Ottumwa semi-weekly courier. [volume] (Ottumwa, Iowa) 1916-1918, 1917-01-23
CHAPTER l.
| Become a House Agent.

I am Garthoyle; but the Gardens
were not called after me. My uncle
Algernon Garthoyle, built them, a tri
angle Of twenty-one houses in the
heart of Mayfair, and called them afte!
himself. When after the poor ole
chaps funeral, his will was read, and
found that he had left them to me
l was indeed surprised. ! had always
taken it for granted that he would
leave them to that strenuous politician
my cousin, Herbert Polkington. Sc
had Herbert; and he did look disgust
ed. l should have thought myself
deucedly lucky If my uncle had left me
half of the hundred thousand pounds
he had invested outside the Gardens
the Gardens themselves, twenty-five
thousand year, sounded too good to
be true.
But there is always fly in the oint-
ment; and the clause in the will in
which the Gardens were left to me,
ended with the words: Certain cond'-
tons are attached to this bequest,
which will be communicated to Lord
Garthoyle by my solicitors" All that
evening l wondered what those condl-
tons were, of how many OF its joys
they robbed that twenty-five thousand
a year: and very soon after breakfast
7 motored round to the Offices OF
Messers Brayley and Wills, my uncle's
lawyers, to hear the worst.
Old Brayley, the head of the firm,
received me: and told him why had
come.
Eyes, yes; was expecting you, Lord
GarthOyle" hos aid 81 have the papers
here. You know that Garthoyle Gar
dens were. if l may say so. the apple
Of Mr. Algernon Garthoyle's eye.
Originally they were an investment.
He sank four hundred thousand pounds
in them. Then he grew interested in
them; and they became his hobby"
"Well. | should have called them his
passion-they were more than hob
by" said l. HE was even keener on
them than he was on his spooks-
psychical research
Eyes. should say that that was so,'
said Brayley.
ut was. Why, when Number is re-
manned empty for eight months it so
worried him that he began to lose in
weight. I'm told he broke up a most
important seance when word was
brought him that Number was on
fire." I said.
81 see you know all about it, Lord
Garthoyle Well, your uncle's idea
seems to have been to bequeath to you
not only the Gardens but also his keen
interest in them. The conditions at.
tached to the bequest are that you
should manage the Gardens yourself"
Manage them cried.
Eyes: that you should be your own
house agent, deal with all matters con-
nected with the letting of the houses.
their upkeep and repairs said Bray
ley.
But I've no experience whatever,
not only of the work of housing agent
but of any kind OF business"
"Oh. you'll soon gain it. The prop
erty is in excellent order at present.
Every house Is let to good tenant.
And if you do make few mistakes
at the beginning, the property can
stand it."
But 1t must mean work - lot Of
work." said
ooh, yes There are thousand de.
tails connected with large property
like that and they would need perpet-
ual attention. But Of course you would
have assistance a clerk-two clerks
| considered a while: the matter was
beginning to look more serious than l
had feared l had never done any
work; and it might be dangerous to
begin so late in life-at twenty-eight
Besides, I did not see how was 60
ing to find time to do any work: my
life was already arranged and full up.
Then I said: 81 suppose If I don't
fulfill these conditions. lose the Gar.
dens"
NO said Brayley THAT is the
curious thing about 1t. suggested such
clause. Of course: but your uncle
would not have it inserted. 1t rests
entirely with yourself to fulfill the con.
ditions. But here are the conditions In
detail" And he handed me some type
written sheets of paper.
said good morning to him and mot
ored back to my fiat in Mount street.
There read over the conditions; and
as expected, found that it did mean
lot Of work. Well. there was nc
help for it. must buckle to. The frs.
thing to do was to get help. As mot
ored down to the Temple and climbed
the stairs to Jack Humans rooms IN
the Kings Bench Walk, darthoyle
Gardens all the twenty-one houses
weighed heavily on my mind.
Jack himself opened his door to me:
greeted him gloomily; and we went
into his sitting room.
Jack said sadly within the last
two hours I've become one of the
workers Of the world"
Never" cried Jack "Well. am
glad to hear it. I've always been wor-
rying you to stop leading your idle.
rackety life and use those brains Ct
yours
"And you call Yourself my friend"
| said reproachfully.
well. you have brains. you know:
all yertebrates have brains. What's
happened?"
i've become the owner Of Garthoyle
Gardens"
well. but but that only means
you've thirt ythousand year to spend
on racketing about instead of five"
said Jack, with a perplexed air
NO. it means that shall have no
time to racket about. You didn't know
my Uncle Algernon: Garthoyle Gar