Cheyenne record., 1919-01-09
CHAPTER xiv-continued.

CHAPTER xiv-continued.
H.
Eyes. Precisely. And there were
many just as valueless. But we have
been gradually getting those out of
the way and listing and appraising the
remainder. 1t was tangle. Your
brothers business methods, especially
Of late years. were decidedly unsys-
tematic and slipshod. It may have
been the condition Of his health which
prevented his attending to them as he
should. Or" he hesitated slightly, ut
may have been that he. was secretly in
great trouble and mental distress. At
all events, the task has been a hard
one for us. But, largely owing to
Graves and his patient work, our re-
port was practically ready a month
ago."
He paused. Captain Elisha, who had
been listening attentively. nodded.
"Yes." he said; "you told me twas.
What does the whole thing tot up to?
What's the final fgger, Mr.. Graves?"
"Never mind them now, Graves" in
terrupted Kuhn. 1.-THE amount, rough
ly speaking, is close to over our orig
inal estimate, half a million"
The captain drew a breath Of relief.
Well" he exclaimed, that's all right
then, amt itr That's no poorhouse
pension"
Sylvester answered. "Yes," he said,
that's all right as far as it goes"
"Humph! Well, 1 cal'late l could
make it go to the end Of the route
and then have enough left for a re-
turn ticket. Say" with another look
at the solemn faces Of the three. what
is the row? II the estate is wuth ha'f
a million what's the matter with it7"
That is what we are here this morn
ing to discuss, captain. A month ago,
as l said, we considered our report
practically ready. Then we suddenly
happened on the trail Of something
which upon investigation upset all our
calculations. If true it threatened,
not to mention its effect upon the es-
tate, to prove SO distressing and pain
full to us, Rodgers Warren's friends
and legal advisers, that we decided not
to alarm you, his brother, by disclosing
our suspicious until we were sure there
was no mistake. did drop you hint.
you will remember
II remember. Now we're comm to
the rock"
Sylvester was evidently disturbed.
Captain Elisha. regarding him intent
ly, nodded.
II judge It's sort of hard for you to
go on, Mr.. Sylvester" he said. "I'n
help you all 1 can. You and Mr.. Kuhn
and Mr.. Graves here have found out
somethin' that amt exactly straight
in Bites doin's-somethin's he's done
that's-well, to speak plain, that's
crooked?"
I'm afraid there's no doubt Of it."
"HumphT' The captain frowned.
His cigar had gone out, and he idly
twisted the stump between his fin
gers "Well," he said. with a sigh,
..our family. centrally speakin', has al
ways held its head pretty high. Dad
was poor. but he prided himself on
bein' straight as plumb line. And, as
for mother. she''- - Then, look
ing up quickly, he asked, Does any
body outside know about thisT'
mo one but ourselves-yet."
"Yet2 Is it goin' to be necessary
for anybody else to know it?'
I'VE hope not. But there Is a posi-
bility."
II was thinkin' about the children"
"Of course. So are we ALL"
"Um-hm. Poor Caroline! She put
her father on a sort Of altar and bow
ed down afore him. as you might say.
Any sort Of disgrace to his name would
about kill her. As for me-" with an
other sigh. II amt SO much surprised
as you might think. 1 know that
sounds tough to say about your own
brother, but I've been afraid all along.
You see, Bite always steered pretty
close to the edge Of the channel. He
had ideas about honesty and fair deal
in in business that didn't jibe with
mine. We split on Just that, as told
you, Mr.. Graves, when you and I fust
met sagot some South Denboro folks
to invest money along with him-sort
Of savin's account, they fggered it
but l found out he was usin' It to
speculate with. So that's why we had
our row. took pains to see that the
money was paid back. but he and I
never spoke afterward. Fur as my
own money was concerned, hadn't
any kick. but ." However, I'm
talkin' too much. Go on, Sylvester,
I'm ready 10 hear whatever you've get
to say"
"Thank you. captain. You make It
easier for me. It seems that your
brothers first step toward wealth and
success was taken about nineteen
years ago. Then somehow or other,
probably through q combination Of
luck and shrewdness, he obtained .
-,onf q concesaiOn frnm the Rra xIlfan