South Bend news-times. (South Bend, Ind.) 1913-1938, 1918-12-11
WHAT MADGE DID WHEN LEFT
ALONE

Don't you think you would better
lie down awhile? This performance
OF mothers cannot help but have
upset you. II were in your place
1 would not come down to luncheon
IN tell Katie 10 bring you up
something And I'll try 10 have
mother Gained down before dinner.
Dicky stood in the doorway of my
room with his hand on the door
knob. He had come directly up 10
me when I had rushed from the
living room after his mothers insult
ing remarks concerning Robert Cor
don, and had gently soOthed my
tangled nerves.
knew that he must have left his
mother i'm a towering rage, and 1
saw that II It were possible ne pre-
ferred that she and I should not
meet until the elder woman had re-
covered from the tantrum into
which she had been thrown by the
persistent inquiries of Robert Cor
don.
I should have acceded to his sug-
gestion under any circumstances,
but | was especially thankful for
this unexpected chance of an unin-
terrupted afternoon. / wanted an
opportunity TO get out a package
which was in the bottom OF a trunk
OF my dead mothers. I had scarce
" though of il since her death but
in the course Of my conversation
with Dicky 7 had been forcibly re-
minded OF its existence and I was
( impatient TO see il.
SO I smiled cheerfully mp at him,
and affected as nonchalant an air as
possible.
You do have the best ideas.
Dicky. I think I'd rather have four
or five hours rest than anything I
know I'm going 10 sport my oak
lish schoolboy stories ?-and I shall
expect not 20 be disturbed So
goodbye until dinner"
You shan't be disturbed but
once" Dicky retorted; TN going 10
send Katie up with your luncheon"
Truly. I couldn't eat a thing.
( Dicl1y," I protested.
Throw IL ont the window. then"
ne returned, nonchalantly. but I'm
sure going 10 send it 70 you. So
| long"
Little Mothers" Last Request.
lie went out OF the room quickly.
( closing the door behind him. ] wait
ed until heard his footsteps
! descending the stairs before turning
/ the key in the lock Then I went
/ directly 20 a little old trunk which
/ had always kept in my own room
/ ever since my mothers death, and
/ l-neeling before it. unlocked II with
/ reverent fingers.
It was my mothers own girlhood
I trunk, one in which she had kept
her treasures and mementoes all her
life. The chief delight of my girl
hood had been sitting by her side
when she took out the different
things from it and showed them to
me.
Dear. thoughtful. little mother or
minei Almost the last thing she did
before her strength failed her utter
ly was to repack the littel trunk,
wrapping and labelling each thing
IL contained. and putting into il only
the things which she knew would
not use. but wished TO keep as mem
cries OF her and of my own child
hood.
81 do not wish you to have TO look
over these things while your grief
Is still fresh for me-" she said, with
the divine thOughtfulness that
mothers keep until the last breath
they draw. There's nothing in IL
that you will have to look at for
years If YOU do not wish TO do So
that is, except one package that 7
am going 10 tell you about now"
She stopped TO catch the breath
which was so pitifully short in those
torturing days before her death, and
over her face swept the look OF
agony which always accompanied
any mention by her Of father.
In the top tray Of this trunk"
she said. "you will find the inlaid
lock box that was your grand
mothers. and which you have al
ways admired so much. I do not
wish to lay any request or command
upon you concerning it-yOu must
be the only Judge Of your own af-
fairs after leave you-but would
advise you not 20 open that box
unless you are la desperate straits,
or until the time has come when
you no longer harbor the resentment
you now feel toward your father"
The last words had come family
through stiffened white lips, for her
labor at packing and the emotional
strain OF talking TO me concerning
the future had brought on one OF the
dreaded heart attacks which were so
terribly frequent in the last weeks
OF her life. We had never spoken
of the matter afterward, for she did
not leave her bed until the end.
Is IL the Time?
At one time she had motioned mo
TO bring from her desk the old
fashioned key ring on which she
kept her keys. She held up two. a
tiny key and a larger one, and whis-
pered hoarsely: These are the keys
70 the lock box and the little trunk
YOU know where the others belong,
and then had closed her eyes as IL
the EFFORT Of speaking had exhaust
ed her. as indeed Il had
\