Barton County democrat. [volume] (Great Bend, Kan.) 1885-1915, 1896-12-31
Xxx

Poor Mrs. Loring was laid to rest in
the village burying ground, sincerely
mourned by the new friends among
whom her life had ended. Her foibles
were forgotten, and only her courtesy,
her kindliness, her generosity, were re-
membered. She had done little of harm
and something of good in the world
n better record than can be placed to the
credit of many whose pretensions have
far exceeded those of this victim of
morbidness of Imagination approach
ing hypo.hondria.
Week after week passed, but Dorothy
Gray was still in Rodneytown, reluctant
to quit the kindly circle whose mem
bers had shown heartfelt sympathy in
her af1liction. I doubt whether she had
been able to decide whittier to go in
case she left the village. She had no
near relations, certainly none to whom
she would turn at such time. In her
years of wandering with her aunt she
had made few intimate friends. In
short, she was left without anyone from
whom she might naturally seek conso-
1ation and counsel. The good women
of the neigh borhood did their best ,
take the place Of kinsfollz and old
friends; they wept with her in the days
when her bereavement had just come
upon her. and afterward, when the first
bitterness of her loss was past, they
kept her company and strove to cheer
her. after the homely fashion of their
kind. And so it happened that she re-
manned with US, bearing her sorrow as
best she could.
Not long after the death of her aunt
I had confirmation of the story Mrs.
Weston had brought me. The trustee
of the estate, the income of which Mrs.
Loring hal received, came to Rodney
town to attend the funeral services.
Ee was lawyer, cautious and reserved
in manner, and supposedly as free from
sentimen+ality as the desk in his office.
Yet under the professional mask there
was, after all, something of the emo
tional man. which asserted itself in a
practical way. BETTING the weakness
Of an eminently practical man.
CDR Norris said he, on the eve of his
departure, there is a result of this re-
cent tragic occurrence to which your
attention may not have been called.
Mrs. Loring had only a life interest in
the property left by her husband, for
she had surrendered her dover rights.
On her demise the estate passes to her
husbands brother and sister, with
whom, I regret to say, her relations
were not amicable. Though she often
told me that she proposed to lay aside
part of her income in order to make
provision for her niece, Miss Gray, it
seems that she utterly neglected to put
the plan in operation. In fact. she lived
very close to her income, and had it not
been for a reduction in her expenses on
coming here, it is probable that the rev
enue coming from the property, cal
culated to the day of her death. would
not have suficed to pay the outstanding
claims against her. AS it is. however.
I find that there will be balance of
about $500. which will be at Miss Gray s
disposal. It is very little for q young
woman reared as she has been, but, IN
fortunately, it is all that she can hope to
receive from her aunt
.sShe must suffer. then, for another's
carelessness," said I.
"Atonement for carelessness is too
often Vtcarious." said the man of law.
cit hardly lessons her misfortune to
realize that it is a common one. Do you
know whether she has anything in her
own right ?"
Next to nothing. AS have said, DR..
Morris, the case is a distressing one, and
I regret exceedingly that must be the
bearer OF such bad news to the young
lady. She is very likely to come for adj