Ellsworth American. [volume] (Ellsworth, Me.) 1855-current, 1917-02-28
FORBIDDEN
FRUIT
B. WILLARD BLAKEMAN

years 0i0. leaving me good property
In the care Of my uncle, John Brough.
His name should have begun with a
C." for he was the gruffest spoken
man I ever knew. was sent to
boarding school till l wns seventeen
and then to college. Upon graduating
received a letter from my guardian
uncle to come to his house.
When | rent he'd 1t. leaving the auto
In which arrived with my hand bag
gage saw looking At me through an
upper window u young girl evidently
about seventeen, the sweetest face I
had ever seen. I was thrilled at the
idea Of being In . house with such
lovely creature. being OF an age to be
easily struck by a pretty girl.
On entering the house saw another
face. the antipodes Of the first. It 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 Wy beetllng brows.
How old are your" was his first
remark to me.
Il will be twenty-five next septem-
ber"
by the term Of your fathers will
you are to have 10000 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 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 a 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 It II she married
without my consent, and her father
charged me to bring about, II posi-
BILE. marriage with young man who
Is part owner in certain property which
will 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 believed II
married his ward there would be In
finite trouble. This gave me deep con-
cern. for 1t struck me that the girl
had seen Mt the window was this same
ward. by whom was already stricken.
My uncles 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 l 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
err 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 l
talked over his action, or, rather.
want OF action, and came to the con-
clr'sion that since by the terms of our
lnhcfitances 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 1t
legal age for me l 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 1t
an added temptation. l sounded Edith
| TO learn Ii she would give up her for
tune for Inc and this first payment of
dn6aH INV
guardian. was all l could hope for
| She was not only willing. but eager
| to do so. l should not have permitted
this, but was young and deeply in
| love. Indeed. I felt guilty in having
| suggested such thing, and found IT
difficult to look my uncle in the face.
| This feeling was enhanced from the
| fact that his harshress was all on the
surface. ana was often used to render
more effective cettein bursts of humor.
Wen. 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 UiiIsltsl tbitSiilihtu
uncle of the fact andsawaited his re-
| ply 1t was very short simply, "Shall
expect YOU for dinner which
MEANS" | said to Edith. IF you, too,
choose TO give NJ wealth for love. 1t is
no concern of his"
We reached Ely uncle's house half
| an hour e-ore dinner. He was not at
home. but expected soon. When he
| arrived he found us in the library
waiting for him. He shook hands cor
daily with me and kissed Edith. then
led the way into the dining room.
The moment we entered it both
Edith and myself were astonished. II
seemed to have been set for wedding
feast A bottle Of champagne was In
cooler beside my uncle's chair and
as soon az we We're served with food
it was uncorked, and our glasses being
filed my uncle raised his glass.