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

everything. And now you are here at
last, Hannah. I'll go and call Florence.
The poor child is so sensitive, and Is so
overcome by this great trouble, that L
had to make her go and lie down.
II think it is likely that Tillie is
overcome, too cousin Tabitha put In.
Anyhow she is in her room now, crying
While she works on her mourning. 1
don't profess to understand what she's
crying about, unless IL may be that she
is sensitive
".All affectationr says Mahala. Til
lie was here with him all along. and was
prepared for the blow. 1t didn't come
suddenly upon her, as it lie upon poor
Florence and the rest of us
1T seems to me that poor Florence
and the rest of us might have prepared
ourselves for the blow in the same way,
but we didn't
"Tabitha had the last word, as usual,
but Mrs. Mahala didn't stop to hear II.
She hurried off after Florence, and /
went IN among the rest. / verify be-
Heve that every Haines of the
ton was under that roof at that mo-
ment, and the long faces and the fearful
behavior were pitiful to behold. as cou-
sin Tabitha had said. Bert Singleton
was there, too, but he had been sent for,
like myself. His presence was interest
ing in a certain way, under the circum-
stances. Most of them resented it, and
poor Bert had to rub against a good
A1ohy tOho SliOuluCio WHllC DC was lnClCs
Lawyer Godfrey was there. too. He
was cousin Johns old friend and legal
adviser, and had charge of his affairs.
He a a message, 1t seemed. for every
individual mentioned in John Haines's
will. Cousin John had dictated the
message and signed it, instructing the
lawyer to deliver it before the funeral.
/ made a copy of il and learned it by
heart, as a matter Of family interest.
This is the way it began:
Death is a very solemn thing. So
is birth. Each is an event in the his
tory of a soul. and the one is no more
sad than the other. Therefore, If peo-
pie rejoice when a man is born, they
should not weep when he dies. True, if
the man has been greatly beloved. those
who loved him may justly grieve; but
for themselves, not for him. l have not
been greatly beloved. much as [ should
have valued such love, therefore 1 fear
that If any should profess to grieve for
me they would avow themselves hypo-
critics. I wish those of my blood to be
honest in all things
Then he went on to forbid any of his
heirs to wear black clothing or any
badge of mourning for him, to put
flowers in his coffin or on his raw or
to weep or make any pretense of weep
ing for his DEATH. If any did weep or
wear mourning, it would be at the peril
of his or her standing in the will. /
told you he was the most suspicious
man in the world, and his suspicious
survived him.
MY dears. 1 am not going to tell you
followed the reading of that mes
sag. / blush even now to remember
the cheerful change that came over
those people; how smiles shortened the
long faces. and black gloves were torn
off and pocketed. But we all noticed
that Title was not transformed. The
message made no difference at all in
her. She was as sad and heavy-eyed
after 1t as before. / thought as I
watched her that perhaps there was
more in John Haines to get acquainted
with than the rest of us had ever sus-
pected, and that she had certainly
found 1t out in that month of nursing.
81 thought SO more than yer at the
funeral the next day. A cheerful funer-
al, girls. Did you ever hear Of such a
thing? / have always liked to think
that some OF US would not have worn
Grape or tried TO cry in any case, being
so distantly related. but even we didn't
wear light silks, and smirk and smile.
Indeed, | wished / had stayed at home.
Why, if you'll believe me, Florence
Haines was dressed in pink. Those
people were not going to risk losing any
of job Haines's money by showing de-
cent respect to his memory.
There was only one dark spot in the
room, and that was where Tillie sat.
She was dressed in the deepest mourn
ing. and all through the service we
knew that she was quietly weeping.
Tillie was an honest soul. and nobody
even limited hat she was acting. She
mourned sincerely for John Haines; we
were all sure of that She mourned for
him so sincerely that she deliberately
her share of his money rather
than pretend that she didn't mourn. i
almost wished that / had been with her
through that mont of nursing, for it
was worth something to find out what
there was in that forbidding old man to
love to nat extent.
Bert Singleton was the only other
one that appeared to have made the
discovery that she had made. His was
the only hat in the room with q weed
on it. He grieved for the old man, too,
and was willing to give up his inherit
ance under that unjust will. That was
interesting, but it was not the most in
teresting thing about him, by any
means. He sat beside Tillie, and every
one could see. from his look and man.
ner, that they had come to an UNDER
standing. He had made his choice, and
she lad made hers. From tina moment
we knew that Tillie was to be cousin
Singleton, and Florence was to be
cousin Haines. In some way that mes
sage lawyer Godfrey had read had de-
ided the matter.
After the funeral the will was read,
and, of course, we were all there to heal
it. Every one of us was mentioned in
the document, and each one received a
bequest of some sort. The largest in
dividual bequest was to my cousin
Tabitha Haines, spinster, who has al
ways disliked me in spite of my money,
and who has always been honest
enough to say So Everybody was as
tonished to find that Tillie and Florence
and Bert Singleton Jared about like the
rest of us. The final clause, in which
the ~residuary legacy was b~equeathed,
produced genuine CONSERVATION. This
is the way it began:
I'm the message addressed to my
heirs 1 have said 1 wished all OF my
blood to be honest. I have also said
that the man who was greatly beloved
might well be mourned. If any of my
kindred nave affection for me, I should
wish them, in honesty, to show il. If
any has such degree of honest affection
as TO openly mourn for me at the risk
of FORGETTING his or her inheritance, such
honest affection shall be accepted as
pure and disinterested love, the most
precious thing God has put into this
world; and / hereby provide for its very
imperfect reward
Then he went on to say, with all due
legal form, that in the improbable event
of there being any such sincere mourn
er, he or she should receive without re-
serve the very large residue of his es-
tate. III there should be more than one
such. the residue should be equally di-
vided between them. If there were no
such mourner, the residue was to go to
found a public library for the village.
And cousin John said in winding up
the strange document. Il greatly fear
the library will get it,
syl-all tho rrNnt ID nafIx nTt~&lyo Ia