Arlington High School - Indian Yearbook (Arlington, MA)

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The Arlington High School Clarion 7 |ust one chance m a hundred Aron- son’s disease — well, time would tell. III Early the same morning the doctor examined Aronson and pronounced him dead, and advised that the undertaker be sent tor immediately. Mrs Aron- son, however, absolutely r efused, saying that he had had attacks of this kind before, when she had thought him dead, but he had always revived after several hours Thus six days elapsed, the doc- tor be:oming more and more certain that the man was dead, although mor- tification had not yet set in, and Mrs. Aronson herself gave up hope I hen the physi ian looking at the body noticed that a red spot had appeared on each cheek of the “ patient,” and within thirty minutes Aronson opened his eyes and said feebly: “ What is the date ? ” When he learned that seven of the ten dais had passed he began giving orders, and before night had caught a train for Chicago I hat morning he telegraphed to Tyler to meet him at the train on the evening of the eighth day. IV In his hotel in Chicago, John T)ler had spent most of his time walking up and down his room, alternating between hope and fear If Aronson would only die the fifty thousand would be his If he revived in time to be in Chicago on the tenth day — as, indeed it seemed most probable he would the fortune would he Aronson’s On the morning of the seventh dav he had persuaded himself that as he had received no word from Aronson this attack had proved fatal. He had eaten his first hearty breakfast since his return to Chicago, and was in a particularly happy frame of mind, when a telegram from New York was handed to hint He paled immediately, tore it open with shaky hands and looked at the signa- ture — Aronson. As he went up to his room he muttered his resignation, say- ing: “ It’s all off now. I may as well let things take their course I’ll meet him V 1 uesday night, the eighth day, ]ust after the train arrived, Tyler noticed the County coroner, a large man with a jolly smile, standing at the rear of the baggage car Aronson had not yet appeared, so he stepped up to the coroner, with whom he was slightly acquainted, and said pleasantly: “Going away, doctor?” The official turned around, shook hands, and replied: “ No, I got a message to meet this train Passenger died on the way from the East.” For some reason which he could not explain, Tyler felt a desire to see the body, so he stayed with the coroner, and when the body was carried to a room in the station, he was standing beside the jolly official 1 he sheet was lifted from the man’s face A cry escaped Tyler’s lips. The man was Aronson. “ Why,” he started to say, “ that man is not dead I know him,” when he remembered his thought on the tram coming to Chicago. “ One chance in a hundred One chance in a hundred rhe coroner looked up quickly? What did you say ? ” Tyler stammered, “ Why, I know him — at least I don’t know his name — talked with him all the way from New York ” he was lying easily now, and went on : “ He was telling me that he had no relatives in the world. After dinner I went into the smoker, and when I returned he was gone. He must have been taken ill and gone to his berth.”

