Page:O Henry Prize Stories of 1924.djvu/104

70 “As for my material fortune, such as it is, it will go not to you but to charity, except for a certain portion, justly yours. You do not need the rest now. You would only have needed it if you had failed. There are certain things of your mother’s you will probably wish to keep. I have made arrangements for that. Of course” (a line of erasure) “you are welcome to any of my personal effects, should you desire them. “I wish you good fortune, my son, with a free mind, now. Perhaps it is nothing to you that when I die, I shall be able to rest, now, but it is something to me. Perhaps you have a——(the line was unfinished). “Very sincerely,


 * “Your father,

“”

Frank stared up from the last page. Strange, difficult tears stung at his eyes.

“Father,” he said, gently.

There was no answer.

He sprang up. “Father—Father,” he called over and over; but the figure in the other chair did not stir.