The Arvada enterprise., 1920-05-06

The Rssny white Elephant.

CHAPTER !.
-
The Resay White Elephant
The once In Quebec which Georges
Lamartine. the notary. occupied was
located inconspicuously in a small
building In an old part Of the Lower
Town. Small, wiry. black-haired,
with an air Of unconvincing plausible
ity about him. Monsieur Lamartine
fingers. staring out Of the window. and
turning again to look at letter signed
Hilary Asksw, when his boy brought
him card with the same name upon
It. Monsieur Lamartine frowned.
''Tell Monsieur Askew that am
busy with an important court case"
he said. ASK him to call at this time
tomorrow"
'Mr. Askew says he's busy. too. and
he'll watt" announced the boy. return
ing.
The notary considered. swell, tell
him I'll see him In . few minutes" he
answered.
When the boy was gone he took
down the telephone receiver and gave
Q number.
''Is that you. Brousseauf' he asked.
"Aoasieur Hilary Askew has turned
up."
There was . sputtering at the other
end Of the line which made the notary
smile.
II can't ay. haven't seen him
yet" said Monsieur Lamartine. in an
swer. But II I can't send him homo
with . sDils on his lips and = check
In bis pocket shall try to keep him
IN Quebec until have seen you. And
you'd better try to get Norris BY long
distance and warn him. Good-by."
He hung up the receiver. rang for
the boy and told him to admit Mr..
Askew. Then he rose to receive his
visitor.
He looked at Hilary keenly ~ he
shook hands With him. The young man
was different from what he had ex.
pected. he was about as big. and he
had the same air Of American energy /;
but he appeared more determined. he
looked like one Of those uncomfortable
men who have the knack Of disentan-
Cling themselves from sophistries.
However. Hilary looked good-natured.
And he was certainly inexperienced.
Monsieur Lamurtine gave him chair
and looked very plausible indeed.
"YOur visit has followed very close
upOn your letter. Mr.. Askew." he said.
"Perhaps you did not get mine. advis-
ing you to walt before coming to Que
becr'
"No." said Hilary. hut ! would have
come anyway. want to get this mat.
ter settled"
1.-THE American haste" said the no
tsry. looking almost ingenious. But
the law Ii not TO be taken by storm.
least Of all IN Quebec. 1t Is only q
month since your uncle died. Perhaps
II will be months before We can turn
over the property to you. under
stand that you were not In close touch
with your uncle during his latter
yearsf"
IL hadn't seen him since I was boy.
Tint was what made the leEncy sur.
prising one. He had not shown any
interest In me. had hard fight to
get through my forestry course. 80
when I heard that ! had become the
owner Of q tract Of a hundred square
miles II seemed like an Intervention Of
Providence. That Is almost u king.
dom. SIR"
"Ten miles by tenr inquired the
notary. smiling. "weil. suppose II
does seem a large territory to you. al
though the Rosny seigniory WAS one OF
the smallest Of the old fcudal grants
1t IL almost the Inst on the north shore
If the II. Lawrence that remains ID
the hands Of the original family"
"Four hundred thousand dollars
seems big sum for my uncle to have
paid for It," said Hilary.
your uncle" said Monsieur Lamar
tine. beginning to drum softly, ''made
this investment against the advice o,
good many people. The Rosny tim
ter rights are practically valueless, be
cause the wood Ia principally bnlsan
fir Instead Of pine and spruce"
He noted that Hilary only watched
him instead OF answering. and he be
gun to feel that he would not be dis
posed Of % easily Ms he had Antici
pated.
1.-The property has never begun Il
pay Its way" continued Monsieur La
MARITIME. "Your 0ncie paid three hun
dred and nifty thossand for the cuttin,
rights aloae. He found himself "
against the law which places = iimi
on The DIE Of trees. Seven inches fol
black. q swamp spruce. beHovo