River Falls journal. [volume] (River Falls, Pierce County, Wis.) 1872-2019, 1919-11-27

/, Amelia Stopped, and Stared at the
Doorway in a Panic.
doorway in panic, for her nephew
] stood there.
She kept her eyes upon his white
! face for few strained moments, then,
regaining her nerve, looked away and
shrugged her shoulders.
you weren't intended to hear what
| I've been saying George" she said
| quietly. "But since you seem"
Eyes, did,
so" She shrugged her shoulders
again. "After all, / don't know but
it's just as we'll, in the long rum
He walked up to where she sat. .You
YOU" he said thickly. ''It seems
1t seems to me you're-youre pretty
| common!"
Old Bronson had risen from his
chair in great distress. "Your aunt
was talking nonsense because she's
piqued over business matter,
| George" he said. "She doesn't mean
what she said, and neither she nor
anyone else gives the slightest credit
to such fOOlishness-no one in the
world!'
George gulped, and wet lines shone
suddenly along his lower eyelids.
'They-they'd better notr he said,
then stalked out of the room, and out
of the house.
Ten minutes later, George Amber
son, somewhat in the semblance of an
angry person plunging out of the Man
sion, found pale nephew waiting to
accost him.
Il haven't time to talk, George"
YES, you have. You'd better!"
whats the matter, then?"
His namesake drew him away from
the vicinity of the house. IT want to
tell you something / just heard Aunt
Amelia say, in there. She says my
mothers on your side about this divi-
sion of the property because you're
Eugene Morgan's best friend. She
said" George paused to swallow.
'She said" He faltered
"You look SICK" said his uncle. and
laughed shortly. "If it's because of
anything Amelia's been saying, | don't
blame you! What else did she say?"
George swallowed again, as with
nausea, but under his uncle's encoGr-
agement he was able to be explicit.
"She said my mother wanted you to be
friendly to her about Eugene Morgan.
She said my mother had been using
To ol,o
ANDERSON emitted a laugh of dis
gust. Its wonderful what tommy-rot
woman in a state of spite can think
of! | suppose you don't doubt that
Amelia Anderson created this speci-
men of tommy-rot herself? Of all the
damn nonsensev
George looked at him haggarlly
You're sure people are not talking?"
Rubbish! Your mothers on my
side about this division because she
knows Sydney's a pig and always has
been pig, and SO has his spiteful
wife. I'm trying to keep them from
getting the better Of your mother as
well as from getting the better of me,
don't you suppose? Well, they're in
rage because Sydney always could do
what he liked with father unless your
mother interfered, and they know got
Isabel to ask him not to do what they
wanted. That's all there is to it."
"But she said," George persisted
wretchedly: 'she said there was talk.
She said"
Look here, young fellow!" Amber
son laughed good-naturedly. There
probably is some harmless talk about
the way your Aunt Fanny goes after
abetted it myself. Fanny was always
languishing at him, twenty-odd years
; ago, before he left here. Well, we
can't blame the poor thing if she's got
her hopes up again, and | don't know
that / blame her, myself, for using
your mother the way she does.'
"How do you mean?"
Anderson put his hand on Georges
shoulder. "You like to tease Fanny"
he said, 'but I wouldn't tease her
about this, If were you. Fanny hasn't
got much in her life. In fact, don't
know of anything much that Fanny
has got, except her feeling about Eu-
gene. She's always had it-and what's
; funny to us is pretty much life-and-
death to her, suspect Now, I'll not
deny that Eugene Morgan is attracted
to your mother. He is; and that's an
other case of always was;' but know
him, and he's a knight, George
crazy one, perhaps, if you've read Don
Quixote.' And l think your mother
likes him better than she likes any
man outside her own family, and that
he interests her more than anybody
n olSn--and salmauc his And th0f,s q IL