The Caucasian. (Shreveport, La.) 1900-192?, 1910-02-20

she. BeuIah.' says sls. t,au tii;s,
chany tea set says Size, I'd as te.lE.s
you had it as any one ain little
leayer.'
"Them's the very words she said to
my wife," put in 1lr. Ezra SimnIoas. Il
little old man with ii feminine faCa
and voice An Betty was Il Own
cousin of mine
An of mine!' said tall woman in
rusty black near the whatnot en- which
the coveted cthna stood.
So the strife continued until there
was no possibility of an amicabte adj
justaent of the claims of the various
and the china in possession Of Miss
Selma Sharpe lady of about fifty
years. who, although an own cousin
of Mr.. Trip. had put forward no
claim to the china. declaring that she
had no wish to claim 1t.
But there's one thing certain" said
Miss Sharpe as she closed the door be-
hiud the last of the heirs there
Shan't one of 'em step their foot into
this house again TO touch the chany
or anything else until it's settled by
law who has right to 'em I've rent
cd the house myself of it's owner. an
| won't have my doors darkened by
any of them"
Miss Sharpe adhered to this resolu-
ton. politely but firmly refusing adj
mittance to several of the claimants
who called during the following week
ito talk it over" with her and possibly
to carry the china home in triumph.
Besides the china. there was nothing
among Mr.. and Mrs. Trips few poor
belongings that the relatives coveted.
all of the furniture of any value hay
ing been sold or given in payment of a
few bills that came in after the fu-
neral.
Accordingly Miss Sharpe was soon
left III unGisturbed possession of what
was left. and the china, guarded by
the faithful dogs, still rested on the
old walnut whatHot three weeks after
the old couple to whom it had given
pleasure huti been laid away in tie lit
tie cemetery behind the village church
Mrs. Cephas King and Nancy John
sen had been Ee.;g door HeiGhbors ana
very warm friends up to the time the
dispute over the china arose. but now.
alas. they scornfuly passed by with
out Il word or smile of recognition
when they Het, and the King children
were forbidden 10 have anything ut all
10 do with the Johnson children
Mrs Cyrus AIasterson lived directly
across the street from Beulah Hovey.
and 50 frequent had been the friendly,
pleasant little calls the ladies had
made upon each other that smoothly
worn path led from one house to the
other. Now all was changed. The
path was wholly disused, and Mrs.
Masterson carefully gathered up her
skirts when she met Mrs. Hovey on
the street lest they should suffer con-
tamination by coming into contact
with those of her once beloved neigh
Dor
Mrs Ezra Simmons returned a Ger.
tain basque pattern she had borrowed
of Selma Sharpe with note stating
that in consequence Of the course you
have seen fit to pursoo i'll relations to
my husbands own dear dead QUEENS
chiHy tea things. which now riS1tfuily
belongs TO me, retIrn the inciosed
bask pattern All would THANK you for
my cup cake reSeet az my poiyray
pattern. not desiring that anything of
an visa yersy. an that We do rot
speak to each other from this Gate.
So it was that there We're discord
and enmity where there had once been
peace and harmony. Not one CT the
contending claimants condeseended to
speak to any of her rivals to the in
heritaEce.
A month had passed and the bad
feeling was ut its height when MIR. and
Mrs. Ezra Simmons one evening. con
cluded TO spend an hour with their
friends Mr.. and Mrs. Deacon Drewe.
The deacon ard his wife We're not at
home when Mr.. aud Mrs. Simmons ar
rived. but Sally, the maidseryant, said
that she was expecting them every mo-
ment and invited the callers to wait
until their return
They had waited in the parlor few
moments when the bell rang and Sally
was heard to tell other callers that her
master and mistress would be in very
soon and to invite them also to come
in and wait. Directly afterward Mr..
and Mrs. Cyrus Masterson were ush-
cred in Seeing the Simmonses. the
newcomers hauyhtIy withdrew 10 a
corner of the parlor and sat down in
siIe.
a third ring of the bell and Mrs.
Beulah Hovey appeared at the parlor
door. She gave the previous oecu-
pants of the parlor u stony stare and
then went to sit stitily erect in the
center of sofa. where she seemed
engaged in studying intently the pat
tern of the paper, on the wall
Perfect silence ensued for a moment
when the bell again rang and Nancy
Johnson's voice was heard at the door
When Mr.. and Mrs. Drewe followed
all these callers into the. parlor. strange