Middletown transcript., 1905-05-20

Respectfully yours,
HENRY. II. BARKER
''Sufferin' cats p exclaimed Billy.
''Seventy five dollars. That's heap Of |
money"
''Bless my soul p said Cynthia, ''father |
gave up expecting that money back,
years ago. Henry was in some kind OF
a scrape, | never knew what, and father |
| helped him out, just as lie always done |
if anyone wuz in trouble. Hen wuz |
always honest, though lie wuzn't in any |
danger of setting the lake afire with his |
| smartness"
Gee r' said Billy, "seventy-fve dol !
/ lars To think that little scrap of paper |
is worth seventy.fve dollars What'll |
you do with it all? ?"
"Well," said Miss Cyntha, II amt
got SO far as spending it yet" Then
there was long silence, broken only by
the ticking of the clock. Cynthia read |
and re-read her letter and examined he's
check.
"Miss Cynthy," prompted Billy at last,
'what was that you said about pie? ?"
Gland sakes alivel Billy, you shall
have the whole pie. You'll have to for
give me, but forgot all about you. Now
I'm going to take this here check right |
over to the minister's house and ask him |
to keep it for me until morning / |
wouldn't dare sleep with it in the house
over night"
When Billy, with purple lips and black |
ened tongue, reached home, he RECALLED |
his mother with the story of Miss Gym |
thia's good fortune. By noon the next |
day, every man, woman and child in |
Tortoiseville knew all about it. Many |
of them called to congratulate the heiress
and offer advice. Even Cynthia's uncle
William, who ordinarily paid her scant
attention, felt it his duty to call upon
her, with his family, the following Sun
day afternoon.
That's a terrible pile OF money!" said
uncle William, 'for you to get all at
once. What are you going to do with
it, Cynthia?'
81 haven't decided, uncle William"
swell, you'd better invest it and add
the interest to your income. Hum-six
per cent-siX times sew"
-Four hundred and fifty" interrupted
Cynthia's cousin Myra, who had de-
cided turn for mathematics. "Four dol
lars and half a year."
"And that" said uncle William,
would give you-would give YOU"
"Thirty-seven and half cents
month"; assisted Myra.
"Well," said uncle William, ''that
interest would buy your oatmeal or your
tea or it would keep you in shoes for
a year. You better let me invest it for
you, with the rest of your money"
"If l were you," advised Cynthia's
aunt Jane, looking around the shabby
little room, ''I'd fix this house little.
You could get new base burning stove
for your sitting-room, a nice ingram car
pet, and still have enough left to get the
roof shingled.'
"Or,' said cousin Myra, "you could
get yourself black silk dress, or you
could take trip somewhere"
"Yes," said Cynthia, 81 know l could
do lots of things with it but there amt
no hurry. guess it'll keep awhile"
Cynthia brushed the snow from her
doorstep, when her visitors had de-
parted then she locked her door and sat ,
down near the window, with pile of
gorgeous catalogues, piece of paper, and
a lead pencil.
Il don't know as it's wicked" said ,
Miss Cynthia, ''to read about flowers on ;
Sunday, since the Lord made thenl-all
but those tuberous begonias-but I'd
hate like sixty to have some folks catch
me at it. | amt going to spend much ;
but it won't do any harm to pick out
about dollars worth of seeds. 1t amt ;
anybody's business if I've mind to
spend whole dollar for flowers. I've
just starved for them all my life.'
But when, at the end of long after ,
noon, Miss Cynthia footed up her list,
it amounted to more than seven times
that sum. Arithmetic was not Miss Gym
thia's strong point, and she obtained a
different result every time she added
the column but by taking it in sections I
she finally arrived at seven dollars and
forty eight cents, twice in succession.
Miss Cynthia decided to divide her +
patronage as equally and as iInpartally {
as possible among the senders of her six
catalogues This involved more arith- I
metic, SO she found it necessary to devote ,
all her evenings and most of her after !
moons to the pleasant task Of revising her
lists Each time she opened catalogue, g
she found something new to add to her r
list.
One day she paid visit to the bank a
and the next morning she mailed six =
letters. Billy was commissioned to pay 1
daily visits to the post Office, with the /
usual reward. 4
az iact tbV PaOho6SS "a SSNS1 h-'S RHN- | I
GELS OF bulbs, and the boxes of plants +
began to arrive. Little Miss Cynthia e
was SO delighted with them that she 6
threw caution to the winds, and ordered t
more and more, till the garden of her f
dreams was in fair way to be duplicated e
in reality. a
Such a garden had never been seen, a
even in dreams, by the other inhabi- D
tants of Tortoiseville. Even the ungodly
and high-priced tuberous begonias were
there. To be sure, the lily pond was fC
but sunken tub, and the shrubbery C.
left much to be desired i'll the point OF 6,
size but the flower beds were unrivaled il
by even those OF Cynthia's dreams. One I
day in June, Cypthia's uncle William r,
stopped his horse at her gate and raped ie
at her door. Il
"Cynthy," said he, 81 know where a
r -. 1I,ot ,,,f,,oy of ynur, al spvpp L