American citizen. [volume] (Canton, Miss.) 1851-1863, 1859-01-15

ANA he gave Lucy mischievous glance
which she interpreted to mean that h
knew the whereabouts of the missin
article better than any one else.
at certainly is not with any Of th
ladies' things" said one Of her young re
ations.
30, plague upon you all !" was tn
kind reply. Il must hunt it up Myself
| suppose"
deacon Gray, you haven't take
aunrs muif. by mistake-have you 2
asked Fred, maliciously.
That functionary drew himself VI
sliffly, as though the imputation was un
worthy of an answer, and stepped aside
"Well, | never!" exclaimed one O
the young ladies'.
"Who could have done it ?" addet
another.
"Be silent-will u?" cried the irri
table maiden; "or tell me where l cal
find it,"
"Why, it is in Deacon Gray's hat
and pressed in SO tightly that we canno
remove it."
30, 6e upon you, aunt Such hint
and the deacon only recent widower =
exclaimed the laughing nephew.
Aunt Sally seized her mutf but the ha
adhered most affectionately to it. By al
angry wrench it was liberated, and the
unoffending hat flew across the entry
projected by the vigorous foot of the in
censed maiden. When it arrived at the
terminus of its short journey, it had
assumed most questionable shape, and
its condition might certainly have been
termed shocking bad"
81 will pay you for this young man.
Don't trouble yourself. dear aunt
So far as | am concerned, you are per-
fectly welcome"
"You will perhaps tell me, that you
have had no hand in this malter?"
"No, | will tell no falsehood about it
but | intended it for a joke upon our stiff
deacon, as much or more than upon
yourself"
"At best it is but an i'll trick you have
played upon me, and now mark my
words : you shall have reason to remem
Der this mulf to the latest day of your
existence"
GAS you please, aunt, since you take
it so seriously, but didn't think a silly
joke would have thus offended you"
Time passed on, and young Strong
prospered famously in his business. He
had amassed sufficient means to be ena.
bled to repay his aunt, the sum she had
loaned him. but she declined receiving it,
alleging that she would rather have it re-
main on interest. In the meantime, he
had also persuaded the gentle Lucy to
share his fortunes. AS for aunt Sally, a
singular mania seemed 10 possess her
In the matters of real estate. stocks,
etc, she had become perfect alchemist,
turning all to gold.
The neighbors looked on and wondered,
but none ventured to demonstrate with
her. She was often seen to visit the
office of Squire A., and it was ru-
mored that she wus making arrange
ments, for the bestowal Of her properly
after her decease. The affair of the
muff was not forgotten, and it was cur
rent with the good villagers that Fred.
would have to pay dearly for the joke.
One morning the village was all action.
During the night, the spirit of the re-
doubtable lady had quietly taken its
flight. She was found dead in hel arm
chair. and bad died as she had lived,
alone She had disturbed no one during
the night nor had she suffered pre-
vious illness. Curiosity of course, was
intense on the subject Of her will, and it
was produced, as soon AS decency would
allow All her connections were present.
and their eager, hopeful, anxious coun
tenances. would have furnished rare
snbject for the pencil of an artist. The
reading of the will proceeded, except
single codicil, each of her relatives ex
cepting her nephew, had been remem-
bered-some to greater extent than
others. but none considerably.
At all events, not one third of her for.
,%ne had been dispensed, and as the
lurfses. only remained, all eyes were
one. afterEIederick Strong as the lucky
nrise. when uheRut what was their snr
the recipient Of heHA It only made him
contents The word ~eesle mutf and
excited their curiosity. andAAs again
them, the article was producedssssl
found only to contain simple paper
sewed on the lining. When detached
and opened, in the bold hand wiring o
Aunt Sally. was only found these words
DEAR NEPHEW You will doubles
appreciate this, the last joke shall eve
be guilty of. as | appreciated yours. on
certain time you will remember. Goo
bless you and yours. Farewell"
I Frederick declared he was satisfied
The old lady had fairly retorted upor
him. and he deserved nothing better
her hands.
But what had become of Aunt Sally
money? That was the mystery, and
became more than "nine days wonder
to the worthy villagers. who discussed
on every occasion. She was known I
have large sums Of money at the varlou
banks, but all this the ANXIOUS relative
) ascertained was drawn out few day
before her death. Squire A. wa
consulted. who drafted the will but h
r stoutly maintained that the will covere
the whole Of her property and woui
, have nothing farther to do with il.
One evening. about six months ate
Z. the old lady's death, while Frederick wa
} conversiug with his wife, the subject
\ the muff was introduced. -
THAT vas costly cafe. otT-
a dsar Fred" said mu6 at all events. /
5 .RSnd. what is bettet, no ONE .,~d n~
come forward 10 clam the three thoa',r"i e'ai
eo"sn. ,AS, ,s..s9,Ts she lsss'Sa destroyed ~7
20 "Le' "t y. have a, ,o9s s.,.n as 'i' i p
i: N ':,siP s y. .ss spFoSs:.I' e !" :; n.;H
Ihe l;ninq vas "N'