Hopkinsville Kentuckian. [volume] (Hopkinsville, Ky.) 1889-1918, 1889-05-03

practically. He
"As II man counts the cost OF his
wife's keepr' no exclaimed, indig-
nantly.
Nevertheless, the cost is a sub
stantiality, counted or not" she said,
gently. .'and these unpleasant consid-
erations must be recsoned. / know oi
what | speak. / have seen and ex-
perieuced 1t all in my own life. / saw
my poor. over-burdened father laid In
an untimely grave because OF over
work and worry In trying TO supply
the necessities OF sick wife and his
little ones. Do not ask me 10 put an
extra burden upon you until your fu-
ture Is, In n measure, assured. Your
welfare and success are more dear To
me than you can think"
II am certain OF 1t, darling" he said.
tenderly Forgive me for annoying
you with my opportunities. You are
a wise little woman. ana | am most
fortunate to have your counsels. We
shall do bravely. never fear. and |
shall soon have tho home and good,
woll-sstablished practice. SO that you
need not count the cost OF taking your
rightful place In my home"
"Oh! Ralph. Leila, como hore by the
fro. called Dora "Aunt Cindy has
at last consented TO tell us why she al
ways spends tho 10th OF March away
from her home. ! have asked her
dozens OF times, but she never would
consent to tell her reason before"
Dora dropped the skeln OF bright
yarn. and drawing Aunt Lucinda's
easy chair into the genial fire light.
placed the little old lady within its
embrace. They then all seated them
selves near her. and prepared to listen.
II am actually ashamed TO tell you.
children. how foolish an old woman
can be-" she said with a flush on her
sweet old face II think that even
the storm would not keep me hcre for
this night II had any money about
me, or any thing very valuable to
tempt robbers"
'Do they m"lest you on the 10th OF
March moro than at any other timer"
asked Ralph, quizzlcally.
II have never spent this night In
the house since my fathers death.
which was on the 10th OF March. with
out being robbed" confessed Aunt
Lucinda. nervously.
"Can 1t be that grandpa comes back
on this nightp' asked Dora, with a
startled glance into the sleeping apart
ment beyond.
"He would hardly rob his own
daughter II he did," remarked Alice
what have you lost, AuntP" Ralph
asked.
"One year from the night that father
died, | lost my wedding dress. You
all know how | was TO have been
married.. and my future husband died
with brain fever only a week before
the 10th OF March. had other things
OF more value in the house. but only
my wedding dross was taken; and that
was more than thirty years ago"
at is very strange" mused Ralph,
thoughtfully. "What could any one
have wanted with your dress?"
al have asked myself that question
a hundred times" continued Aunt Lu-
cinda, in troubled tones Tho next
year after that your father. then a
young man, brought me some money
on that very day. think thcro was
only five or six hundred dollars In tho
package. and he asked me to take
charge of It for him until the next day,
as he was going into tho country. !
laid 1t away carefully. and the next
day it was gone"
Dear mel l do hope the robbers
will not come tonight. said Dora with
a shudder.
II replaced the money from my own
bank account, and he never knew OF
the loss" added Aunt Lucinda "The
next year. spent the night with your
father in his new home, and there was
nothing lost; but the year following |
lost large sum OF money. The town
had grown so rapidly during the last
few months that the west end OF the
farm was laid out into town lots. and
sold. There were fve thousand dollars
In a secret place that only knew OF.
and ] thought the money safer there
than In bank. / had kept 1t safely
for weeks, but II was stolen on the 10th
of March. After that was afraid to
spend the night at homo. would
give much to solve the mystery OF my
losses, for must confess that, while |
am not at all superstitious. ! feel an
noyed and troubled by my repeated
losses on this particular night"
"And you had planned TO have usall
spend u week with you. and you were
to go home with us for this night"
added Dorr. II understand your
reason now. and why you were SO put
out by the storm that made journey
OF miles an unpleasant thing"
"And almost impossible, since my
rheumatism Is so bad at present." re-
marked Aunt Lucinda, despondently.
~ hope your robber won't molest
your guests" laughed Ralph. II
think l have fifty cents, and while 1t
isn't much, 1t is something"
"Other people have slept In the
house often, but nothing is disturbed
except things belonging to me, or in
my charge" said Aunt Lucinda. seri-
ously.
Suppose we keep awake all night
and watch for this mysterious robber."
suggested Alice.
Aunt Lucinda smiled, and shook her
head.
"The loss OF one nights sleep means
sick headache the next day for mei and
us you young people we're up unusually
late last night, / do not think you
could keep awake II you tried. No,
we will rotiro as usual; and since there
Is nothing valuable in the house, we
will try to Danish the unpleasant topic
from our minds"
Nothing valuablel Ralph. Leila,
Just hear herl" laughed the roguish
Dora ..She saws there h nothing valu-