Shepherdstown register. [volume] (Shepherdstown, Va. [W. Va.]) 1849-1955, 1885-10-09

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 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 a
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 compan-
ion, and Mr.. James Fox.
Mr.. James Fox knew from his part
ner, who had cautioned him in friend
ly way, that Mrs. Johnson was not go
ing to divide her fortune, but would
leave the whole of it to her "truest
FRIEND" though she had evidently not
yet made up her mind as to who deserv-
ed that title. More than once had Mr..
Plumley been suddenly summoned to
draw up new will so slight an annoy
ance as Il cold cup of tea having caused
her to destroy the one in Miss Nelly's
favor. Then two days neglec. OH the
part of Mr. Fox, and constant supply
of hot tea at the hands of Miss Nelly,
again reinstated this lady in Mrs. john
sons 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 any day and to burn it the
next, there is no dependence; ones fu-
ture hangs upon whim; a remedy
must be found. The safest thing would
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 about at once
to make himself agreeable to Miss
Brown, yet without going too far; for
he had by no means forgotten Miss La
querton, but felt that it was better to
have two strings to his bow, and there
fore he determined to do his best to
keep Miss Nelly in good humor. This
lady, however, was not so easily salts
fed as the solicitor expected; for now
he had once begun to pay her attentions
she wanted a decided offer of marriage,
and, not being able to get it, she took
refuge in stratagem. This consisted
in her suddenly making the discovery
that Mrs. JohnsOn's health was in abso-
lutte want of some German waters-in
fact, she decided that it was quite dam
gerous 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 a rather awk-
ward 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 committed himself,
and gave her the materials for breach
of promise case, should the good lady
die and his name only figured in her
will, and should he then turn his atten-
ton to Miss LaquertoD. What, then,
could he do?
The worthy Fox was baflled 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 maeniti-
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. Emboldened by the
happy result of his experiments, he be-
came at once the most tender and zeal
Gus correspondent any woman could
wish for. His letters, in fact, overflow
ing with promises of everlasting devo-
ton. Miss Nelly beamcd with joy, for
she was now convinced how true and
unselfsh was the attachment Of her adj
mirer.
Under such circumstances 10 was not
surprising that the German waters
speedily did Mrs. johnson so much
good that her careful nurse considered
that the cure could be shortened, and
accordingly the couple returned to En-
gland much earlier than had been ex-
pected.
Whether, however, the waters had
really disagreed with the old lady, o.
something else had upset her, was nev-
er quite clear, but soon after their re-
turn to England her health and strength
began seriously to fail. She complained
bitterly that Miss Nelly had induced
her to undertake an unnecessary and
useless journey, and that ever since she
had neglected her altogether. The ED
of it was that one day, in the height of
her anger, she burnt the then existing
will, and made Mr.. James Fox sole heir
to everything she possessed. This de-
cision seemed to have exhausted her re-