The Ottawa free trader. [volume] (Ottawa, Ill.) 1843-1916, 1877-04-14

NV quiet Iilc III lliOuIiiibE Nht "iu'"h'NN'
But Mabel put on one that was quite sure
was the court dress Aunt Patty valued so
highly. II WAS Of white satin, mclowed by
ace 10 q rich cream color, and hrOcadcd IN
white with bouquets OF flowers. \ hcad.lrcss
of white feathers was in Il bandbox beside the
dress, ana with it were The fan, gloves, slip
pers and lace handkerchief.
ANYTHING more Di1AGde and lovely Than
Mabel in that dress, it would be hard to hnd
She walked up and down before The long
mirror, saying:
"Shall | wear this to the ten party, aunuc?
1t fits me like glove, That bnc brocade
will snit ANY Rando!phs blonde culls TO
perfection and Minnie Ray will look !oYcly
in the pink silk ~ .,
do just as you Ike, dear said. "Sha!l
we put these back
"Oh. no; we have not got quite to the Dot
ION OF the trunk"
She knclt down as she spoke, and lifted out
\ few more articles Then she peered Down
at the bottom of the trunk, and looked at it
with a curiosity did not understand.
"Aunte," she said, suddenly, "dld you
I know that this trunk had false bottom: -
" No. never went 10 the bottom OF 1t be-
fore"
ut has And the top part is cracked in
ever so many places, and-and-"
men .hbUtI pOl Np anu I''4AN ~ ''4J $500
For | was tired with all this unpacklng, and
being fat, was out Of breath as WELL and need
ed IL rest ! was surprised to see how pale
nv niece's face was, tor it had flushed roslly
under the snowy plumGs only few minutes
before She knelt down on the lootstool be-
side my chair, her long white train spread
over the floor, gliscning richly III the ruddy
glow from the open CRATE fire. Lifting her
fale face, Mabel whispered:
1t is all cracked, aunte. gaping open IN
places, and there is gold under it,
What | cried, starting,
Gold. | can see it shining through the
cracks That is what made it so heavy
Lock the door" whispered back tor we
were but two women, and there might be
cyil.mInded people about, even in our own
household Lock the door and drop the
curtains. Il is nearly dark, so we can light
the gas
So, like a couple of consplrators, we shut
ourselves in, and | pcered into the trunk.
Mabel was right. Through the chinks Of the
| false bottom, warped by age 10 great gaping
cracks, we could distinctly see the glitter of
gold pieces seemingly spread over the bottom
Of the trunk. Ii took Us a long time to fnd
out how to lift the false bottom, but we dis
covered the slide that held It down, after
much patient search, and lifted itup. 1t was
made Of thin board covered with paper, TO
match the sides of the trunk, and it has press.
ed closely upon complete floor of ten-dollar
gold pieces, upon which lay folded paper
directed TO me.
Upon this was written, in Aunt patty's
cramped, old.fashioned hand, these words:
Banks fail, old stockings are stolen, so have
made hiding place for some OF my money. in
case you ever need it, Accept it, with my love,
as part of your legacy from AUNT PATTY
con-" said Mabel, drawing deep breath.
~ gave the trunk TO you with all its con
tents" said.
But you did not know the gold was there.
| would not take such an unfair advantage
of your generosity" Mabel answered.
"The trunk is yours with all It contains,
persisted Count the gold, my dear, and
see if there Is enough to buy-what"
"Wills partnership. Oh, auntic, can We
ever thank you enough
Thank your great.aurt Patty" said.
mot a bit of it, We will thank yoU''
Then, in the freight, IN Aunt Patty's court
dress, Mabel sat down 10 count the gold, and
pu; 1t in large box cmpticd and gave her.
rested wondering at the chance that had re-
vealed the secret of the trunk at such an OPP
portune time, after keeping 1t so faithfully for
five and twenty long years. | recalled Aunt
Pa,ty's many oddities, marveling but little
at this last one BY and by the soft chink OF
the gold, as /; was piled in the box, ceased,
and Mabel SAID, in low tone:
There are tour thousand, auntic"
Four thousand dollars! Enough for the
partnership, q tr0uSSedu, and nest egg"
said
But my little niece was crying softly, full
Of happy gratitude.
When she was quiet again, we locked up
the gold in "a safe place, and sent John QUITO
collect as many Of the girls as he could lind
to come after tea and examine the other treas
ureS.
Seldom, indeed, had my parlors echoed to
such merry shouts and laughter as crested
the trying on" Of Aunt Patty's tinery, the
many suggestions tor making it available at
the coming lea-party.
But it was pretty thoroughly emptled by
the time all the village beauties had made up
n bundle to carry home, Mabel still keeping
to her intention of wearing the court dress.
She did not know that | wrote to VIII
Thurston, inviting him to the tea party, but
allowed her the pleasure Of telling him OF
the fortune we discovered IN Aunt Patty
trunk.
The tea. party was great success, anu we
made a considerable sum towards paying oil
the deb, on The new church. All the guests
bau EohC' anu dbout '"SH'N va my Va 'iN
managers were in the Sunday-sChool rooms
talking matters over, when Will Thurston
drew me To one side Ia whisper:
Doesn't Mabel look like brides"
Yes" answered.
And the parson is here, and we are in the
church"
"You don't mean gasped.
Wont you persuade herE' he pleaded.
And ] did. She blushed, hestated, but
consented, and came away from the Cenien-
nal Tea Party, VIII Thrrston's wife, her brl-
dial dress Aunt Patty's court costume, her
dowry the gold found in Aunt Pa,tys trunk.
Il. p.,feo nr,,n