The west shore., July 01, 1885, Page 216, Image 22

216
THE WEST SHORE.
raise itself on the pillows. A small, wrinkled face gazed
into mine, while a shrill voice shrieked discordantly;
"Turn onttbt wiMi."
Madame Janaen made an effort to strike the nurse
with her keys. But a moment later the sick woman sank
back helpless on her pillows.
"You are come to inqnire after my health, sir?" she
'said in softer tones, "and I thank you for your neigh
borly attention. Dut this person," and then she raised
her voice again in anger, " this person, who thrusts her
self upon me, is only come to watch me."
" But you have met with an accident; your state of
health requires care," I said, soothingly.
"I have no need of a nurse," she replied, sharply.
" Last night thny tried to rob me. Thore were strange
sounds in the basement Masked figures crept through
the garret windows, and all the bells in the house pealed."
"All the bells!" said L "That would have been a
most unusual proceeding on the part of thieves."
"I Ml you," cried the sick woman with rekindled
energy, " I tell you, all the bells rang! My nephew, who
is at the head of the police, is far too stupid to catch the
roblwrs. He came here and tried to persuade me that I
had Ixwn dreaming. Ha, ha! He would have liked it
better if I had dreamt my will also."
I knew that her nephew was burdened with a large
family, and that his salary was small, so I tried to enlist
hor sympathy mainly on the score of the relationship
subsisting between them.
" Your nephew is, of course, one of your heirs," said
I, interrogatively.
"My heirs?" she exclaimed, disdainfully. "No, no,
my dear sir. My hoirs are those whom I am at liberty
to choose, and I have chosen them."
8he then explained, with evident satisfaction, the pro
visions of her will
" But," said I, " that charity is now amply endowed."
" Is that your opinion ? " she muttered. No matter,
it is my wilL I desire these old pensioners to have
something better to drink than vile potato brandy. After
my death they shall taste Jamaica rum that has crossed
the line three times."
"And your nephew's lafge family?"
" Yes, yes," she said, petulantly, "they increase and
multiply in the confident hope of living on my fortune.
But I," and she now spoke with much bitterness, " I have
no children."
" Will you not, at all event, make a codicU assigning
small portion of your fortune to these poor girls?"
" l.r girls!" she criod, as her old head shook piti
lessly and her frame trembled with excitement. "They
shall not have a groschen not a groschen."
At these words she sank back exhaustwt, and I gnzed
in hornw at this poor wreck, broken by age, apparently
subsisting on the strong passion of hatred.
" What have you against your nephew? Has he of
fended you?"
" Me? Oh dear, not " she replied. " Quite the con
trary. No sooner had he received his appointment than
he came here to pay his respects;" and then added with
bitterness, " to look up his inheritance, of course. Though
I had never soon him boforo, he called me 'duur aunt;'
but I saw through him. He brought his eldest daughter
with him. Her name is Matilde a grand lady quite a
grand lady, I assure you! They must be rich people, my
nephew and his daughters. She wore a dress trimmed
with rich Valenciennes, and a cameo brooch was fastened
at her throat She hoped, doubtless, that I would fall in
love with her baby face. Her little mouth was so sweet
and innocent it was hard to believe that roast chicken
and other delicacies were all put into it! "
She shook her head meditatively, recalling, perchance,
her own past life. Suddenly she turned toward me, and
with a strange light in her eyes, which seemed to have
been borrowed from her buried youth, cried passionately Is
" Look at me, look at me! I also have been beautiful"
I was for a moment taken aback at the sight of her
shriveled form, held erect as a torch, among the pillows.
But the large eyes had already become dull and fixed.
"You would not think so now, for I am old," she
whispered. "Death is very near; but the nighte, ohl
those nights! Then must I wander about without ceas
ing; it is fortunAte, indeed, that my house is so large."
" You are suffering from want of sleep," I said; " that
is a consolation elderly people often woo in vain." -
" No, no, my dear sir. I keep myself awake by main
force by main force, I tell you. I am afraid of the old
Scythian; but only when I am asleep he has so often
taken folk by surprise then! But he shall not catch me
yet The town authorities would be glad to hear of my
death. Bah! I believe they wish to place me under re
straint By the way," she exclaimed, glancing suddenly
and suspiciously at me, "you are also an offioial?"
I nodded. Then, with her eyes still fixed intently on
mine, she exclaimed:
" Have they charged you with a mission to my house?"
"They feared that your weak state of health might
necessitate some kind of guardianship."
"Weak!" she cried, piteously. "No, no, not weak!
I am rich, very rich, they think, and they want to rob
me; but I will barricade my house, even though I die of
hunger inside."
So saying, she seized the bed curtains and tried to
put her feet to the ground. She must get up; she must
show me how strong she was.
I called the nurse, and we both did our best to soothe
her. I came round the bed and stood facing her, the
hght full upon me. Something in my appearance seemed
to steady her, for she grew calm and listened attentively
to my words. I told her that in my opinion, there was
no need for personal guardianship, but that the strange
manner in which she had hoarded her wealth suggested
a certain administrative incapacity on her part, and con
cluded by offering to find some trustworthy person who
would invest her fortune to the best advantage.
I noticed that while I spoke she never took her eyes
from me, and regarded me with that searching look which
I had before obsemd b the garden.
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