The Mount Holly news. [volume] (Mount Holly, Burlington Co., N.J.) 1891-1942, 1918-12-10
Aunt James
Request
By JANE OSBORN

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Copyright, 1913. by Mcclure Newspaper
Syndicate.)
Madge had talked 1t over with the
station agent In fragmentary CONVEX
sation ir:ring the hour that elapsed
after the arrival of her train and the
departure of the stage that was to
carry her to the old Durham estate.
Madge wanted to find out what peo-
pie around there thought of the will,
so she did some tactful pumping with
out, of course, letting the station agent
know she was Madge Durham.
To be sure, old Miss Durham had
been an odd character, all the Dun
hams were little queer, she was as
sured by the station agent, but no one
expected she was so paisley mean as
all that She looked good-natured
enough in spite of her old age-and
she was nearly a hundred when she
died. and seemed to have her wits
with her, too, in most things, though
she srrely had shown weak-minded-
ness In that will. She had left the
entire fortune-and it was lot more
than folks ever thought-to her niece,
Elizabeth, and Elizabeth Durham al
ready possessed property that brought
her an income about ten times larger
than she could ever want.
"Was there any one else who might
have had itT asked Madge with an air
of only half-hearted interest.
To be sure there was-there was a
grandniece and grandnephew-
lived a good ways off. Stanley Taylor
was a professor and the old maid was
a school ma'am, and they were both
as poor as church mice. They ought
to have come In for some Of 1t, but
the old lady had cut them off. People
knew that. but they hoped she had re-
Tented. Might at least have given a
little to the Old Ladies' Home.
didn't she give those poor rela-
tives anything? asked Madge.
The station agent chuckled. Well.
yes. there was sort Of provision for
them. They had been left the old lady's
library, a whole lot of old books that
wouldn't sell for enough to pay the
trip they'd have to take to get them.
The books were to be divided equally
between the two, and they had been
sent for by Elizabeth Durham now.
who was executrix as well as practi-
cally sole beneficiary. to come and Sc
lect them.
IT wonder" unused Madge, whether
there was any reason why the old lady
left them out Of her WIFI"
The station agent lowered his voice.
"That there was. Most folks don't
know it." he conf1ded, 'but the old
lady had set her heart on having her
niece and nephew married, and she
couldn't get them to do 1t. and that
rolled her up so she never had any
use for them. She had them out at
the old place some Is years back and
tried to make a match, but somehow
the Teller he wasn't of the marrying
kind. and the girl-well, guess she
was cut out to be an old maid"
Madge colored slightly. 1t had taken
an hour to get this much information
from the local informant, and she took
her seat In the stage to continue her
trip to the home Of her late great-aunt
with an ever increased feeling of re-
sentiment toward her. What II she
was cut out to be an old maid-hadn't
Aunt Jane herself been an old maid
and wasn't Aunt Elizabeth an old
maid? Even a very little fraction of
the fortune would have seemed like
wealth to her, and instead all she got
was half of lot of dusty old books,
that would have to be haggled over
with Stanley Taylor. Madge felt
somehow that If Stanley were at all
considerate he would waive his claim
to the books. But no such good for
tune was In store for her, as he had
arrived the day before and was al
ready established In the gloomy old
book room in the Durham homestead
making up his mind as to which of
the books he would claim.
The only hospitality offered to
Madge when she came was that Of an
old housekeeper. Aunt Elizabeth might
have come over from her nearby
country place to have made matters
a little more cheerful for Madge and
Stanley, but she had merely left word
with the housekeeper to provide for
their temporal wants and to ask them
to proceed with the division of the
books and to say that the lawyer
would be over the next day to settle
any legal phrases of the arrange
ment."
And they got right to work at the
books. They at least agreed, appar-
emily. on lack of disposition to So
liability.
IT have been doing what / could
without you" remarked Stanley as
soon as they had got together in the
back room. 81 made a pile of books
here that could not possibly interest
you. will take them, and over there
are some that could not possibly in
terest me-"
Madge looked at the first pile. There
was an old edition of Fielding, Smol-
lett and Richardson, stack of French
poets and philosophers and some
heavy tones Of history that had ap-
parently never been opened to the
light of day. In the other pile could
be seen bound volumes of the Ladies'
World for the past 25 years, a rath-
er complete set Of cookery books, the
works Of George Eliot and Maria
Edgeworth.
"But / detest George Eliot-and the
rest isn't worth the freight to take
then home" insisted Madge, and Stan
ley was really embarrassed, for he had
frankly thought that his cousin would
find this second pile OF books entirely
TO her liking.
Three days later, after hours and
hours spent together In the hook room.
Madge called on Aunt Elizabeth Dun
SHE KEPT THE