Huntsville gazette., 1885-06-20

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about that he had an excellent chance
of succeeding to her very considerable
property.
The disposal of Mrs. Johnson's money
was matter which had long furnished
speculation of unfaling interest to the
town of Scarborough, and filled many
a yawning gap in conversation at after
noon teas. Mrs. johnson had but one
relative in the world, Miss Lizzie Rob-
erts, the daughter of her late sister.
This young lady, however, it was
agreed, had not the slightest chance of
being mentioned in her aunt's will. A
handsome, well-bred girl. she was left
at her parents death to make her own
way in the world, inheriting nothing
but the battle of life and the dislike of
Mrs. johnson. who had not seen the
child since it quilted its baby clothes.
This strange antipathy was traceable,
as some people said, to times long gone
by, when Mr. Roberts, Lizzie's father,
then renowned for his manly beauty,
had been an assiduous visitor at the
house of Mrs. Johnson's parents. She
being the elder daughter, and taking
all his attentions for herself, had felt
it keenly as a personal insult when
her sister dared .'to snatch him away;
and even later on, after having made a
much more brilliant match herself, she
never could forgive this early defeat.
Death even had not buried the grudge,
which not unnaturally passed from
mother to child.
How far this saying may have been
true or not, one thing was certain,
poor Lizzie Roberts had not the ghost
of chance of ever seeing a single
penny from her aunt's money-box; her
claims were clearly quite out of the
question. There remained, then, only
Miss Nelly Brown, Mrs. Johnson's lady
companion, and Mr.. James Fox.
Mr.. James Fox knew from his part
ner, who had cautioned him in a
friendly way, that Mrs. johnson was
not going to divide her fortune, but
would leave the whole of it to her
''truest friend" though she had evil
dently not yet made her mind up as to
who deserved that title. More than
once had Mr.. Plumley been suddenly
summoned to draw up a new will; so
slight an annoyance as a cold cup of
tea having caused her to destroy the
one in Miss Nelly's favor. Then two
days neglect on the part of MIR. Fox,
and a constant supply of hot tea at
the hands of Miss Nelly, again rein
stated this lady in Mrs. Johnson's good
graces. Mr.. Fox therefore had good
cause for anxiety as to what would be
the exact state of affairs when the old
lady was finally called upon to join
the majority.
with such an old woman, he said to
himself, ''who is ready to make a new
will one day and burn it the next, there
is no dependence, ones future hangs
upon whim; remedy must be found.
The safest thing would, of course, be
to make love to Miss Nelly; she is
rather 'thirtyish, and altogether not
very attractive; still, if she were to get
all the money, she would be anything
but undesirable"
So Mr.. James Fox set to work at
once to make himself agreeable to Miss
Brown, yet without going too far; for
he had by no means forgotten Miss
Laquerton, but he felt it was better to
have two strings to his bow, and there
ore he determined to do his best to
keep Miss Nelly in a good humor.
This lady, however, was not so easily
satisfied as the solicitor expected, for
now he had once begun to pay her at
tentions she wanted decided offer of
marriage, and not being able to get it,
she took refuge in a stratagem. This
consisted in suddenly making the dis
covery that Mrs. Johnson's health was
in absolute want of some German
waters-in fact she decided that it was
quite dangerous for her to spend the
spring in England, with all the changes
of heat and cold. The old lady was
therefore soon persuaded to yield to
such tender solicitude. and away the
couple went, leaving Mr.. James Fox in
rather awkward dilemma. What was
he to do? If he wrote cool letters to
Miss Nelly, she would be offended, and
all his chances would be lost in the
event of her inheriting Mrs. Johnson's
property; on the other hand, if he
played the part of lover, he COM
,nitted himself, and gave her the
materials for breach of promise case
should the good old lady die when his
name only figured in her will, and
should he then turn his attention to
Miss Laquerton. What then should
he do?
The worty Fox was baffled for the
moment, but after deep. deliberation, he
hit upon great idea which his chem
ical studies suggested to him. Chuck
ling to himself, he went to a chemists
shop, purchased several drugs, and
mixed and remixed them till magnifi-
cent black ink was produced, which
had the grand advantage that in about
ten days after being committed to
paper it would fade away, without
leaving the slightest trace. Embold-
ened by the happy result of his expert
ments, he became at once the most
tender and Jealous correspondent any
woman could wish for. His letters, in
fact, overf1owed with promises of ever
lasting devotion. Miss Nelly beamed
with joy; for she was now convinced
how true and unselfish was the attach
ment of her admirer,
Under such circumstances it was not
surprising that the German waters