The Topeka state journal. [volume] (Topeka, Kansas) 1892-1980, 1915-07-09
The EUening Story
Betty's Treasure.
(By Floyd Clay.)

| thrown overheard in Boston harbor.
Of course, there had been heirs be-
| tween that exciting event and the
Misses Shaw and those heirs had
lived their time and passed on the
property by will. None of them had
been rich. Indeed, most of them had
been very poor. 1t was big colonial
house with ten acres of ground
around it, and there had been times
when the place had been sold for
taxes, and would have had i new
owner and new tenant had not public
sentiment come forward to rescue II.
The sisters had a starvation in
! come, and had passed the half CEN
fury mark. There were those who
could remember them Mt twenty
| fair faced and attractive young wo1n-
en-. They had never married because
| they felt they could not separate. And
whenever the subject of marriage or
the sale of the place came up they
| had both exclaimed in chorus, But
there is the garrett"
1t was the biggest garnet for fifty
miles around. He who had planned
and built the house had not paid spe-
| cial attention to the rooms and halls
| below, but he had provided garrst
| that all who came after MIN should
be proud Of 1t was long and wide and
| contained treasures beyond enumera-
ton in the shape of spinning wheels
and bedsteads and bureaus and chairs
and what not of the long ago.
An antiquarian who came one day
and was allowed to look but not to
touch, said to the eldest sister:
There is nothing like it under the
sun. If you will let me dig here for
a week 1 will give you hundred dol
lars
Not for a thousand" was the reply.
But why?'
Because you would make dust
and litter
When Betty Lawrence. a cousin, at
the age of ten had visited the Misses
Shaw and become homesick and shed
tears. the sisters comforted her by
Nov, Betty, chirk up and be good
girl and you shall see our garrett"
Now, at nineteen, she was a visitor
at the old house again, and she had
a lively remembrance of that quaint
room. She didn't care much for the
antiques, but she was at n romantic
age and endowed with healthy Curl
osity, and when one of the sisters
had let drop the fact that the old
chests were full of documents dating
back into the beginning of the eigh-
teenth century she made up her mind
to have a look at some of them.
Betty was determined to overhaul
that garnet If given half a chance.
She dwelt upon the idea constantly |
that she came to believe that some |
where in that collection of muSty |
relics of the past there lay concealed |
a document which would bring a !
treasure to it's finder. She even pic |
tured herself standing before her
startled old cousins, document in |
hand, this announcement on her lips: |
My dear cousins, 1 have found a |
great treasure. 1t is yours. You |
can each buy a new hat and new
shoes, and if you want real coffee for |
breakfast and chicken pie for dinner |
you can have them"
One day, while waiting her oppor- |
tunity to explore the garnet, a young |
man known to the sisters called on |
an errand for his mother and was in |
troduced to Miss Betty as Mr.. Ford |
Kirkwood The following day while |
she was out for a walk, he turned |
up as if by accident. This happened |
again on the third day, and on the |
for its rather marked recurrence. |
Within a week it had happened SO |
frequently that neither saw anything |
unconventional in the matter.
ance did not escape the vigilant eyes
of the cousins One day the elder
sister observed frankly:
Mr. Ford Kirkwood is rather a
fine boy"
Don't you think I'm rather a nice
girl, Cousin Phoebe?" laughed Betty,
with a telltale flush.
Perhaps it will be wise for me to
write to your parents
Then Miss Phoebe sighed gently
and readjusted her glasses.
ct suppose I ought to warn you
against love at first sight" she con-
tinued.
but as you never loved at first
sight or second sight or any other
sight. how can you. Cousin Phoebe?"
AT this the gentle old woman
smiled feebly.
Ford Kirkwood is a fine young
man. but he has no money" she went
on dutifully.
Nor have I. Papa might manage
to give me a check for a hundred dol
lars for a wedding gift, but it would
strain his bank account to do it"
Then, throwing her arms about Miss
Phoebe and giving her a reassuring
kiss she added more seriously:
81 shall not fall in love, dear cousin.
I shall not elope. I.shall never marry
at least not until
Until when, Betty?'
Until 1 find a treasure declared
the girl as if she meant it
Betty did not reveal the fact to any
body that she regarded the prospect
of securing the treasure as a well-de-
fined possibility. In her soul she be-
lieveds there was a treasure in that
CART, but how was she to take the
first step toward finding it, with that
region closed to her? She felt like
the privilege of explora-
ton, but still she bided .her time.
Her opportunity came suddenly.
There came day when the sisters
were called away on a matter Of bust
ness which demanded their personal
attention.
said the elder sister alphabetically.
1--WE shall be away at least three
hours"