Grand Forks herald. [volume] (Grand Forks, N.D.) 1916-1955, 1922-08-05

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potatoes. \ Hysterical laughter welled into
Bencrofts throat, but he choked it down.
1t was a. joke of some kind; but he wished the
man had chosen some other day for it. 1t
wasn't fair. His poor brain had been some
thing like a whirling pinwheel of fire all day.
he couldn't stop any thought long enough to
X & nalyze 1t. so many others were crowding
and jostllng for the right Of way, and max
ing no use of it when they arrived. Still, he
would dig out the joke. The diversion might
steady him.
The stranger. then, had heard that Col.
hngsWood jeremiah Bancroft had this day
become a miHincaire. There was something
remarkable in this tilneliness. He had. in
the process OF offhand deduction, drawn the
he1r as a country bumpkin: the principal OBJ
Ject OF his Visitation. was to deplete as>far as
possible the said heirs bank account. How
he had learned that this was the day was
worth digging into. So, with some effort.
Bancroft forced his thoughts into a receptive
mood.
The world had not heard vet: there had
oeen no lnqulsitive reporters wrenchins the
bell wire. Even here in the village there
was only vague runaor of a fortune. more
ana more d.scradited as time went on be.
cause the heir had not gone forth with a
flourish to the Eig city-to obstinate the r,onev
III rlotous living as heirs were wont TO do
IN the movies. How then. by what uncanny
means. had this suave stranger acquired his
Information? 5
Here would be the FIRST of that caravan Of
adventures who are forever wearing down
the paths to rich mems doors. The first
n,arauding Chlan to cross the frontier. TO.
morrow, a troop Of them; later, an army,
persistent and amending once it began to
move toward the old homestead. To loot
him if they could.
He was still dazzled: his head was still
seething With a chaos Of indirection, of in.
decision, even after all these months of exact
knowledge. Millions. and still having not the
least conception what to do with them.
Dreaming, perhaps. of a few hundreds. hop
ing for a little to give him a footaold in his
later struggles: and then-nillions! What
was a boy. brought up in the country. who
had spent all his life in the country, to do
with so vast a fortune?.
One moment there would be wild exultation
over this Unprecedented liberty, this call Of
spring to the drab, pent up youth in him.
In his desk was a packet of bills totaling
ten thousand. TIe had demanded this sum
OF the attorneys tpaid over readily enough
against his ncte) to convince his wavering
senses that. he was not the victim of some
absurd trance.
y. the maddening impulse to rush forth
Into the city. to walk the sparkling night in
quest. of adventure-to befuSdle his feet
with strong drink and his senses with wone,:
But always the immediate reaction to such
thoughts was n troubled distaste' which drew
him to the book shelves. ~
len thousand alone would have made him
happy; but seven millions, seven colossal
grindstones. one atop Of the other, and all
upon his untried shoulders! The vast re-
sponsibiities entailed dumfounded him
quite as much as the limitless possibilities.
He stood in the Room with a Thousand
Doors and knew not which to open. What
with his simple habits he would not be able
to fritter away a tenth Of the income. The
fortune would 90 on piling up. more and
more formidable. more and more oppressive.
Four and twenty; he was piliably green.
What did he know Of the world outside he.
yond what we had learned from books and
newspapers and the military camp (Which
had not been particularly elevating):
Miser's son! Miser's son! Yah! He could
hear it echoing down the years. Once the
children had thrown stones at him. He had
never found out why. Children, always little
wolves for cruelty. had\taken lit~erallH>some
careless words of their elders. That was
the one solution he could deduce.
But for yonder magical shelves he would
indeed have been a country bumpkin-such
as this stranger no doubt considered him:
else he would have hesitated to come with
so utterly preposterous a scheme to wheedlc
money out Of Silas Bancroft's son. Ea,tle.
murder, and sudden death-for sale!
The stranger did not look like a fool or
a madman. That was a well shaped head.
soberly gray; the brow was intellectual. the
blue eyes merry and rollicking. In this faint
ly upturned corners of the mouth there
seemed to be a smile in ambush, ready to
leap forth at a given sign. It was, how
ever, the odd pallor OF the skin that blurred
the salients. Bancroft had never before seen
such color-or lack Of ton a human coun.
tenance. He roved about mentally Tor a
comparison. but failed.
You don't look crazy" said Bancroft.
breaking the long pause. during which the
arrange had shownt-no sign Of r~estiveness.
Men who have something 70 sell are gen.
orally r4tient.
: ~ m