The Washington herald., 1920-07-18


march. Shopping with Aunt Hen
rietta the day before. she had
paid that much for a dozen hand
kerchiefs.
Maybe I'll get a raise next
month";" said Thomas. 'TT be
around tomorrow at the same
time with a bag Of nour and the
laundry SOAP"
"All right" said Celia. AN
nette's married cousin pays only
$50 a month for a fiat in the
Bronx"
Never for a moment did she
count on the Spraggins money.
She knew Aunt Henrietta's fnvin-
chile pride of caste. and pas
mightiness as a Colossus Of Cash.
and she understood that IL she
chose Thomas she and her gro
GERS young man might go whis-
tie for their living.
Another day came. Thomas vio-
lating the dignity of Nabob Ave-
nue. with The Devils Dream"
whistled keenly between his
teeth.
RAISED to eighteen a week yes
terday." he said. Been pricing
fats around Morningside. You
want to start untying those
apron strings and unpinning that
cap. old girl"
"Oh, Tommy" said Celia, with
her broadest smile, Wont that
be enough? 1 got Betty to show
me how to make a cottage pud-
ding. I guess we could call 1t a
fat pudding IL We wanted to-"
And tell no lie," said Thomas.
And / can sweep and polish
and dust-of course. a parlor
maid learns that. And we could
whistle duets of evenings"
"The old man said he'd raise
me to twenty at Christmas If
Bryan couldn't think of any
harder name to call a Republican
than a "postponer'," said the gro
GERS young man.
"I can sew" said Celia; land I
soo NV
gas company's man show his
badge when he comes to look at
the meter; and i know how to
put up ounce jam and window
curtains"
Bully! you're all right, Ce1e.
Yes, I believe we can pull it on
on eighteen"
AS he was jumping into the
wagon The second parlor maid
braved discovery by running
swiftly 70 the gate.
And. oh, Tommy. forgot"
she called, softly. II believe
could make your neckties."
Forget it," said Thomas de-
cisively.
And another thing" she con-
tinued. SLICED cucumbers at
night will drive away cock
reaches"
"And sleep, too. you bet" said
Mr.. Mcleod Yes. / believe If I
have a delivery to make on the
West Side this afternoon I'll look
in at a furniture store ! know
over there"
1t was just as the wagon
dashed away that old Jacob
Spraggins struck the sideboard
with his fist and made the mys-
terious remark about ten thou
sand dollars that you perhaps re-
member. Which justifies the re-
Election that some stories, as well
as life, and puppies thrown into
wells, move around in circles.
Painfully but briefly we must
shed light on Jacobs words.
The foundation of his fortune
was made when he was twenty.
A poor coal-digger-fever hear of
a rich one?) had saved a dollar
or two and bought a small tract
of land on a hillside on which he
tried to raise corn. Not a nubbin.
Jacob, whose nose was a diVining
rod. told him there was a vein of
coal underneath. He bought the
land from the miner for S125 and
sold it a month afterward for
$4,000. Luckily the miner had
enough left of his sale money to
drink himself into a black coat
opening in the back, as soon as
he heard the news.
And so, forty years afterward,
we find Jacob illuminated with
the sudden thought that IL he
could make restitution ot this
sum of money to the heirs or
assigns of the unlucky miner.
respite and Nepenthe might be
his.
And now must come swift ac-
ton. for we have here some four
thousand words and not a tear
eh a Nd
nor bottle cracked.
Old Jacob hired a dozen private
detectives to find the heirs. IL
any existed. of the old miner.
Hugh Mcleod.
Get the point? OF course I know
as well as you do that Thomas is
going to be the heir. I might have
concealed the name; but why al
ways hold back your mystery till
the end? 1 say. let it come near
the middle SO people can stop
reading there if they want to.
After the detectives had trailed
the false clues about three thou
sand dollars-I mean miles-they
cornered Thomas at the grocery
and got his confession that Hugh
Mcleod had been his grandfather,
and that there were no other
heirs. They arranged a meeting
for him and old Jacob one morn
ing in one of their offices.
Jacob liked the young man very
much. He liked the way he
looked straight at him when he
talked, and the way he threw his
bicycle cap over the top of a rose
colored vase on the center-table.
There was a slight flaw in ia
cob's system of restitution. He
did not consider that the act, to
be perfect, should include con-
fession. So he represented him
self to be the agent of the pur-
chaser of the land who had sent
him to refund the sale price for
the ease of his conscience.
well. sir" said Thomas. "this
sounds 70 me like an iIlustra fed