My son, my life is of less
consequence than yours, since it is farther spent; but it still has
sweetness, and it is the _only_ life that I possess. Here are three
goblets of wine--one is Scuppernong, the other two are harmless. I will
apportion our chances fairly, and will drink two; you shall drink one.
The lawyers are at hand to arrange the inquest, and to confer the
title-deeds to the estate.' In silence the son consented, and the
devoted pair drank off the goblets as proposed, and at once sat down to
a banquet prepared for them, and for the legal gentlemen attendant. When
the ices came in, the elder Roseton was carried out; and the heir of
Pont-Noir, having seen the remains properly bestowed in a place of
safety, and a special inquest held, finished the night with the
counsellors in the enjoyment of a tempered hilarity, and rose next
morning the possessor of wealth so boundless, so unspeakable, that my
brain reels as I endeavor to grasp at even its outlying fragments.
In the hope of presenting some of its details to the reader, I procured,
at an enormous expense, a Babbage calculating engine, and during three
successive weeks worked it without pause upon the illimitable figures.
Pages:
279
280
281
282
283
284
285
286
287
288
289
290
291
292
293
294
295
296
297
298
299
300
301
302
303