The Washington times., 1938-03-04

Il IleT SpOlleO uOW'
Listen, both of you," Hal said,
and his eyes were misty. Anna,
you know what this guy did for
me one day? He saved my life.
I was bleeding like a stuck pig and
my leg was shot off and this loafer
picked me up and carried me to a
hospital. When I came to in the
hospital, swore to God that if my
life was his, then so was everything
else I had. It is. I got a little
money now. He can have it all or
any part Of it."
"I wouldn't touch dime Of 1t"
Stanley said. It's gamblers money.
Easy come, easy CO."
Hal used to remember those swell
times in Stanley'S and Anna'S hv-
ing room. He remembered them
because it was the nearest he ever
got to a home full of love. That
is why he turned so bitter when
Anna died. She died so needlesSly.
She was killed by hit-and-run
driver on the night of Helen's elev-
enth birthday. After the funeral
Hal moved in with Stanley. They
lived together for three years and
then Stanley died. That left Helen
all his.
Helen was IA then and promis-
ing to be as pretty as her mother.
Hal had bought a new house in
1928 with some vague idea OF
marrying some day. 1t was a
beautiful place and even with the
little money he had, he did all
he could to make life as wonderful
as possible for Helen.
Hal really couldn't afford it be-
cause the crash had caught him
and wiped out most Of the money
he had won since he started play
ing the market. He didn't care
about it. He had enough, he always
said, for both Helen and him to
live on until Helen got married.
NEW LEG FATAL
One of the things that made him
! forget the loss of his money was
the new leg he finally bought in
1881. It was made of wood and
elastic. 1t was exactly the weight
of his right leg. And after a few
weeks practice he could manipu-
late it almost as well as he could
his regular leg. 1t was in five
pieces, all of them of solid wood.
When Helen was Is, she was in
finishing school, up the Hud'
son. It wasn't her idea. It was
Halls. He said she was going to
be lady and a debutante and she
was going to have coming out"
party even if it took the last dime
he had.
But he never got quite around
i, to it because he fell one day on
icy pavement. It was just an ordi'
. nary fall but he cut his right leg,
! The artificial leg pounded into the
: stump and broke through the cal
, loused flesh. Three days after the
: fall, Hal was full of septic poison
ing and a week after that he was
! dead.
! In his will, he left everything
: he had to Helen. 1t included the
: house and whatever other prop
> erty he possessed. But after her
first grief had passed and the
o bank which was the executor o1
Halls estate insisted that she take
q over the necessary papers, she
: found that the house was about all
I he seemed to own. Among hi
: effects, most of which we're worth
:. less stocks, she found two notes
!. One said, ITO Be opened Immedi
a ately," and the other, ITO Be
e Opened Month After My Death
\ THE SECOND NOTE
= Helen opened the first note. II
\ read:
Darling Helen: You will take
the eighty ($80,0OO thousand dol
Il lars I have left you and bring II
e to the bank and have it administer
=, it for you. Take good care of my
d new leg. It is a beauty and the
# only two things hate to leave be
n hind me are you and it. Be al
o good as you are beautiful and have
it lots of fun. HAL"
That was about all there was tt
y Halls estate and Helen thought M
n more about living like a rich girl
# She cast about for a job and sht
r had advice from the bank. The ont
# thing the bank officers objected tt
Ir however, was her insistence thai
S. Halls body be exhumed so that she
n could get his leg. They argued anc
.r pleaded with her not to do it. But
she insisted. She said Hal hac
n given her a wonderful childhood
)r and every thing she wanted. Now
g he wanted her to keep his leg anc
k it was the least she could do. The!
J? got it way from his body on thu
n evening Of the day that marked
Vt he had been dead a month. Anni
S, bethought herself Of the SeconC
Or note. She opened and read /
after the leg arrived. 1t read:
Ia Take a knife and press the lei
"a at its top. Slide the knife into tn
"a little crack the pressure will re
veal. God bless you"
a Helen followed instructions. A
W she slid the knife in, a pane
ou opened. She reached in the aper
ou ture for the small bundle. Wher
she unwrapped it she found 1
a. made up of $1,000 bills. Their,
ep were 30 Of them.
1o' THE END Z.