Not
hard enough to kill him, but it made him forget things, and he died
that way."
"But couldn't you tell from the papers he left where he had invested
the money--his own, as well as your father's?"
"That's th' odd part of it. We couldn't find a scrap of paper, nor a
dollar, among his things. You see Uncle Isaac was queer, even before
he went crazy. He didn't believe in banks, and he used to hide his
papers and money in all sorts of out-of-the-way places. He lived all
alone--an old bachelor."
"Did you search for his things?" asked Mr. Pertell, who was much
impressed by Sandy's story.
"Oh, yes! We searched all over!" exclaimed Sandy. "But we couldn't
find a thing. It's too bad, for Uncle Isaac never would have done it
for th' world, if he had been in his right mind."
"No, I suppose not," agreed Mr. Pertell. "Have you any papers to show
that your father let him have the money?"
"Oh, yes, we've got a note. But it's no good. Uncle Isaac is dead,
and he didn't leave nothin'. We've searched all over, and couldn't
find a thing. No, I reckon th' only thing to do is to lose the farm.
But it will come hard on pa and ma--it surely will."
Mr. Pertell said nothing. There was little he could say to make the
sad lot of the Apgar family any easier. The manager wished he could
provide the money himself, but, as he had said, he had invested all
his surplus cash in the moving picture business.
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