The Topeka state journal. [volume] (Topeka, Kansas) 1892-1980, 1918-10-22
EVENING STORY
Aunt James Bequest.
BY JANE OSBORN.


her to the old Durham estate. Madge
wanted to find out what people around
there thought OF the will, SO she did
some tactful pumping without. 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 hundred when she
died, seemed to have her wits with her,
too. in most things. tho she surely had
shown weakmindedness in that will.
She had left the entire fortune-and
it was a lot more than folks even
thought-to her niece, Elizabeth, and
Elizabeth Durham already 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 it," asked Madge with an
air of only half-hearted interest.
To be sure there wasEthere was a
grandniece and a grandnephew-lived
a good ways off. Stanley Taylor was
professor and the old maid was a
schoolma'am, and they were both as
poor as church mice. They ought to
have come in for some of it, 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 relations
anything?" asked Madge.
The station agent chuckled. Well,
yes. there was a sort Of a provision for
them. There had been left in the old
lady's library, a whole lot of old books
| 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
practically sole beneficiary, to come
| and select them.
II wonder" unused Madge, whether
there was any reason why the old
lady left them out of her will?''
r The station STATIC agent Lowered ss his voice
know it, he confided, but the old
| lady had set her heart on having her
| niece and nephew married, and she
couldn't get them to do it, and that
| use for them. She had them out at
the old place some fifteen years back
and tried to make match, but some.
| how the Teller he wasn't of the marry
ing kind. and the girl-well, 1 guess
she was cut out to be an old maid
Madge colored slightly. 1t had
taken an hour to get this much infor-
nation from the local informant, and
| she took her seat in the stage to con-
| tinue her trip to the home OF her late
FEELING of resentment toward her.
What if she was cut out to be an old
| maid-hadn't Aunt Jane herself been
| an old maid and wasn't Aunt Eliza
beth 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
! hagsled 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 fortune was in store for her, as
he had arrived the, day before and
| was already established in the gloomy
| old book room in the Durham home
| stead 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
matters a little moro cheerful for
| Madse and Stanley, but she had
! merely left word with the housekeeper
to provide for their temporal wants
division of the books and to say that
| the lawyer would be over the next day
to settle any legal phases of the ar
rangement.
And they got right to work at the
books. ThSg at least agreed, appar-
emily. on a lack of disposition to So
liability.
| 81 have been doing what I 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. I will take them. and over there
are some that could not possibly in
|
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-
4 patently never been opened to the
light of day. In the other pile could
be seen bound volumes of the Ladies'
World for the past twenty-five years.
a rather complete set Of cookery
books, the works of George Eliot and
Maria Edgeworth.
But I detest George Eliot-and the
rest isn't worth the freight to take
them home" insisted Madge, and
Stanley 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 book
room, Madge called on Aunt Eliza
her cousin on the ground of needing
a little diversion before going on with
the selection.
Zone thing we agree on she IS
sured Aunt Eliza beth, and that is on
books. for every book that appeals to
me appeals to him. and while he is
perfectly gentlemanly about it we
both set our hearts on the same books.
1t really seems a shame to separate
the collection. They are quite re-
markable. I didn't realize THAT Aunt
Mary Jane was so booky."
Il suppose Aunt Jane might have
left them to a library" commented
Aunt Elizabeth with a smile that puz-
zled Madge, but she thought that you
two school teachers might like them
! I'VE do like them-its dividing