Little Falls transcript. [volume] (Little Falls, Morrison County, Minn.) 1876-1894, 1879-11-20

content ourselves with necessaries, we
shall find our present income ample and
we need not banker after Aunt Prue's
fortune"
| II am not hankering after it. How
dare you say such thing2" exclaimed
Helen, flushing. 1fpoor dear auntie
were ruined should not abate nv atten.
lions to her one jot, but only cherish her
the more tor her misfortune. It is out OF
dutifulness that Iendeavor to please her. ~
In making this fine profession Helen
fbbed. The poor woman was, in truth,
80 absorbed by the prospect of her ln-
heritance that her whole moral nature
had become warped. And she had lost
some of her personal attractions beside,
tor her brow was contracted into the
frown Of those who are engrossed by an
tdee fsze, and her voice had grown, turn
by turn, shrill and hypocritical-hypo-
critical when she was in auntie's presence,
shrill when she talked to her husband,
Nor was this al, for in constantly stalk
rug her hopes upon a fortune, which
was still out of reach, like the bird in the
bush, Helen had parted with good deal
of the caution in money matters which
characterizes good wives and mothers.
A curmudgeen as regards her own and
her husbands personal expenditure, she
grew to be prodigal concerning the gen.
eral outlay for her household. No dishes
were too good for Aunt Prue's table, no
furniture too costly for her apartments.
Helen actually caused pavilion to be
built in the garden, that Auntie might
hov 49,. Al
noises of tho road. Her next step was to
decide that ordinary schools were not
good enough for her two boys. aged n line
and ten, who were fated to be rich with
Aunt Prue's wealth; So she must needs
send the pair OF them to Elton at q cost
Of G400 "a year. Now, as Jack Merry
dew's income did not exceed 5000 per
annum. it came to pass that one summer
he had to come to London and sell out
little invested capital in order to square
his years budget.
Unlucky trip! Jack drew $1,000 from
the hands of his stockbroker, and when
he held this sum, he was suddenly temp
ted by the devil to do q strange thing.
The life he had been leading at Lon
don hotel, offered such a contrast to the
miserable existence he had been eking
out at home, that the prospect of return
ing to put his neck under Aunt Prues
yoke, seemed intolerable; SO that Jack
resolved to accept the invitation of an
old club chum and go yachting for three
months, in the Mediterranean. This re-
solution he took on the spur of the mo-
ment after capital little dinner among
cronies, and he wrote about it to his wife
in these terms:
MY DEAR HELEN.-l send you $4,000
the other $500 keep, for am going to
enjoy myself. I want rest and relaxa-
ton. The>sort Of life which Aunt Prue
has made mo lead would kill me it pro-
longed. My love to the boys. My next
letter will be from Alexandria, and I
shall return to, let me hope, a more
cheerful home by Christmas probably.
Your attectionate JACK.
Poor Jackl he had not calculated the
effect of this blameworthy proc eeding,
for blameworthy it was. Trials which
can be borne by two are often too much
for one, and Helen, deserted by her hus-
band, naturally fell more completely un-
der Aunt Prus's thraldom. She was,
moreover, wounded to the quick by what
she considered loveless, unmanly act,
in So much that her aunt had no difficult
ty in persuading her that a man who
leaves his wife to 60 gadding, must have
some other kirtle in view. "This," said
Aunt Prue smphatically, "ia my expert
cnee Of men," So on arriving at Alexan-
drin after lazy three. months, cruise,
Jack found letter which had been sent
him by lawyer. and which ran to this
effect:
"Dear sir: I am. instructed to sue
against you for decree of judicial sep
aration. In the court of matrimonial caus-
IS. My clients charges against you are
desertion and cruelty, Will you please
give me tho name of your solicitor on
whom may serve process, and oblige
yours truly,
JOHN TAckLER.' .
"Now, Confound the old woman, that's
another of aunt's kindness!'' exclaimed
Jack, aghast, as he read this unexpected
missive. ''What shall do. Toms'' and
he appealed to his chum, the owner of
the yacht.
"bo nothing" said Tom, who knows
his friends history. Let the action 90
undefended; that's the only way to avoid
being bespattered with mud in the d.
vorce court. If you resist, your aunt's
money will be used to fight you, and you
will be sure to be worsted. If you let
things slide, your vine,.li naatrsmonti will
be struck Of, and you'll he free man"
Jack, who liked Helen, did not much
relish this advice, and returned home
ward as soon as he could. But he was
delayed by, sickness on the road, and
reached England about six months after
leaving it., He arrived Just in time to
hear that the suit against him had been
put down on the cause list and that
Aunt Prue was dead. -
Yes, dead; she died suddenly after a
surfeit Of tea and mullins, poor lady, and
the most touching fact in connection
with her demise was that she had not
left . penny. She had never had q
penny to leave, Her kind imagination
had led her all her life to delude her
relative with tales Of fancy wealth, and
to keep them in good behavior by leav-
ing copies Of sham wills on tables, where
they might be read by curious eyes
Dear, faneiful old thingi let us hope hel
imaginative procliviues were good hum.
oredly excused In another world. =
Meanwhile poor Helen had come Il
her husbands hotel in London with the
sorrowful story Of her disapeintmen IS.
"And oh, Jack" sobbed she, when q
freconciliation had besn effected. II a,u
afraid you will have to pay the costs o.
1 that sult which I instituted at that wick
ed old woman's instigation."
II suppose SOP answered Jack, drily
1--WE are neither Of us. rich enough nov
to afford divorce. And I take it TO
granted We must give auntie splendie
funeral 81 n !.
aI suppose So" sighed Helen; else th,
world would say that we did not love TIL
old cat People are so wicked and IN
ttpthfnll''
30 Aunt Prue was buried with grea
pomp Is 8 last tribute to her many kind
nsssea. hssss Journal. 5ss ss
The Smith family recently held fe
union IN New Jefseys Tho principa
ssntimsnt Has. 81 ahontaa The preeery
srof on raee.n