The House of a Thousand Candles by Meredith Nicholson
page 8 of 395 (02%)
page 8 of 395 (02%)
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the Atlas Mountain dwarfs won us honorable mention
by the British Ethnological Society. These were my yesterdays; but to-day I sat in Arthur Pickeringâs office in the towering Alexis Building, conscious of the muffled roar of Broadway, discussing the terms of my Grandfather Glenarmâs will with a man whom I disliked as heartily as it is safe for one man to dislike another. Pickering had asked me a question, and I was suddenly aware that his eyes were fixed upon me and that he awaited my answer. âWhat do I think of it?â I repeated. âI donât know that it makes any difference what I think, but Iâll tell you, if you want to know, that I call it infamous, outrageous, that a man should leave a ridiculous will of that sort behind him. All the old money-bags who pile up fortunes magnify the importance of their money. They imagine that every kindness, every ordinary courtesy shown them, is merely a bid for a slice of the cake. Iâm disappointed in my grandfather. He was a splendid old man, though God knows he had his queer ways. Iâll bet a thousand dollars, if I have so much money in the world, that this scheme is yours, Pickering, and not his. It smacks of your ancient vindictiveness, and John Marshall Glenarm had none of that in his blood. That stipulation about my residence out there is fantastic. I donât have to be a lawyer to know that; and no doubt I could break the will; Iâve a good notion to try it, anyhow.â |
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