The Raymer enterprise., 1918-11-14
CHAPTER vl-continued.

s.
"Ha, ha y he crowed. That's good |!
Then, from your questioning Of the
children. you've iearnedl'-
Not such an awful lot. l think I've
learned that-hum! that a good guard
Ian might be handy thing to have In
the house. A reg'lar legal guardian, !
mean. Otherwise
"Otherwiseg"
Otherwise there might be too many
Interested volunteer substitutes for the
Job. Maybe I'm wrong. but doubt It. /"
Have you made up your mind to be
that guardlan1'
mot yet. haven't made up my
mind to anything yet. Now. Mr.. Syl.
vester, while we're waitin' for what
comes next-you've ordered enough
grub TO victnal q shlp-s'pose you just
run over what your firm knows about
BiJe-that Il. II amt askin' too
much"
mot at all. That's what I'm here
for. You have 4 right to know. But ]
warn you my information Isn't worth
nuch."
He went on briefly and with the con.
ciseness Of the legal mind to tell Of A.
Rodgers Warren, his business and biz
estate. He had been q broker with q
seat on the Stock Exchange.
THAT seat Ia worth considerable
amt III" interrupted the captain.
Between eighty and one hundred
thousand dollars"
"Yup. Well, II reminds me Of q pic
ture l saw once In one Of the comic
papers. An old feller from the back
woods somewheres- good deal like me
he was and just about as green-was
pictured standin' along with his city
nephew In the gallery of the exchange.
And the nephew says, Uncle says be,
do you realize that seat down there's
wuth $75.0Wr Gosh. says the old
man, no wonder most Of 'em are
standln' up Ho, ho Is that seat OF
Bites part Of the 100000 you figger
he's leftT
"Yes; In q way 1t Is. To be truthful,
Captain Warren. we're not sure as to
the amount Of your brothers. tangible
assets. Graves made q hurried exami
nation Of the stocks, bonds and memo.
ranGa and estimated the total, that's
alL"
Il nee. Well, heave ahead"
What We propose, provided you de.
eide TO accept the trust, the executor.
ship and the rest, d to get together
you and Graves II he 10 well enough
you and I II he u not-and begin 4
careful examination Of the stocks,
ponds, assets and debts Of the estate.
This must be done first Of ALL"
Graves hinted there want any
debts to amount to anything"
80 far n We can see there are none
except few trifiing bills"
"Yes. yes. HUM" Captain Elisha put
down his coffee spoon and seemed 10
be thinking. He shook bis head. 81
was puzzled afore left home, and I'm
Just as puzzled now"
What puzzles you, II may askr'
Everything. And. II you'll excuse
my sayin' 50, Mr.. Sylvester. l guess II
puzzles you too
He returned his hosts look. The lat.
ter pushed back his chair, preparatory
to rising
at is all so perfectly simple on the
fnce Of II. Captain Warren" he said.
'Your brother realized that he must
die, that his children and their money
must be taken care Of; you were his
nearest relative; his trust In your hon.
esty and judgment caused him to over.
look the estrangement between you.
That's the case. Isn't lt7'
"Yes. That's the case. on the face Of
It, as you say. But you've forgot to
mention one item"
"What's thatT'
Bile himself. You knew him pretty
well. can see that. SO did |. And
guess that's why we're both puzzled"
The big lounging room Of the club.
On the first door. Fifth avenue side.
was almost empty when they entered
It. The lawyer drew two big chairs
near the open fire, rang the bell and
ordered cigars. After the cigars were
lighted and the fragrant clouds Of
smoke were rising be reopened the con.
versation. And now. In an easy. diplo-
matic way. he took his turn at ques-
ki0ning.
/ Meanwhile the room had been 1lling
up. Around each Of the big windows
bverlooking the avenue were gathered
groups Of men. yousg and old. smok-
Ing. chatting and gasing IDLY out. Cap
anin Elisha regarded them curiously.
This amt holiday, b 1T" be asasd
poIar owhila
- Whvr