The weekly times-record. (Valley City, N.D.) 1912-1922, 1921-11-10
Uncle Jabez'
Will
BY FREDERICK CLARKE
&C. 1921 Western Newspaper Union)

In Uncle J0DeZ Will. we ulu ho'
look straight out Of the corners OF
our eyes. At least. saw that Lucy
was looking at me, and 80 l infer
that she saw that was looking
at her. Then we each stared hard at
the wallpaper
"To my nephew, Arthur Bowen, the
sum of $4,000 and my property on
Madison avenue, consisting OF the
apartment house known as The Maple
Vine on condition that he shall not
marry the said Lucy Stokes within a
period Of 20 years, and the said prop
erty and capital to be held in trust
for him during that period and the In
terest paid to him quarterly" the fe-
rocious old fellow had written. And
to my niece, Lucy Stokes, the sum OF
$4,000, to be held in trust for her for
20 years following my death. and the
interest to be paid to the said Lucy
Stokes quarterly, contingent upon her
not marrying the said Arthur Bowen.
And should the aforesaid legatees
marry during that period the capital
| and property aforementioned shall re-
| vert to the person whose name Is IN
the possession of my lawyer, Mr.. Crit
fins Coleworth."
1t did not run exactly in this way,
but that was the sum and substance
Of it. And the point was that Lucy
and l had never wanted to marry
each other
1t must have been three months
later. about the time when l received
the first quarterly installment, that
read the account of Mr.. Richardson's
marriage to Miss Bunting. Oddly
enough, | experienced a sudden light
ening Of my emotions, as though l
had been relieved Of some dreadful
burden. And then l understood. Al
though had not been aware Of it /
had actually been jealous Of Mr.. Rich
ardson' Yet Lucy and l were utterly
Incompatible in temperament as we
had agreed thousand times.
We ran across each other at Attain
tic city that summer and stopped to
chat.
Dear old Uncle JabeZ!' said Lucy
ecstatically do you know, Arthur
l don't mind confeSsing it to you
now at one time | positively had a
sort of tender feeling toward you.
"When did this feeling possess you?'
l asked her
"Oh, ages ago. she said evasively.
died. I wouldn't have told you, only
well, l may be engaged shortly
"Who is he?" I yelled.
don't know why it was, but ! felt
utterly crushed. And presently | be-
gan to realize what was the matter
with me. l was in love-and with
Lucy!
couldn't wait; hurried after her.
found her entering her hotel upon
the arm of smart, dark-haired fell
low. | wrote her letter asking for
an appointment next afternoon at
| three o'clock.
At three o'clock l was at her hotel.
Her maid handed me letter opened
1t.
II am sorry, Arthur, but I have an
engagement with Mr.. Clements this
afternoon" l read. "PerhapS some
other time will do? am leaving this
evening for"
l dashed the letter upon the floor
and strobe out Of the room. had
reached the front door Of the suite
when l heard voice calling me. l
looked back There stood Lucy at
the door, dressed all in white and
looking like saint.
ooh, Mr.. Bowen, didn't go out after
all. l had headache" she said.
"What was it you wanted to see me
about, Arthur" ~+~
reached her In four strides.
Lucy" I said making no bones
about 1t. II have found out that I
love you. Will you marry me and let
Uncle Jabez go toto the deuce?"
l was so keyed up that I didn't
know what l was saying. She put
her arms round my neck and laid her
head down on my shoulder and cried.
"Oh. Arthur" she said two minutes
later, do you know have loved you
all the time?"
So we were engaged, and we took
the train back to town next day to
see Mr.. Coleworth. Mr.. Coleworth
came out Of his Office at once and led
US back into cozy corner beside
real, old-fashioned fireplace.
$50 you two young people have
found out that you are in love with
each other?" he asked quizzically.
Eyes, and we are going to get mar
ried," l answered.
"Oh, pshaw!" said Mr.. Coleworth.
I'm afraid that the capital must go
to the third party now"
"NWho is the third party?'' demand
ed savagely.
Mr.. Coleworth turned round. Mr..
Stokes" he said, ITO be frank with
you, it was with my connivance that
he put that clause in his will. He
wanted you to get married and thought
that was the best way to bring it
about"
"Well, he's had his WISH" 1 an