The herald., 1922-10-19
cir1ple Cousin
Ambrose
Ey CLARA DELAFIELD
70. 1892. by Western Newspaper Union

"a nasty one on Cousin Ambrose"
said Cousin Amelia.
81 guess he thought he WAS going to
get all Uncle Reuben's property,
chuckled Cousin Hilary.
~ good joke Tn him." snorted
Cousin Silas. 1T didn't pay him, after
all. shopping round here day after day
and handling Uncle Rcuben'S affairs
for him
"Ycs, and pretending to he so sim
pie, too" said Cousin Amelia, ndIS'
nantly.
Their anger was not without SOLID |
foundation. for Uncle Reuben, to |
had been rcputed a very rich man ana |
/ had been an eccentric, had died Win
3 out a will, and when his nepheWs and
/ nleces came to divide his property
| they found that it totaled up to just
about two hundred dollars apiece.
! Each felt privately outraged, for
each had thought himself or herself To
be Uncle Reuben's special coniidant.
! So had Cousin Ambrose, undoubtedly.
After Uncle Reuben went blind,
Cousin Ambrose had acted as his sec
retary. Cousin Ambrose was forty,
pale, fat, puffy, and carried on an auc-
tioneer's business in the town, which
left him good deal of leisure
Where the others played golf, Cousin
Ambrose devoted himself To the col
lection of coins and postage stamps,
and he was believed to have been re-
} III In, N ,.la
Hes not a man. said Cousin Sllas.
"Ought to be dressed up in petticoats,
the great big simpering ninny.
Uncle Reuben had certainly been
queer character His hobby had been
seaweed-not very inspiring one. but
he was well-known to bOtanists and he
, had discovered one hundred and
. eleven new species. He had been IN
CORRESPONDENCE with correspondents
all over the world for forty yearS-be-
ginning before Cousin Ambrose was
born.
However. he had presented all his
new samples to museums, and his col
lection in glass cases had been valued
;, by the expert who was summsneo
= after his death at exactly nothing.
y Nobody wants seaweeds," he ex
. planned, land as your uncle gave away
= the cream of his collection, why
= there's only the cases. And they RI
:, not worth more than fifty cents apiece
: if you could get that"
. Decidedly Uncle Reuben had wasted
forty wears on the most singularl.
useless hobby imaginable.
And here were the relations, come Z
u agree to an amicable division of VIVA
t property there was, to avoid the neces
- sity of sale.
&c 81 must have dear Uncle Reuben
y desk, at which he sat when he wa
III blind and helpless" said Cousin All
u brose. who had come sliding and pu
- fling in.
lc "Waal, dunno as l want it mysel
'e- exactly" said Cousin Silas, glancin
oy in contempt at the ancient piec
III Didn't think it was valuable, did y
ne Ambrose? We've had it valued, yo
know"
as There was q chortle of laughter 4
w the taking-down of Cousin Ambrose.
er- Cousin Ambrose nursed his kne
en "Oh. no. l don't want anything,
Is answered. Its the dear, dear, neve
VI to-be-forgotten memories of our de'
us uncle that It will bring back to me"
ire Cousins Silas and Hilary ca
glances of measureless contempt
him.
"Ill take the parlor suite" SO
Cousin Hilary.
om' 81 want the best bedroom" claim
iia. Cousin Amelia.
the They wrangled for two hours. tn
lho. went all over the house, earmarki
ON the pieces. which had all been ticket
the with their valuation prices. and II
anu there was another wrangle, because
oy was found that Cousin Silas' prope
WAS valued at two hundred and n
al dollars, while each of the others
my a valuation of a little less than I
inc hundred, except Cousin Ambrose, v
Gus couldn't get up to the hundred po
even.
mis- They hated Cousin Ambrose "
per burning hate, because he said b
simply tdhe Nhut was w. 90
sakes, and each Of them had to
gorge something to make his share
oru- even.
w. "Either he's q fool or blf
nent hearted schemer." growled Uncle
the ary. THAT desk hasn't got Sc
e Is drawer with money in 1t, has IT.
dem They ransacked the desk, but II
ltion tanned nothing but bundles of lett
IS. dating back forty years, from all
ne corners Of the earth. So, growl
4 his they took their departure, after
J the cedjng to Cousin Ambrose's req
eeth for Uncle Reuben's correspond
cans. and seaweed notes.
the week later Cousin Amelia
llent Cousin Silas on Main street. ="
DAN did you hear about Cousin Ambro
Jects she gasped.
ecay. "Been away, hasn't hep
all. Hes sold one Of the stamps
Uncle Reuben's letters for four
Ia. sand dollars, and another for tV
'entiy hundred. They were the only
al or mems In existence except In c.
score lions. Oh, the black-hearted mons
nent's D.. 10Th were rendered speec
NV so 90 Co,tSin A mi