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Show 244 He turned over the leaf of his almanac to mark the date and margin a note. I smiled and i<ud a con-fiding hand on his knee. . . " How about a httle pm-money for the bndes? All the bills that Senby left were bills due. As long as I'm going to set the fashwn of a tr~ple seahng, ,I take it you'll wish the ladies to look thetr part. Isn t that your idea I " . "You hit the nail square on the head that hme, Dave" he agreed. "We don't want your wtmmen to co~e slimping into the Endowment House m old calico gowns. Silk and lace w~n't ~; any too good for such an occasion- triple seahng I He took out a wallet and began to thumb over the bank notes it contained. The first hundred dollars passed muster slowly ; tbe second shll more slowly. At the third he paused to mu~ter.: .. " Shameful waste- woman s fnppery I , There followed several moments of crafty cogttation on his part, during which I mentally pttched ennies whether I should wm or lose. p Again he began to ftnger the notes. Slowly and reluctantly he counted out thirtY.-five hundred dollars, laid his heavy hand on the ptle, an.d satd . "There it is Dave. Money ts mt{l'hty tight these days and it's bound to git tighter. just the same, I want to git this matter clean off my hands- settle it up I'll split even with you. Write me your recetpt in fuil for the seven thousand wh~t was. due fro~!; Senby to Doc Neville's est~!~: and we II callttsquare. "Well- if you counseltt, I pretended to hesttate. " How about the other amount- the b~lance of what Brother Chilcott found m the wallet ? . "We'll talk about that another ttme. As for this, I do counsel ~ou to take the half in full settlement. It's the Lord s exnress will." . . " In that case I 1 11 ' I exclaimed, graspmg a qm · He carefully read the rec~ipt . He then handed me the money with a riod of dtsmtssal. d 1 left hi~ office scarcely able to believe my goo THE MORMON LION 245 fortune. I had despoiled the despoiler of a part of his loot. Between the bank at San Francisco and my money-belt, I was already infossession of Lucy's seven thousand dollars. Now had been given half as much more belonging to the Senby estate. On the other hand, I had committed myself by setting the date on which the widows were to be sealed to me. I hastened to tell the news, both good and bad, to Mrs. Sen by. When I assured her that the emigrant train must have passed the Southern Settlements, she advised me to wait still another week, and then make my dash. With at least a night's start, I would have a good chance of escape on my splendid horse. She pointed out that I could pretend to be riding to California on another mission. She refused to take more than five hundred dollars of the thirty-five hundred, all of which was rightfully hers. " I have only a short time to live, David," she replied to my urging. " Five hundred will be more than enough. I would not take the half of it, were it not for Ann Jan e." "She shall have as much more for herself," I said. "No, a larger amount than what I shall leave to her might cause Chilcott to demand that she come back to him. With three or four hundred dollars she will have a chance to marry some young man with no other wives. A boy whom she knows has started to court her." " But about Helga ? " I asked. " She is being courted by one of the Elders. We owe her nothing, David. By all moral right, this money is mine, and Lucy is my sole heir. As her husband, you must take the full three thousand." " For Lucy, then, if you are certain you will not need more.'' Mrs. Senby smiled and looked down at her bloodless bands. " No, David," she said. " I shall not need more." |