Weekly Caledonian. (St. Johnsbury, Vt.) 1919-1920, 1919-03-19


81 have Che check hc'r on my del;
and the papers. They arrived this
afternoon"
"iou havo-thc- moncy-herc":"
ayes. But | warned you not to eX-
pect too much
al its only enough to pay up our
debts and leave us free just to work
and save for ourselves and the young
tiers, I'll thank the dear God hum
bly," the girl declared.
youngsters" cried the Judge.
"There isn't but one, is there"
"Suppose we get to the business!
exclaimed Jack suddenly.
The color gradually became normal
in the young woman's face. Judge
Farmer spread out more Officlal-look-
ing documents. He finished with the
arrangement of the papers and lastly
on the top he lead a long narrow slip
of pink color with fine fringed edges,
face downward.
GLOW much arc your debts?' he
asked. 81 suppose you are referring
to the bankruptcy of Jacks father.
"Those debts of mine will never be
paid with Mary's legacy if it's a mil
lion dollarsw declared Jack grimly.
Mary placed hand over his
mouth. playfully holding it there
she replied:
"Three thousand, seven hundred
and eighty dollars right this minute,
Judge" Then she gathered herself
together as thuogh to meet shock
and asked: "Will the legacy q.
cover it, Judgc?'
1t was very quiet in the little cor
ncr room. A clock licked on the wall
opposite Wcbster's picture. A blue
bottle fly buzzcd against dusty Win
dow.
at will" sold the Judge. "The a.
mount left you comes to five-thouS-
and-five- hundred and fifty dollars and
twenty-five cents"
Mary was the first to speak.
at pays the debts" she declared
hoarsely, "-and Jack, it leaves US
it leaves us with a whole
thousand dollars over, for you to get
into some business"
Jack leaped up and walked to the
window. He stood looking down into
the square.
"Don't be fool, young man." de-
clared the Judge "Youve got wife
that loves you. Thank God for her!,
at cheats me! cheats me out
of the satisfaction Of milking real
effort to come up to the acr@tcl:.'
"Tommyrct, you:,@ .:1cn" rctorted
Farmer. 81 guess you iird the JOB
of raising those youngstcr-that
youngster!-hard enough without
looking for slow smouldering imam
cial fire to make you martyr to your
principles"
"It's Mary's money-Ill never
touch it,"
Mary had the check in her hands.
She winked at the Judge and made
a gesture not to mind anything Jack
might say. Then her eyes sought the
figures on the paper-figures which
in those days meant competency,
figures which to her poor financially
starved scheme of things meant
fortune. If it had been fifty or
hundred thousand dollars, the amount
could have meant no more.
Fifty-fvc hundreds of dollars!
The figures swan before her gaze.
Frantically she fingered in her bosom
for her handkerchief. She sank
down into the chair, her pretty brown
head bowed in her arms on the edge
of the Judges table.
"What are you Weeping for?' de-
manded Farmer.
"That's the way Il woman signifies
she's having good time," declared
Jack grimly without looking around.
The papers and receipts were duly
signed, sealed and delivered. The
check formally became her property
The Judge said they didn't owe him
anything; he'd been paid from Ch!ca-
90. He shook hands with them cla-
borately and they went out.
Mary carried the check all the way
home in her hand. Jack spoke not a
word.
"Jack,' she pleaded, "can't you act
as happy over it as | would have been
if you had been the one left the
money!"
"It's-different," choked Jack. at
puts me in worse position than ever.
Pm frantic at times about getting
"We've got a start now," she de-
clared.
MARY" he begged, keep that
in your own bank account
for yourself. want to make good
for the sake of my own pride,-for
the sake of doing it."
She put the check in the clock for
safe keeping until morning. After
Jack had dropped asleep she stole
out of bed and took it out of the
clock. What of robbers? Fire? 1t
was an awful responsibility-this
having such vast wealth loose around
the house. She got an envelope and
tucked it under her pillow and fell
asleep at last to see visions and
dream dreams. And Thomas Joshua,
awake early in the morning-an i'd
peculiar to infants in some
luarters-saw corner of the envel-
ope protruding from beneath his