Gloucester County Democrat. (Woodbury, N.J.) 1878-1932, 1886-02-18

away" and even later on, after having
made much more brilliant match her
self, she could never forgive this early
defeat Death even had not buried the
grudge, which had not unnaturally
passed from mother to child.
How far this saying may have been
true or not, one thing is certain, poor
Lizzie had not the ghost of chance OF
ever seeing single penny from heraunt's
money box; her claims were clearly quite
out Of the question. There remained, then,
only Miss Nellie 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 her "truest friend, though she
had evidently not made up her mind as
to who deserved that title More than
once had Mr.. Plumley been summoned
to draw up new will, so slight an an
noyance as cold cup of tea having
caused her to destroy the one in Miss
Nellie's favor. Then two days. neglect
on the part Of Mr. Fox and constant
supply Of hot tea at the hands of Miss
Nellie, again reinstated this lady in Mrs.
Johnson's good graces. Mr.. Fox, there
fore, 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 new
willany day and to burn it the next, there
lis no dependence; ones future hangs
upon whim; remedy must be found
The safest thing would of course be to
make love to Miss Nellie; she is rather
thirtyish and not altogether 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 toMiss 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
the bow, and therefore he determined to
do his best to keep Miss Nellie in 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 stratagem.
This consisted in suddenly making the
discovery that Mrs. Johnson's health was
in absolute want of some German waters
i'm fact, she decided that it was quite
aHfgEaaS NIt9 ft8r a her fa sRsRg tRs HREiRess
cold. The old lady was therefore fully
persuaded to yield to such tender soliei-
tude, and away the couple went, leaving
Mr.. James Fox in rather awkward di
lemma. What was he to do2 If he
wrote cool letters to Miss Nellie, she
would be offended, and all his chances
would be lost in the event of her inherit
ing Mrs. Johnson's property; on the
other hand, if he played the part of her
lover, he committed himself and gave
her the materials for a breach-of-promise
case should the good lady die when his
name only figured in her will, and should
he then turn his attention to Miss Laquer-
ton. What, then, could he do2
The worthy Fox was baffied for a
moment, but after deep deliberation he
hit upon great idea which his chemical
studies suggested to him. Chuckling to
himself he went to chemists shop, pur-
chased several drugs and mixed and re-
mixed them until magnificent black ink
was produced, which had the grand adj
vantage that in about ten days after being
committed to paper it would fade away
without leaving the slightest trace. En-
boldened by the happy result Of his ex-
periments, he became at once the most
tender and jealous correspondent any
woman could wish for. His letters, in
fact, overhowed with promises of ever
lasting devotion. Miss Nellie beamed
with JOY, for she was now convinced how
true and unselfsh was the attachment Of
her admirer.
Under the circumstances it was not
surprising that the German waters speed
lily did Mrs. johnson so much good that
her careful nurse considered the cure
could be shortened, and accordingly the
couple returned to England much earlier
than had been expected.
Whether, however, the waters had
really disagreed with the old lady, oI
something else had upset her was never
quite clear, but soon after their return to
England her health and strength began
seriously to fail. She complained bitterly
that Miss Nellie had induced her to un-
dertake an unnecessary and useless jour.
ney, and ever since she had neglected her
altogether The end 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 sht
possessed. This decision seemed to have
exhausted her remaining energy, for she
died not many days after.
| Mr.. Fox, who had been appraised o
the state of affairs by his partner and
friend, almost lost his senses; still his ex
citement did not prevent him from invest
| ing some money in hat-ba and Grape,
and looking as mournful as if the sorrow
Of the whole world rested on his shoul
lders Miss Nellie foo me1ted awav II