The Indianapolis journal. [volume] (Indianapolis [Ind.]) 1867-1904, 1894-11-11
A FAMILY MISTAKE.

come, but i can help that l. DON'T
hesitate to sacrifice you for my own
peace OF mind. Your father is her con-
sin, about times removed, and
she would make my life miserable If
such near relations were to be at my
house and she did not know it.
Describe her? My dears, nobody
could do that. She is feebly obnoxious in
the very grain and fibre of her being
that is the nearest I can come to it. She
is an old maid. without Intention and
under protest; and when a be-
comes an old maid. in spite of all her
best efforts TO the contrary, she ceases
TO be charming. There are triumphant
old maids and defeated old maids. A
triumphant old maid is ar acquisition
to any community, and cousin Haines is
not an acquisition.
The choice lay between her and cou-
sin Singleton. One or the other Of them
had to be an DC maid because there
was only one available young nan in
the case, and he couldn't take them
both. l sometimes wish he had taken
the one he didn't take. The conse-
quences would have been hard on him,
but the rest Of US would have Jared bet
ter. Cousin Haines would have been far
less Objectionable as a married woman.
Perhaps things would have turned
out differently If it hadn't been for the
great Family Mistake. Most things are
charged up to that, and no wonder. for
IT was a genuine CONFUSION. What!
You don't know? Never ever heard of
the Family Mistake? I thought even
the most distant connections knew all
about il.
Cousin John Haines was responsible
for the mistake. Indeed, he DELIBERATELY
planned it, and 1 can imagine how he
chuckled while ne was doing it. He
was the richest HaineS of his time, and
consequently the most important. He
was very peculiar as well. but the most
eculia thing about him was that he
was an old bachelor. How he ever man.
aged to escape with so many superf1u-
Gus women all about him 1 am unable
TO understand; but he did manage it
somehow. He built a large and hand
some house for himself on the main
street Of the village, inc there he lived,
solitary end unsociable, with old Ezra
Collins and his wife to take care of his
home and make him comfortable. The
house was big enough to entertain the
whole connection at once, but not one
or us was ever invited TO set foot in IL.
None of US grieved very much about
that, for cousin John Haines would not
nave been an ideal entertainer. He had
a biting tongue, and was the most sus-
p1c1ous man i ever saw, especially
where his relations were concerned.
They said he was different from that in
his younger days, but he had got the
idea that il was his money and not him.
self that the family had affection for.
1 have no doubt it was a very just idea
In the main. AS for myself, / was a
young woman then, with my own pros
poets in life, and I troubled myself very
little about ohm Haines or his money.
Some OF the others were. more prudent
and thrifty, but it did them no sort of
good.
HE had onlv two really near rela-
tons. They were his nieces, Tillie and
Florence. young girls about my age.
Tillie was the only hild of his brother
Adam, and Florence was the only child
OF his brother Elijah. Tillie was an
orphan, quite alone in the world, and
with her wv living TO make, for Adam
ain died poor. So did Elijah Haines,
for that matter, but Florence was rath-
er better provided for. She still had her
mother and a good home, for Mahala
Haines Elijah's widow, had comfortable
means of her own 1t was vaguely
taken for granted that these w girls.
cousin Haines and cousin Singleton
they are now, would divide The bulk of
John Haines's big fortune etwee
them when the proper time came; but
still there was just enough uncertainty
about Ii to keep all the cousins and
cousins-in-law stirred up.
Then. too, there was Bert Singleton.
He was the one available young man I
spoke of, and another very disturbing
element. He had been a great ~favorite
with cousin John at one time, and most
of US supposed then hat he would be
the old mans heir. The young fellow
had spoiled all that, though, by having
ideas Of his own. There had been an
e-strangement. but we all knew that the
old man still had a secret liking for
Bert Singleton. We all knew, too. that
Bert Singleton had a liking for either
Florence or Tillie, and it was an under
stood thing throughout the connection
that he would marry one or the other of
them eventually; but which one? Some
a II would be the one that got the
most of the money, but nobody really
believed that.
One day cousin Tabitha Haines came
here with news to tell. She always did
have news to tell, and everybody knew
from her what everybody else in the
connection was doing. She was one of
the numerous unmarried Haines women,
about fifty years old, and with rather
more acid in her system than was quite
good for her. / liked her, though; she
was SO honest and independent. She
asked no favors OF anybody. and dealt
with people OF their merits.
John Haines is sickr This was the
news she had come to tell. He has
been sick a week, M it's my belief he'll
never be sick again. And / am actually
sorry. i don't like John Haines. but I
do admire his honesty. He sent word
around through the connecticut Won
der you didn't get the message with all
the rest-so that some of us might come
n nurse him: but he sent word at the
same time that nobody need come with
any money expectation. He needed
care. but he wasn't going to pay for it
In his will. His will was made long ago,
n it would not be changed under any
circumstances. That settled the matter.
OF course. Before she heard that, Eli
5ah's widow declared that she would go
at once n take care of the poor lear
man. But when she got the second part
or the message her zeal abated. On Sec
ond bought, she said, it didn't seem
necessary for anybody to go. Ezra Col
Inns n his wife were paid for taking
care OF him. and If anybody else was
needed a professional should be hired.
The others agreed with Mahala. I de-
clare. i would have gone myself, but the
sight of me always threw him into a
fever. even when he was we'll. And who
do you suppose did go. after all? WHY.
who else but Title. You know She has
been moving heaven and earth to get
that position as teacher in an art school
n she had just secured il at last. IT
was the chance of her lifetime. but she
dropped Ii at once and went right away
10 the big house on Main street. / told
her she was a fool. but she didn't seem
to think so. she is a fool. but in a