The Project Gutenberg EBook of Mr. Chipfellow's Jackpot, by Dick Purcell

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Title: Mr. Chipfellow's Jackpot

Author: Dick Purcell

Release Date: December 13, 2009 [EBook #30670]

Language: English

Character set encoding: ASCII

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Being one of the richest men in the world, it
was only natural that many people anticipated
the day he would die. For someone should claim--

Mr. Chipfellow's Jackpot

_by
Dick Purcell_

"I'm getting old," Sam Chipfellow said, "and old men die."

His words were an indirect answer to a question from Carter Hagen, his
attorney. The two men were standing in an open glade, some distance from
Sam Chipfellow's mansion at Chipfellow's Folly, this being the name Sam
himself had attached to his huge estate.

Sam lived there quite alone except for visits from relatives and those
who claimed to be relatives. He needed no servants nor help of any kind
because the mansion was completely automatic. Sam did not live alone
from choice, but he was highly perceptive and it made him uncomfortable
to have relatives around with but one thought in their minds: _When are
you going to die and leave me some money?_

Of course, the relatives could hardly be blamed for entertaining this
thought. It came as naturally as breathing because Sam Chipfellow was
one of those rare individuals--a scientist who had made money; all kinds
of money; more money than almost anybody. And after all, his relatives
were no different than those of any other rich man. They felt they had
rights.

Sam was known as The Genius of the Space Age, an apt title because there
might not have been any space without him. He had been extremely
versatile during his long career, having been responsible for the
so-called eternal metals--metal against which no temperature, corrosive,
or combinations of corrosives would prevail. He was also the pioneer of
telepower, the science of control over things mech