Produced by Roger Frank and the Online Distributed Proofreading Team at https://www.pgdp.net [Illustration: “Mrs. Vincent, I have found the insurance policy” _Page 114_] The Best Policy _By_ ELLIOTT FLOWER Author of “The Spoilsman,” “Policeman Flynn,” etc. Illustrated By GEORGE BREHM _A. L. BURT COMPANY_ _Publishers New York_ Copyright 1905 The Bobbs-Merrill Company October TO THOSE FOR WHOSE BENEFIT I HAVE INSURED MY OWN LIFE THE BEST POLICY INCLUDING An Incidental Comedy 1 An Incidental Question 25 An Incidental Tragedy 47 An Incidental Speculation 73 An Incidental Favor 99 An Incidental Error 123 An Incidental Failure 149 An Incidental Scheme 167 An Incidental Courtship 187 An Incidental Sacrifice 207 An Incidental Discovery 229 An Incidental Grievance 251 THE BEST POLICY AN INCIDENTAL COMEDY Naturally, when Harry Beckford married he began to take a more serious view of life. If there is anything at all of thoughtfulness and consideration in a man, marriage brings it out: he begins to plan. He has some one dependent upon him, some one for whom he must provide. That he should trust to luck before was solely his affair; that he should trust to luck now is quite another matter. In the case of Beckford, as in the cases of most other young men, this feeling was of gradual growth. He was optimistic and happy; his future looked long and bright; he had ample time in which to accumulate a comfortable fortune; but—he wasn’t even beginning. He and his wife so enjoyed life that they were spending all he made. It wasn’t a large sum, but it was enough to make them comfortable and contented, enough to give them all reasonable pleasures. Later—he thought of this only in a hazy, general sort of way—they would begin to save. There was plenty of time for this, for they were both young, and he had proved himself of sufficient value to his employer to make his rapid advancement practically certain. The employer was a big corporation, the general manager of which had taken a deep personal interest in him, and the opportunities were limitless.