The Mount Holly news. [volume] (Mount Holly, Burlington Co., N.J.) 1891-1942, 1916-10-24
FORBIDDEN
FRUIT
BY WILLARD BLAKEMAN

My father died when l was twelve
years old, leaving me a good property
In the care Of my uncle, John Bro1gh.
His name should have begun with a
&C." for he was the gruffest spoken
man ever knew. was sent to
boarding school till 1 was seventeen
and then to college. Upon graduating
received letter from my guardian
uncle to come to his house
When 1 reached it, leaving the auto
In which l arrived with my hand bag
gage, saw looking at me through an
upper window a young girl evidently
about seventeen, the sweetest face l
had ever seen. was thrilled at the
idea Of being in a house with such a
lovely creature, being of an age to be
easily struck by pretty girl.
On entering the house saw another
face, the antipodes of the first. 1t was
that of my uncle. His face was
square, his mouth curved down at the
corners, his eyes set deep In his head
and overhung by beetling brows.
How old are your was bis first
ACA40Ah W A1ICs
II will be twenty-five next septem-
ber."
by the term Of your fathers will
you are to have $4,000 the day you
are twenty-five years old; $4,000 the
day you are twenty-five and the bal
ance when you are thirty In the mat
ter Of marriage, you can't take a wife
Of whom do not approve. You may
live In this house with me as long as
you like, but / have warning for
you. have q ward who has been left
In my care by her father who was a
bosom friend of mine He left her a
fortune with the provision that she
should not inherit 1t If she married
without my consent and her father
charged me to bring about, If posi-
BILE, marriage with young man who
is part owner In certain property which
VIII fall to her ! care nothing about
the wife you select except this girl
In her case it is hands off,
With the last words my uncle looked
at me so savagely that l believed If /
married his ward there would be in
finite trouble. This gave me deep con-
Germ, for 1t struck me that the girl
had seen at the window was this same
ward, by whom was already stricken
MY uncle's bark proved worse than
his bite-that is, on all subjects except
my interfering with the plans laid
down for his ward OF course the for
hidden fruit was altogether too tempt
ing for me, and / soon learned that
she had received warning similar to
mine which had a like effect on her
But our guardian seemed singularly
obtuse to the interest with which I
and Edith Sterling inspired each 9TH
er. At any rate, he made no effort to
prevent our being much together We
drove, played tennis and rode on horse
back together without a word OF re-
monstrance from him. Edith and
talked over his action, or, rather,
want of action, and came to the con-
clusion that since by the terms of our
inheritances he held the whip hand Of
us he did not propose to interfere
with our temporary relations. When
the time for action came we would
feel his power.
When September came and with it a
legal age for me received $4,000 Of
my estate. Nothing could have been
more adverse to the plans laid down
for me and Edith Sterling. The pos
session Of this money brought with It
an added temptation. I sounded Edith
TO learn If she would give up her for
tune for me and this frst payment of
my patrimony, which, If l def1ed my
guardian, was all l could hope for.
She was not only willing, but eager
to do so. l should not have permitted
this, but I was young and deeply In
love. Indeed, felt guilty In having
suggested such a thing, and found it
difficult to look my uncle In the face.
This feeling was enhanced from the
fact that his harshness was all on the
surface, and was often used to render
more effective certain bursts of humor.
Well, the inevitable result Of putting
two youngsters of opposite sex under
the same roof forbidding them to love
each other, followed. One morning
took Edith out to ride, and driving to
a town across the border of the state
we were married. l telegraphed my
uncle of the fact, and awaited his re-
ply. 1t was very short, simply, "Shall