The Ashland union. [volume] (Ashland, Ashland County, Ohio) 1854-1868, 1857-11-25

Sally, q singular mania seemed to po,
sess her. In the matters of real estate
stocks. etc., she had become a perfec
alchemist turning verythipg to gold.
The .neighbors looked and wondered
but no one ventured to remonstrate wit
her She was often seen to visit the OF
fies of Squire A.. and it was ru
/ mored that she was making her final ar
rangements for the bestowal of hFr pro
perty after her decease. The affair o
the muf was not forgotten, and it wa
curren. with the good villagers tina
Fred would have to pay dearly for hi
| joke.
o e morning the village wss sail in &c
tiou. During the night the spirit of the
redou btable lady had quietly taken its
fight. She was found dead III her arm
chair, aud had died as she had lived
alone. She had alarmed no one during
the night, nor bad she suffered previous
illness Curiosity, of course. was in
teuse upon the subject of her will, and
it was produced as soon as decency would
allow All her connections were present,
aud their eager, hopeful. anxious counter .
ances. would have furnished q rare sub
ject for the pencil of the artist. The
reading of the will proceeded until it was
f. ished, except simple codicil. Each
of her relatives, excepting her nephew
had been membered-some to a great
or exteut than others. but none consider
ably.
Al all events not more than one third
of her fortune had been dispensed, and as
the codiciI only remained, all eyes were
turued to Frederick Stroug as the lu, ky
one after all. But what was their sur
prise when they found it only made him
the recipient of her old sable muff aud
contents. The word contents again
excited their curiosity, and, to satisfy
them, the article was produced aud found
ouIy TO cohtain simple paper sewed
uron the lining When detached aud
opened, in The bold handwriting of Aunt
Sally were found these words:
'Dear Nephew You will doubtless
appreciate his, the last joke ] shall ev
er be guilty of, as | appreciated yours
Qua certain. time you will emtmber.-
G ID bless sou and yeurs Farewell
Frederick declared he was sa'i. fed
The old lady had fairly. re orted upon
bin, ard he certainly deserved nothing
better at her baods.
But What had becnme of Aunt Sally's
money? That was the mystery, and it
! ecamc wonder to the worthy villagers.
who discussed it on every OCCASION
She was known to have large sums of
money at the various banks but all this
the anxious relatives ascertaiped was
drawn out few days before her death
Squire 4 Was consulted, who had
lraitedf she will but he st"utly muin-
aired that the will covered the whole
of her property, and he would have
IL ~ wv W tib H.
O,.e evening about six months after
the old lady's death. while Frederick
Was conversing with his wife, the sub
jecr of the muff was introduced
That was costly joke of yours,
Dear Fred, asaid his wife gaily.
'Bu, l got the muff at all events,
Lucy, and what is better, no one has
come forward to claim the three thou
.and dollars which she loaned me. 1 feel
she Intended to present. it
to me, and therefore destroyed my
uote.'
Let us have look at the old relic, |
Fred, if the moths have not eaten it |
Si.oily up. l will return with i. in
moment,
The muff wos produced, and as Lucy
predicted. the lining was wofully moth
saten e. -5..-.... -.
NJ, dear wife you must l.ok to this.
or | prize it dearly Oh good Aunt Sally's
lccount. l think you had better rip OUT
he lining, and rerovate the whole with
amphor.'
Lucy took her scissors and commsnced
t once upon the task s-c.- Il
What can the old lady have stuffed
} with, wonder Why Fred, il cad
f cotton she has wadded it with dirty
rown paper.'
1
Dirty brown pape indeed = exclaim-
her husband, springlng from his chair
nd catching her hand as she was about 8
} throw a bunch into the CRATE why, .
is bank-notes, or | am dreaming
The mystery of the word contents
as now explained. Note after note
as drawn out until more than thirty
ousand dollars lay on the table bef.re
EN- A letter was also fund from the
l,it, which st ted that she had always /,
tended him FIR her heir. His owl /,
tie also came TO light. fir M which his h
u had been TORN off This new reve- a
lion of course created an immeuse ex- o.
emeut among the yiilagers, but Fred m
ick and his wife kept on the even ten le
Of their way respected by all, not |
!, their wealth simply, but for them u,
yes. One evening during each year
y open their splepdid mansion to all
40