not been for
his marriage. He was prosperous In
! business affairs and asstsMsulated a
fortune. But no children wa;e born to
him during the brief period Of his mar
riags. and after his separation from
his wife he never entered wpoA a Sec
! ond matrimonial adventure.
l was his only male relative, and
after hesitating for some time between
leaving his property in trust for a
philanthropic work and lsavi8g it to
me he finally came to the conclusion to
allow it 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 / lived. bnt would de-
prive me of wife and children. | did
not agree with my uncle on the sub
ject of matrimony because knew that,
though a splendid man, he must be
very hard man to get on with. He
seemed to be fond of me, and If
wanted anything had only to ask him
for 1t. Yet dared not oppose him In
any of his prejudices. The difference
between me and the wife from whom
he separated was that | 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 nj senior.
and. being conscious OF her inability
to get on with him. came to rely OH me
to help her manage him when a dead
lock came between them. | was born
old and never given to acting upon i'm
pulse. while she was sensitive and had
no faculty for going around stone
wall instead of over it.
My uncle's roposition-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 I'M
cles intentions
accepted the condition, and my I'M
Gle made his will. leaving hts property
In trust to me. | to have SO much of
the income as 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 ! did marry the property
was to pass out of my hands and the
foundation was to be esta hfisAed. Un-
der this condition 1t would be practi-
cally impossible for me to marry, one
of the reasons being that | would be
obliged to drop from afIlueRce to pow
erty. very unpleasant fall
Before acceding 10 my uncle's wishes
! asked my aunt If she would disaD-
prove Of my doing SO. and she told me
that since she could not benefit by her
husbands property she preferred that
should do so. However, before ac-
cepting the proposition made bold to
tell him plainly that his separation
from his wife was principally his own
tault and that he was doing her n
great injustice to leave her property. |
or rather its income. to me instead of |
10 her / expected that this would al |
Ter his determination, but rsr$ .ana)rised |
that 1t had no effect whatever to deter |
him from his purpose Indeed, 1t seemed |
to confirm him in it.
dld not promise not 10 turn over
a part Of the income from his es-
tate to bis wife. Ny privilege to do so
would nave satisfied me with the posi-
hon ! assumed had 1t not been that ]
was pledged to celibacy. Moreover,
here was woman whom I wished to
marry. When the papers had been
'lsned Informed my uncle Of this fact
hough did not tell him who that wo-
nan was. He merely said, "YOu should
hank me. ny boy, for saving yea from
| life of misery"
Upon the completion of the agree
nent my uncle gave me the position OF
us right hand man that | might be
prepared to manage his estate after
lis death. He was certainly very
queer man, and no one could tell what
lie would do. Two years after our
compact he was taken suddenly ILL.,
lie called for me and said:
i have been told by my doctor that
have but few days at most to live.
The approach of death has made a
hange in my feelings. 1t is a part of
new plan l have made that you
hould marry
l. looked at him IL aSssEisiiment.