Catoctin clarion., 1910-01-13

vey. IAN one day we : taiElh
bout the chany. an Betty s. $. says
she. .Beulah.' says. she. 'bo that
.hany tea set says she. I'D AS leave
you had 1t as any one an little
leaver.'
"rhem's the very words she said to
my wife, pu. III Alr. Ezra simmons.
little old mai with II feminine face
and voice. s.An' Betty was Il own
cousin Of mine
An of mine" said ii tall woman In
rusty black near the whL!not on wEich
the coveted china stnCd.
So the strife continued until there
was no posSibiiit. oI an aiilchDi- ad-
iuStment of the q inns Of At various
claimants. They finally left the house
and the china In possession OF Miss
Selma Sharpe Il l.tdy of about nifty
wears, who. although IN own cousin
of Mr.. Trip. had put forward no
claim to the china. Il w;lring that she
had no wish tc claim il,
Tut there's one thin certain. sid
Miss Sharpe as she closed The d"or be-
hind the last of the "Ltlrs. there
sLau't one of 'em step th, " foot lao
this house again to touch the rh"ny
or anything else until it's settled by
law who las right to EN-. I've rent-
ell the house myself of its ownt an
won't have my doors darkelltu by
any Of them"
Miss Sharpe adhered TO this resolu-
tioa. politely but frMly refu Jag ad-
mi;tance to sever; of the claimants
who called during the following week
"to talk 1t over" with her aud possibly
to carry the china home iii triumph.
Besides the china. there vas nothing
among Mr.. and Mrs. Tiipps few poor
belongings that the rcla lives coveted,
all Of the furniture IF any value haV-
ing been sod Or given in payment of
few bills that came In after the fu-
n,r raj.
Accordingly Miss Sharpe was soon
left in undiSturbpd possession OF what
was left. ANA the chiua. guarded by
the faithful dogs. still rested on the
old walnut Mhatnot three weeks after
the old couple to whom II had given
pleasure had been laid away IN the lit
tie cemetery behind the village church.
Mrs. Ceplns King and Nancy joan
son had been next door neighbors and
very warm friends up to the tine the
dispute over the china arose. but now,
alas, they scoinfu!ly passed by with
out IL wore or smile of recognition
wien they met. and the King children
were forbidden to have anything at all
to do with the Johnson children.
Mrs. Cyrus MasterSon lived directly
across the street from Beuiah Hovey,
and so frequent had been the friendly.
pleasant little calls the ladies had
made upon each other that smoothly
wrrn path led from one house to the
other. Now all was changed. The
path was wholly disused. and Mrs.
81: when she met Mrs. HOvey ON
the street lest they should suffer con-
tG mination by coming into contact
with those Of her once beloved neigh
Dor.
Mrs. Ezra Simmons returned GER
tain basque pattern she had borrowed
Of Selma Sharpe with note stating
that .in consequence of the course you
have seen tit to pursOO In relations to
my husbands own dear dead cuzzen's
chiny tea things, which now rightfully
belongs to me, return the inclosed
bask pattern an would thank you for
my cup cake reseet an my polynay
pattern, not desiring that anything OF
yours should remain IN my possession,
an visa versy. an that we do not
speak to each other from this date
So II was that there were diScOrd
and enmity where there had once been
peace and harmony. Not one OF the
contending claimants condescended to
speak to any of her rivals to the in
heritance.
A month had passed and the bad
feeling was atsits height when Mr. and
Mrs Ezra Simmons one evening con-
cluded to spend an hour with their
friends Mr.. and Mrs. Deacon Drewe.
The deacon and his wife We're not at
home when Mr.. and Mrs. Simmons ar
rived, but Sally, the maidservant, 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 haughtily withdrew to q
corner of the parlor and sat down In
silence.
A third ring of the bell and Mrs
Beuah Hovey appeared at the parlor
door. She gave the previous Occu-
pants Of the parlor a stony stare and
then went to sit stitfly 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 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
as it may seem. they had with them
Mrs. Cephas King. who was too corr-
ageous woman to be in the least
daunted by what she beheld. She
calmly seated herself in comforta-
Bile rocking chair and conposedly re-
turned Mrs. Nancy Johnson's stare.
While Mr.. and Mrs. Drewe were
vainly endeavoring to start general
conversation the village fire bell rang
for the first time in many months.
Tho Ara connany consisted Of those