Manchester Democrat. [volume] (Manchester, Iowa) 1875-1930, 1915-02-03
The Reading Of the Will of Old Rob
4 %! 4as:5s II ert Burr Ended. iE'

" ert Burr ended, all interest OF most
4 OF the. relatives present died out for
4, he had favored few of them, and those
with no marked liberality. There was
. great confab at the Dalton home
that evening. Alice was an orphan
and lived with the iDaltons. The Win
steds lived only next door, and Mary
D and Nettie came over to discuss the
great event of the day and abuse their
dead relative. 81 81 \. & jss@f
Humph! his old portrait can go to
the barn loft. for all III hinder, de-
clared Mary, spitefully :. IN: s IT.
s .s . !" In loving remembrance 80 quoted
q Nettie, sneeringly. X hope some one
ssmashes stepladder5 in it4when they
go to hang it in my room" d. z
II shall retire my precious legacy
'aas soon as the decent period of mourn-
ding has passed." observed Esther,
2icily, sas though she were furnishing
the relative who had failed to cater to
I her extravagant tastes. =. e. .{5:.5
5ss Alice said nothing. She had always
had d warm spot In her loyal little
4 heart for Uncle Robert. She was in
4. a measure dependent upon the Dali
tons, but well earned her way. Espe.
Y cially, since the gift Of the piano she
had been able to pay q fair cash price
fol- her board, besides helping in many
little household duties which the
{ naughty Esther disdained. ,.js .s+ll y l:s,.&
IA month later the really priced por-
4 trait hung in cherished way In the
poorest room in the house, which OF
course was the one to which uncom-
planning Alice was assigned. Esther
had placed her legacy in her brothers
neglected den. The Winsted girls
openly boosted that theirs had found
storage in an unoccupied servants
room. Then there came along one
Z Worth Davenal, and the complexion
Of the four young girlish lives was VI
! tally affected by the occurrence.
He was q bright, manly young fell
low. What pleased the Winsted girls
was that he was reputed rich. He
was the favored nephew Of a prosper
GUS city stockbroker. Esther, set her
cap for him at once. This caused a
bitter break in her relation. with Mary
and Nettie, and the harmony Of the
little coterie Of cousins was broken In
upon. s2sZ 4, S.. \. % 5. ~ IL
Esther was pretty, but bold as well.
She simply started out to appropriate
the distinguished visitor to the town
all to herself, Young Davenal was,
however, no more attentive to. her
than to the others. Alice greatly ad-
mired the manly, free.hearted fellow,
and from the first he seemed to enjoy
her company. Twice. however, once
because of necessary attention to
some pupils. and again when Mrs. Dali
ton fell Ill and wished some one to
keep her company, Alice disappointed
Mr.. Davenal in engagements, and this
seemed to nettle him. It was possible
that Esther created. some false I'M
preston in his mind as to the true
facts OF the case. At all events, he
became quite a regular escort to Es-
Their, and the Winsteds gave up the
contest. .5., :. $50. + Z e
Not SO Alice. She felt that she had
stood aside too often to please Esther
and the others. She had time and
again sacrificed her pleasure for their
benefit. She had been more or less q
drudge in their service. Now jeal-
ousy and petty scheping she was GER
tain, was discrediting her with q man
whose friendship she valued. She
wished to stand well in his eyes. The
opportunity to vindicate herself came
one evening when, at a lawn party,
she found herself alone on q rustic
garden bench with MI. Davenal.