The Republican journal., 1885-07-09
A Fox Caught in His Own Trap.

1
pal solicitors in the somewhat dead alive
old cathedral town Of Scarborough. lie
was a smart, well-set-up young man, of
two or three and thirty, with carefully
trimmed black whskers, silken man
ner, and an unlimited flow of more or less
entertaining small talk.
Hence it came to pass that he was an
exceedingly popular man among the lad-
les of Scarborough, both old and young,
and, had his views lain in the direction
of matrimony, he would have had small
difficulty in inducing any bashtul damsel
Or trisky widow to share his lot But the
handsome solicitor was ambitious his
share in the business did not at present
bring him in more than Il moderate in
come, and he had long ago determined
that when he married, he must consider
not only beauty, but more solid advan-
tages.
Ileiresses, however, were not plentiful
in Scarborough, and so, although Mr..
FoX's attentions frequently tluttered a
=
nit himself too far, ard not even the To-
cal gossips could fairly say OF him that
he had compromised reputation or
knowingly raised false hopes
There was, indeed, one young lady who
had made deep impression upon the
solicitors heart, but she was the daugh
ter of a county magnate with whom poor
Mr.. Fox was not even on visiting terms
He had met her at the annual hunt ball,
she had danced twice with him. tOr Mr.
Fox was an excellent Waltzer: but her
mother had doubtless warned her against
him, for when next they met, some weeks
afterWard Miss Laquerton passed the
unfortunate man without so much as a
bow
Miss Laquerton, however, Was lovely
and rich, aud Mr.. Fox was not a man to
be easily discouraged. He knew that if
he could only afford to cut the office and
blossom into a landed proprietor, he
would have Just as good a chance with
her as anybody else: : so he waited pa
tiently, in the hopes Of one day discover
ing the road which leads to fortune and
success.
The firm of Plumley & Fox was a
highly respectable and old-tashioned con
Germ, which avoided litigation, and kept
almost entirely to family business. Plum
ley was a fairly good lawyer, but FOA's
legal Knowledge was OF the most limited
character, and he was much too lazy to
take the trouble to increase it. 50 it
came to be understood between them
that while Pumley did the office work,
Fox kept the clients in good humor by
calling on them apropos OF nothing, and
amusing them with his jokes and stories.
This business was technically termed
excepting the connection together" and
it suited Mr.. Fox very well indeed. 1t
Was while he was thus excepting the con-
necti0n together" that Mr.. Fox made the
acquaintance Of certain rich old widow
lady, named Mrs. Johnson, and SO we'll
did he play his cards that before long,
PMmley a Fox became Mrs Johnson's
family solicitors, land-agents, and conf
dental advisers.
The firm made a pretty good thing out
Of Mrs johnson. In accordance with
the usual arrangement, Plumley transac
ted the business, and Fox became a con-
stant visitor at her house, and worked
his way into her good graces by his won
derful powers Of amusing conversation.
There was yet another accomplishment
which stood our solicitor i'll very good
stead, and this was an accurate KNOW
edge of chemistry and medicine, which
he had picked up as a boy in the shop Of
his uncle, the chemist. The horrible
smells Young Fox had created in his eX
periments and the ugly stains he had
made on his hands determined him to
forsake medicine for the law, but he nCV
er entirely forgot his early experiences.
He could talk tluently about every
known drug and disease, and about 4
great many which had not yet been dis
covered. He diagnosed Mrs. J0hnSOn's
symptoms at least as accurately as Mac
Bous, the Scotch doctor, and would even
have prescribed for her, had not the
stalwart Scot angrily threatened to kick
him if he did SO. But he maintained Il
very prominent place in the old lady
affections, and it began to be whispered
about that he had an excellent chance Of
succeeding to her very considerable prop
erty.
The disposal of Mrs. Johnson's money
was a matter which had long furnished
speculation of untailing interest to the
town of Scarborough. and filled many a
yawning gap in conversation at afternoon
teas. Mrs. johnson had but one relative
in the world, Miss Lizzie Roberts, the
daughter of her late sister. This young
lady, however. it was agreed, had not
the slightest chance Of being mentioned
in her aunts will. A handsome, we'll
| bred girl, she was left at her parents
| death to make her own way in the world,
| inherting 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 traceabe,
as some people said, to times long gone
| by, when Mr.. Roberts, Lizzie's father,
then renowned for his manly beauty, had
been an assduous visitor at the house of
Mrs. Johnson's parents. She being the
elder daughter, and taking all his atten-
tions 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, 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 a
chance of ever seeing 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 partner,
who had cautioned him in friendly
way, that Mrs. Johnson was not going to
divide her fortune, but would leave the
whole of it to cher truest FRIEND" though
she had evidently not yet made her mind
up as to who deserved that title. More
than once had M. Plumley been sudden
ly summoned to draw up a new will SO
slight an annoyance as a cold cup of tea
having cause her to destroy the one in
Miss Nely's favor. Then two days
neglect on the part of Mr.. Fox, and a
constant supply of hot tea at the hands
of Miss Nelly again renstated 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
| himSalf 6who ic readv to mako q now