Atlanta tri-weekly journal. [volume] (Atlanta, Ga.) 1920-19??, 1923-10-16
HER MONEY
BY CAROLYN BEECHER

What has gone befOre.--AEhes Gross
by, dying, leaves her home and $4,000
in bonds to her orphaned niece and
namesake whom she has never seen.
Her lawyer finds the young woman
working in a department store in New
York and leaves with her copy of the
will which discloses that the $4,000
bequest will not become hers until the
day she marries and that she must wed
before she is 35. The heiress and her
roommate go to Holden to see her new
home.-Now go On with the story.
CHAPTER v
TINE old lawyer came to see them early
the next morning, bringing g. small box
- and a bunch of keys
The box held Miss Crosbys jewelry, few
simple pieces, old-fashioned, and of little
value save as their age and quaintness gave
them importance. After telling the girls
to call upon him for aid or information he
left them.
Althea had asked HIM how it happened
her aunt left so much while her father, her
aunt's brother, had been poor.
Your father took his share when he was
twenty-one and lost il in business ventures,
while Miss Althea took good care of hers"
he answered
The two girls went over the house slowly.
room by room, examining each until they
had become familiar with everything in 1t.
AS Althea became acquainted with these
lovely old things, now her own, she thought
part with them A,.o4.
The lovely cool vine shaded porch, the
great sentinel-like trees in the yard, the old
fashioned flower garden, all intrigued her
and they were all her own.
They cooked everything they liked and
of which they were deprived in the city, as
Molly had declared they would, and the
days fairly flew, so swiftly did they pass.
They had been there week before they
opened and examined the trunks and boxes
in StO wit Ill A. och nnd
dresses of grosgrain silk. fine hand em.
broidered underwear and linens.
Its like a Treasure Island" Althea said
as they sat on the floor surrounded by the
heaps of things. ~
What will you do with them all?" Mollia
asked. s'""'
Keep them! I can wear these under
things Aren't they lovely? I've always
wanted to wear dainty things like these,
but never could afford it." She gave Mollie
some of them, laughingly telling her she
could make two garments out of each one
because she was so little. Althea was tall
and slim like her aunt.
Their time was almost up before Althea
remembered the little book she had brought
with her. So one night when Molie de-
clared she was going to bed early, Althea
sat down in the living room and broke he
seal l,r7
why it's a diary!" she exclaimed as she
turned the pages. Then she commenced to
ASdu he CLOCK SCTuCK nOur after nOur, ana
still she sat curled up in big chair, alb
sorbed. 1t was two o'clock when she fin
1shed the last page of the fine angular
writing. Yet she made no move to go to
bed, still sat in the chair, thinking of what
her aunt had written.
On the pages she had just read her aunt
had laid bare her very soul-all the loneli-
ness, the shamed feelings, the emotions of
years. She had told of her young maiden
hood, her chagrin when one after another
of the girls she knew were wooed and wed,
while she remained unwanted. She told of
her battles with her chagrin, her determine
ton never to let anyone know, her pretense
that she was happy and did not care for the
opposite sex. She recounted her feelings
when these girls had homes and families
while she still remained unsought. 1t was
her tragedy, unsupported by her nearest
friends
ITO be alone, always alone, nnsought--
can anything be sadder?" she had written.
dren. long until the longing is like pain, yet
never has any man said he loved me, asked
me to be his wife"
Toward the end she had written:
Il shall leave my money to my name
sake, but only on condition that she mar
ries. 1t would be better for her to be mar
ried for the money / leave her than 30 go
through life as / have done, hungry for
things other women have and be denied
them. SO l shall give her the money only
her time to know her mind, to decide. But
If at thirty-five she isn't married she cannot
nave the money. | do this for her happi-
ness, knowing my own loneliness" >i- 's~
Then even later:
IF she ever reads this book, left for only
her eyes to see, | trust she will obey my
injunction and destroy it once she has read
and understood all I have said-why I have
left my money for dogs and horses if she
refuses to marry
Tears hung upon Akheas lashes while she
read; the poignant shame of the woman I'M
sought was so plainly revealed. When. she
heard the clock strike three Althea arose.
and carrying the book went upstairs But
instead Of going in with Mollie she turned
into the other, Miss Crosbys room and put
the book into her desk. She would read
1t once more, then destroy it,
Il never dreamed not being married
meant so much to a woman" she murmured.
ut was the not being wanted that hurt her
most l guess" Then as she crept in beside
Mollie: Does being loved mean so much
nowadays? I wonder!"
Continued Thursday. Renew your sub
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