Since the day I
paid the four thousand dollars for your homestead, people have been
wondering where I obtained the money, and they certainly had good reason
to wonder. They knew I had invested all I could gather together in that
mine in British Columbia, and that I could pay down such an amount was
very puzzling. It is only right that you and Nellie should hear the truth
from my own lips. You well know," he continued after a pause, "that your
father was a very dear friend of mine. We had grown up as boys together.
We knew each other's affairs intimately, and we often discussed the
future. Your father made considerable money, and had a fairly large bank
account. One day he came to me--only several months before his death--and
we had a most serious talk together. He seemed to have some premonition
that he would not be much longer upon earth, and was most anxious that I
should consent to a plan which he had in his mind. He was fearful lest
after his death something should go wrong. He knew what a headstrong lad
you were, Stephen, and what a temptation it would be to spend recklessly
his hard-earned money.
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