Watertown republican. [volume] (Watertown, Wis.) 1860-1906, 1886-01-27

strange antipathy was traceable, as
people said, to times gone by, when
Mr. Roberts, Lizzies father, then re-
nowned for his manly beauty, had
been an assiduous visitor at the house
of Mrs. Johnson's parents. She being
the eldest daughter, and taking all his
attention 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 q
much more brilliant match herself
she could never forgive this early de-
feat. 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 is certain poor
Lizzie 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 Mel
lie Brown, Mrs. Johnson's lady COM
panion, and James Fox.
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 madeup
her mind as to who deserved that title.
More than once had Mr.. Plumley been
summoned to draw up new will, SO
slight an annoyance as q colo 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
eraces. 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 uponto 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
future hangs upon a whim; a remedy
must be found. The safest thing
would of course be to make love
to Miss Nellie; she is rather
'thirtyish,' and not altogether at
tractive; still if she were to get all the
money, she would be anything but un-
desirable"
So 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 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 attentions, she
wanted a decided offer of marriage,
and not being able to get it she took
refuge In a stratagem. This consisted
in suddenly making the discovery that
Mrs. Johnson's health was in absolute
want of some German waters-in fact
she decided that it was quite danger
Gus for her to spend the spring in En-
gland, 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 James Fox in rather awk-
ward dilemma. What was he to do?
II he wrote cool letters to Miss Nellie,
she would be offended and all his
chances would be lost in an event of
her inheriting Mrs. Johnson's proper
ty; on the other hand, if he played the
part of her lover, he committed him.
self and gave her the materials for
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 Laquerton.
What, then, could he do?
The worthy Fox was baff1ed for q
moment, but after deep deliberations
be hit upon a great idea which his
chemical studies suggested to him
Chuckling to himself, he went to
chemist shop, purchased several drugs
and mixed and remixed them until a
magnificent black ink was produced,
which had the grand advantage that
In about ten days after being commit
ted to paper it would fade away, with
out leaving the slightest trace. EN-
boldened by the happy result of his
experiments, he became at once the
most tender and jealous correspond
ent any woman could wish for. His
letters in fact, overlooked with prom
Uses of everlasting 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
speedily did Mrs. Johnson SO much
good that her careful nurse considered
the cure could beshortened, and accord
ingly the couple returned to England
much earlier than had been expected.
Whether, however, the waters had
disagreed with the old lady, or some
thing else had upset her was never
quite clear, but soon after their return
to England her health and strength
began seriously to fail. She com
planned bitterly that Miss Nellie had
induced her to undertake an unneces-
sary and useless journey, 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 James