gullies by the spring freshets. A large ash-heap surrounded by
jimsonweed and burdock marked the sight of the once beautiful red barn.
The front-yard gate had been torn from its hinges, and it lay upon the
ground.

It was well known that Widow Gramps had received ten thousand dollars
from an insurance company in New York City, but what she had done with
the amount was only a matter of opinion. Along about this time it became
known in the community that the Widow had leased the farm and was
planning to go to a Western State as she said, for the sake of her
health, which had been declining since the day of the Deacon's funeral.

One day when Mrs. Gramps was in Dobbinsville making preparations for the
trip West, she called at the People's State Bank and presented a check
drawn on a Western bank and signed by James Duncan. When the cashier had
cashed her check and she had left the bank, he turned to his assistant
and said, "Jim, do you know what Deacon Gramps' name was?"

"J.D. Gramps," responded the assistant.

"I know J.D. were his initials," said the cashier, "but what does J.D.
stand for?"

"Oh, I don't remember," answered the assistant. "I suppose we could
find out by looking up some of his old papers that we still have in the
vault."

"Look up that old mortgage that Gramps had on the Widow Smith's little
farm," ordered the cashier.