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6 The Arlington High School Clarion THE ECCENTRICITIES OF FATE IN the private office ot A. N. By a rip a lawyer in New York City, two men had been conversing earnestly for more than an hour. Finally, one leaned forward and took a piece ol paper which the other extended, affixed his name to it, and lighted a cigar with a satisfied air, saying as he did so the one word, Done.” I his paper provided that if within ten days after that date William Atonson executed a deed for certain real estate in New York to John Tyler, the man who had signed the paper, he, Tyler, would in turn deed a piece of property along the D H tracks in Eroy, N. Y., to William Aronson. It was further agreed that the transaction was to take place at the Renssalaer Hotel in Chicago. The two men shook hands, and Aronson remarked that as he had promised to take his wife to the theatre that evening, he must hurry home. As the two men stepped out on the street, a broad smile covered Aronson’s face, and he kept saying to himself, “ Fifty thousand at least, fifty thousand at least,” and each time he said the num- ber his smile grew broader, till the people who passed wondered what good fortune had befallen the tall dark man. In a moment or two the smile left his face, and a feeling of faintness stole over him, and, before he could hail a passing cab, he fell unconscious to the sidewalk. Tyler at once had the stricken man taken to his home, where he was put under the care of a new physician, the family doctor being off on his vacation at the time. When Aronson had been put to bed, his wife explained to Tyler and the physician that her husband had suff ered from attacks of this kind before, but that they never lasted more than an hour or so. When the attacks were on him he always took on the appearance ot death, and remained so until they passed over. sfTyl er remained an hour or more and then left, saying that he must catch his train for Chicago. II Tyler, lying in his berth in the sleeper, flying towards Troy, congratulated him- self on the disposal of his troublesome D H ” property. He felt that he had made a “ good deal.” With this thought uppermost in his mind, he dropped off to sleep, and did not wake tdl broad daylight the next morning. After finishing breakfast he was won- dering how to pass away the time before him, when a newsboy came through the train with the morning papers. He bought one and settled back in his seat to look it over. Finding nothing of interest, he was about to lay it aside, when his eye was caught by a small headline, “ l roy Depot Site Located To Be Built at ‘ D H I racks and Main Street.” Tyler read the article through twice before he fully compre- hended its meaning. It suddenly dawned upon him that this new depot site was on his own property. Then, with greater force, he remembered that he had just entered into a contract to trade that very property! He began to realize that the real estate along the tracks which had been worth perhaps fifty thousand dollars, was now worth at least a hundred thousand, and he had traded it for New York property worth about fifty thousand! His eyes narrowed; his face became seamed with lines as he tried to think out a scheme to block the trade. 1 hen his face lighted up a bit. There was

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8 The Arlington High School Clarion The coroner had been examining the body. “ Well, it’s a case of natural death, all right. Here, }im, you can take him now.” An undertaker stepped up and two men carried the body to the wagon waiting outside. “ Where did you send him ? ” Tyler asked his friend in the tone of one who is merely curious about such matters. The doctor answered; the men separated, Tyler going to his hotel. The next morning he was oft to the undertaker’s shop bright and early. “ I must rush matters now, if possible There’s no telling when he may revive,” he said to himself as he walked. Ar- rived at the establishment he told the same story to the man in charge that he had told to the coroner, and asked to see the body. The man consented and they went back into the morgue There, on a cold marble slab, lay Aronson, in the same condition he was in before he left for Chicago. “ What are you going to do with him ? ” asked Tyler “ Well, as he has no relatives, we may as well bury him at once. I suppose we’ll do it this morning.” “ Perhaps that’s the best thing to do,” said Tyler, in a sad tone, as he left the gruesome place. Once outside he rubbed his hands with Calls by Appointment. A. L. NOURSE 32 Post Office Building Manicure Arlington, Mass. Shampooing Facial Massage MarcelWave Joseph P. Kerrigan, D. M.D. DENTIST ASSOCIATES BUILDING ARLINGTON CENTRE, MASS. glee, and said over and over again, “ Fifty thousand at least; fifty thousand at least,” — the very words Aronson had used nine days before. VI About four o’clock the next day Robert Hancock, a friend of the under- taker’s dropped in to hear about the man who had died on the train the night before “ No,” the undertaker replied to Hancock’s questions, “ there was nothing about him to identify him, and besides, he had stated earlier in the day that he had no relatives, so we buried him yesterday morning. No, this is the only thing, and I could make nothing of it,” and he pulled out a small gold, college fraternity pin. Hancock glanced at it and cried, “ Why, for Heaven’s sake, man, he can be identified! I belonged to that same fiat when I was in college You have the body exhumed, and I’ll have it identified. “ All right I’ll do it this afternoon.” He was willing enough, for he knew a fee could be collected if friends could be found. At seven o’clock the body of the un- known man lay again on the marble slab. An attendant was passing when he noticed a bright spot in each cheek. “ That man’s alive,” he cried, and immediately called a doctor. The phy- sician used strenuous efforts to restore the body to life, and before eight o’clock Aronson suddenly sat bolt upright and demanded: “What day is it? What time? Good Heavens! Call me a cab,” he cried, excitedly. The cab came. He gave the address of a prominent lawyer, Thf.rese B. Thomas, D. M. D. Charles A. Thomas, D. M. D. DENTISTS Associates Building Arlington