Graham guardian., 1921-12-09
CHAPTER !.
Cousin Psrcys Little Joke.

sulI hnu Qulet ana normal, end yet
with the impression persisting that
there had been tremendous crash Of
some sort just before the waking
senses were alive enough to realize II.
II was some such razing Jolt as this
that was given me ON the morning
when ! was called in, with the other
members OF the family. to listen to the
reading Of my grsndfathers will.
But. first. however, to give some
idea Of the conditions precedent, as a
lawyer would say. My father--good,
eaEy-going, comfort-loving Dad!-
never owned what Grandfather Dud-
ley, purs!ng his thin lips and swapping
the words cut. called "the money
sense" As nm architect high In his
profession and with fine artistic feel
ing for the beautiful in buildings, ne
earned 9 liberal ineome-and spent II;
or so much Of Il that there Was barely
enough left nfter his death TO provide
for my mother and sister, and TO keep
me going, az You might say. In an eI.
ceedingiy modest manner. without
work. I mean. may as well confess.
at once, that I had never acquired the
work habit. Was always going to-"
but II was so fatally easy to keep on
postponinr the chilling plunge. sup
pose had been ready on at least half
dozen occasions 10 take dive into
some pool with salary attachment;
but always some good friend would
bob up 10 say. "Oh. come on. Stannie,
old man: we're lacking just one more
TO make M the bunch. Don't be a
clam. Time enough to settle down
when you have to-" and then II would
be all OF.
Besides, you see, there was always
Grandfather Jasper In the background.
He had mOney--isshings Of It, 20 We
all believed; and II had been family
understanding for years that he In
tended splitting the bulk Of It, fifty
ffty. between my cousin Percy and
me. Before we go any farther. let me
set II down that Cousin Percy was
and is--all the seventeen different
kinds Of things that I am not, and
never wished to be /; smooth. neat. well.
groomed, q grind In college and n
perfect dear" with the girls. am
bilious as the very devil, and measur-
Ing his friends by the amount of "pull'
they might be able to exert In his be-
half; there you have him from the
crown Of his well-brushed little head
to his patent"leather pumps.
You're fright, Stnnnle," he would
say, In his carefully polished dIple-
matte manner-he had billet In the
Department of State ut Washington,
and was in training fer the legation
service abroad-"you are perfect |
fright. Three whole years out of col.
lese, and you haven't done single. |
solitary useful thing yet. When are
yeu going TO begin? And. incidental
ly. how long are you going to keep
Lisette wsltinsT"
Oh, Lord right there was another
knot In the tangle-I.isette. We had |
agreed to agree-Lisette and I--s0me
six months or so in advance Of Grand |
father JRsper's death. and We were |
both perfectly well assured, and had |
assured each other dozen times. that |
my income from Dads estate wasn't |
more than half btg enough to marry |
on. You see, Il WAS this way: Lisette |
was one OF q family Of four girls In a
mighty expensive household. and there
wasn't anything TO lean on on that |
side OF the fence. Though, OF course.
we never discussed It hrutHlly in so |
many words, We were waiting for that |
fffty.ftty look-In at the will which fam. |
fly tradition declared had already been |
drawn up, signed. sealed, witnessed |
and put away in cold storage; other.
wise IN the ssfe-keepinE Of Grandta.
ther Jasper's family lawyer.
All of when may serve to bring us |
back to that nightmare effect regis |
tered at the start. When the Dudley |
will was taken out Of the icebo1 and |
read TO the assembled members Of the |
family, there were at least two shock.
ing surprises. Jasper hadn't been any.
where near as rich as we had all been |
thinking no was; that his modest |
manner Of living had been. perhaps, as
much a matter Of necessity as Of
choice. bad investments-of which |
the family had never heard so much |
as a whisper-had cut his fortune
down to something less than half n
million, all told. That was shock |
Number One; and shock Number Two |
was strictly personal 20 me: Grand.
father Jasper had left me his love and |
best wishes, and had wilied the money
and property-all Of Il, mind you--to
Cousin Percy. giving as his reason |
that he thought Percy would make
better use Of II.
OF course. I had evorybody's sympa.
thy and condolence-even Percy's. for |
that matter. Ny mother wept; and, |
as ! recall II, Lisette managed to com.
pass o tear or 20 when 7 told her what
had happened: or rather what had so
ignominiously failed 10 happen.
"Whnteyer will you dof" she fal. |
tered. ~ suppose you will really have
to 20 to work now. won't you, Stan. !
nief"
"perish the thought" told her; |
then ] gave the good reasons why |
thore WAS no hope FOR us In that di.
rection. "a fat chance Id have to !
earn any real money. can navigate /
yacht--a little--drive a motor. ride |
polo pony. and play q fair hand al
bridge and tina other great American |
game. think these are the sum total |