The Portage County Democrat. [volume] (Ravenna, Ohio) 1854-1868, 1863-08-19

dlspiease youi the last living guaroiah llnNfe
but in this matter I must act solely from
the dictates of my own heart."' a,t,.5 " "
He paused moment, as if awaiting some
reply, but Aunt Zeruiah was silent, and with
a bow, he passed out. Eofifagao} s!h1 io ~
= ga strange boy-244very," n1nttered the old /
beldame. One would think he had forgot7 /
ten the money L have toileaye low Tell p she
said, suddenly turning to me. sand what wind 2
blows you here tonight Pee .5ft .'.'' 80 80 -
Ifalterea some indistinct answer about my
great anxiety on the suject of her health
any more explicit statement was rendered in
convenient by the fact that Vixen was tug
ging, with suffocating effect, at the ends of my
neck handkerchief ,,t,s ysag ana III y. S
I" You, seem very. fond, of that dog!" said
my aunt, observing me. asI rsoy 1ol q II AZ
"Prettyt little creature ''ointsrjectedI, + at-Fi
ting the animals bullet head, for which l was
rewarded by snap at my nose. ,,-,.
The efold lady vas highly pleased-7--II men
tally set myself down for an extra five hum
dred in her testarnentarys documents. ls7siig
"Peter tellssme that youare not altogether
free from the pangs Of your old termentor the
rheu1natisnn1I,s Aunt zerpiah,,' said. amiably.
sspm getting old, nephew Joseph, Pm get
ting, olsa,n croaked the old lady, wagging her.
muslin cap about. yes'The.e'ss no. knowing
how long Tve got TO i've, ~ q put my hand
kerchiaf to my eyes, sympathetically,) "and
I've sent for old Mortmain to draw up my:
will, Tomorrow merning." 94 sd aa sssjt s.-
"Don't-don't talk So my kind friend,'' T
stammered,i overcome by conflicting emotions.
"I don't mean to forget you, nephew p
said Aunt zeruiah, "you2 may be sure of
that =, :,
i Icouldn,t stand it any longer, but, kissed
my aupt's hand enthusasticali y--it smelled
of snuff, and essence of peppermint, but +
thought Of ten thousand dollars. and repeated
the osculatory demonstrationl $50.
+. And when I took leave, SO high were my
spirits, that I gave Vixen an energetic kick
behind the hail door, and the provoking AMI
NAL fed yelping into the parlor. It relieved
me amazingfy-but as 1 looked up saw my.
aunt's Keen gray eyes regarding me from the
| freside in. the room 1, had just left. Some
explanation was necessary.
"Poor little thing-she has hit her head
against the -hat-rack,' 7 said. sympathetical-
| ly. But Yixenshowed her teeth, and refused
| to be comfortedI ayed ] 7@hiads7as yaga5'f
~Joseph Peekleyb' soIiloquized l, going
home, your fortune is at length just within
yourreach. You're made man, my boy -
What a llthatscousinI Matthew of yours is
not to indulge and humor the old woman un-
til her gold bags are within his clutch! Hyp-
1 ocritical-who says is hypocritical ? Moth
ing of the kind-only good common sensi-
cal e. Her will eh ?'' s;at 7a7-siEi . iafa ~.
And executed an involuntary pas-soz on
the doorsteps, greatly to the astonishment of
Billy who, late as was the hour, was engaged
in solitary game of marbles by the flicker
ing illumination of the corner lamp.
a Billy said /, .mysteriously, "if things
happen just as think they're going to- you
shall have both pockets full-ofathe biggest al
'lleys money can buys sa1is AtsE
l. Two or three days passed. during which /
found no opportunity Of seeing my Aunt Ze.
s; 7ruiah again, and at the close Of the fourth
8 day sealed note reached me, blaek-edged
I and signed with the powerful name of As
: sumsit Mortmain, Attorney and Counsellor al
sl Law. ltsMy dear and venerable relative" SC
; the note ran, g had departed this life very
7 suddenly, at nine o'clock. the preceding day
D land it was eminentlyl appropriate that l. al
VI one of the surviving relatives, should attend
=. the reading of the will next day at noon, i'm
g mt ediately after the funeral Of the lamenteC
> Miss Cutter"
t b So the golden shower of monied rain hat
y bat length descended L felt, carefully of. m.
-e bhead, to discover whether wasn'tin dream,
= and came to the blissful conclusion that wa
: wide awake The next thing was to order al
s expensive suit of full mourning, engag
s. rooms at the Cliff Hotel, and even think abou
s. a French valets For Miss zeruiah Cutter wa
It reputed to be enormously wealthy, and it wa
r pretty certain that she wouldn't leave any G
her property to the rebellious Matthew Al
d I5ston. .sr is7s3 t...i,:fjf 5,tf la.-s ss.ss-
%; E:a I was punctualto the appointed hour nez
j day, with weeds on my hat, and elongate
stI face. Vixen few at me, with her usu:
: snar1, the instant I set foot within the dark
ID ened drawing-rooms; I wondered inward
ps twl,y seme one had rot poisoned the viciou
? little brute, ere now, but was in a suficien
d-j ly angelic frame of mind to caress even tn
| ! hideous animal. 7d aa a.i.. .ts
re IS Poor thing!' i murmured to the blacl
b, gloved gentlemen who set around, in accen
ar of the deepest detection ashe was a vel
3 great favorite of the amiable deceased--a mo
ad faithful quadrnped." at 30 .t5Hea h5.f.
" Almost the first personI saw was Matthe
NJ Aston, leaning thoughtfully against the ma
ly tle-not, as he said in answer to my whispers
inquiries, that he expected to be remembers
is in the testament-any dispositions of the o
I lady, having openly set his own will in opp
sition to hers-but simply to do reverence
th her memory. -sr4 al--.,,.l9fr1s s..es II
ke It was very 5imprudent of you, Matthew
he said, sotto poce, g not to humor her ,harmle
IN, eccentricities a little more Now, if you h
err followed my example -----1' u s...o ad 5
"I could not enact the part of a time-ser
;h- er, even were it to ensure me a fortune
ar terrupted Matthew, flushing crimson with
og- dignatlonr gbaf 3 faa. gs8fsaa a1y'9
"Yery well, sir, very well p said ], losi
. patience. +s0nly aman who is so very, inc
ZEN pendent must not expect his more fortune
the relatives to assist him.; .s.gs7 =, 4saz -;
see AT this mement Mr. Mortmain enter