The Washington herald., 1920-06-20
By o. HENRY

River. ana fortk had biossonIed
mysteiiously the oainty. pathetic
profile of the child,
The Commissioner sat for half
an hour with his face In his hands.
gazing downward. and none dared
approach him. Then he arose and
walked out. In the business office
he paused long enough to ask that
the Denny file be brought 10 his
desk.
He found Hamlin and Avery
still reclining in heir chairs. ap-
parently oblivioEs OF business
They were lazilg .Gisr gssing sum-
mer opera, IL bbinss -IhTir. u Bit
perhaps their pridc sise---so an
pear supernatura.ls indi1ersaE
whenever they stood with large
interests imperilled. And they
stood to win more on this stake
than most people knew. They
possessed inside information to
the effect that a new railroad
would, within a year, split this
very Chiquito River valley and
send land values ballooning all
along its route. A dollar under
$4,000 profit on this location, IL IL
should hold good. would be a loss
to their expectations. So, while
they chatted lightly and waited
for the Commissioner TO open the
subject, there was a quick. side
long sparkle in their eyes. evinc-
ing a desire to read their title
clear to those fair acres on the
Chiquito.
A clerk brought in the file. The
Commissioner seated himself and
wrote upon II in red ink. Then
he rose to his feet and stood for a
while looking straight out of the
window. The land office capped
the summit of a bold hill. The
eyes of the Commissioner passed
over the roofs of many houses set
in a packing of deep green. the
whole checkered by strips of
binding white streets. The hori-
zon, where his gaze was focused,
swelled to fair wooded eminence
fiecked with faint dots of shining
white. There was the cemetery.
where lay many who were forgot
ten, and a few who had not lived
in vain. And one lay theer oc-
occupying very small space, whose
childish heart had been large
last beats, good to others. The
Commissioners lips moved slight
e. ly as he whispered to himself: 1T
was her last will and testament,
and / have neglected IL so long,"
The big brown cigars of Hamlin.
and Avery were fireIess, but they
still gripped them between their
teeth and waited, while they mar
velled at the absent expression
upon the Commissioner face.
By and by he spoke suddenly
and promptly.
Gentlemen. I have just indorsed
the Elias Denny survey for patent
ing. This office will not regard
your location upon a part of il as
legal" He paused a moment. and
then, extending his hand as those
dear old-time ones used to do in
debate, he enunciated the spirit of
that Ruling that subsequently,
drove the land-sharks to the wall.
and placed the seal of peace and
security over the doors of 10000
homes.
And. furthermore" he contin-
ued. with a clear. soft light upon
his face. 1T may interest you to
know that from this time on this
office will consider that when a
survey of land made by virtue or a
certificate granted by this State to
the men who " rested it from the
wilderness and savage = made in
good faith, settled in good faith,
and left in good faith to their
children or innocent purchasers -
when such survey,saItnougn
overrunning its complement, shall
call for any natural object visible
to the eye of man. to that object
it shall hold, and be good anu
valid. And the children of this
State shall lie down to sleep at
night, and rumors of disturbers of
title shall not disquiet them. For"
concluded the Commissioner, "of
such is the Kingdom of Heaven
In the silence that followed. a
laugh fioated up from the patent
room below. The man who carried
down the Denny file was exhibit
ing IL among the clerks.
Look here" he said, delighted
ly, "the old man has forgotten his
name. He's written Patent to
original grantee and signed IT
Georgia Summerfield, Comr.'
The speech of the Commissioner
rebounded lightly from the i'm
pregnable Hamlin and Avery. They
smiled, rose gracefully. spoke of
the baseball team, and argued
feeltngly that quite a perceptibIe
breeze had arisen from he east.
They lit fresh fat brown cigars,
and drifted courteously away.
But later they made another til
ger-spring for their quarry in
the courts. But the courts, ac-
cording to reports in the papers,
''coolly roasted them" "a remark
able performance, suggestive Of
liquid-air didoes), and sustained
the Commissioners Ruling
And this ruling itself grew to
be precedent, and the actual set
tier framed IL, and taught his
children to spell from it, and there
was sound sleep O. nights from
the pines to the sage-brush, and
from the chaparral to the great
brown river of the north.
But / think, and I am sure the
Commissioner never thought other
wise, that whether the meanders
of the ChiQuito accidentally
plated themselves into that
memorable sweet profile or not
there was brought about some
thing good for a whole lot of
children" and the result ought to
be called "Georgia's Ruling"
(Copyrirht 1000 nv wheeler Syndicate Inrl