His Rich Aunt.
Hilary Smith belong to a good family. His father never
failed to mention the fact. Unfortunately he had some
troubles with the bank and was sent off to Australia. He did not like
Australia and Australia did not like him.
Therefore he was eager to return to England. He could
not warn enough money to book his passage. So he had to
wait until his father and his brother died. They fortunately did it
at the same time.
He received all the money that belong to a good family
and soon spent of two things. He could die or work. Neither
of these gave him any pleasure. Then he remembered that he had a
rich aunt.
She was his father’s only sister. Hilary found out her
address . The old lady was glad to see her only nephew.
Unfortunately she was seriously ill. The doctor told
Hilary that nothing could cure the old lady. Hilary was
afraid to remain in the hard world alone. So he chose
a moment when his aunt was filing much better than usual and
asked her for details of her will.
The old woman told her nephew that she had made a will
when she was a young girl. She was very religious and
left all her money to some religious people in China.
She didn’t make any other will.
The next day Hilary found out that when a woman
married an earlier will lost its value . A new will must be
made , the money goes to the relation. His future was safe.
Hilary badly needed money , he owed a lot of
shopkeepers, who trusted him because his aunt was rich. It
was impossible for Hilary to speak with his aunt about
money. She got very bad and got angry when money was
mentioned. One morning she told Hilary that she was going
to send for her lawyer to make a new will. Hilary was
afraid that she wanted to leave all her money to some medicine t
o make her sleep. Hilary decided to double the portion. He
could put her to sleep forever.
He put some more medicine into the glass. His took
the glass and looked at Hilary. She thanked her nephew and
said:
“ If I am alive tomorrow , I shall change the will
in your favour . If I die tonight , you will get nothing.”
She explained to her nephew that she had never been married ,
so her first will did not lose its value. Hilary tried to
take the glass away but the old lady raised it and drank.
(After Cyril Hare)
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