! LOVE andMARgPD lIFEf fc. I I tfe? noted author 1 I Idali HCsloBe Gibson I VM MY MOTHER'S WIIjIj ' John nuns back as I started , , jfl toward the door, and ho said, "'Why. jfl Kathorlnc, you do not intend to go . uB dovrn stairs, do you?" 9 "Certainly 1 didn't dream for a mo- if ment of having the lawyer and , Charles come up here. Did you?" p ' "I thought that you would change your mind finally," observed John- i "and tell me to go ahead and settle this thing .for you." "I can't understand, John, why you ' thought that I told you this morning ; that I should be present at tho read- ing of my mother's will. In fact I do .. t not think that my mother's lawyer ' '' f would read it unless I were present." I "Oh, all right, all right; have it JfC ' your own way, I am not going to am quarrel with you today, although I . jpr might remark in passing that it seems Wtow- to me that lately It has been easier 5 than not for you to pick a quarrel with . . Didn't Mean To t '$Wl! 11 don'1 lcnn tu John, honestly I r don't mean to. But can't you see, dear, ' that however much I love you ." i "Do you really love mo Katherlne," i - - j he Interrupted. f' ' "Why of course 1 love you. I lovo you so much that at times I wish I i- did not love you at all; it hurts me, W " so." ' ; "You funny child." said John with1 ; ' a laugh, and my heart sank, becausa ' 1 knew that he didn't ' understand. I ,' knew that instead of realizing thai (what I had Just said to him was tragic trag-ic that he thought that it was only a piece of coquetry on my part. I j However, 1 aald no more, an wo had j arrived at the library door, and tho 'i lawyer and Charles were alroady ;. there. ' Also, dear old Hannah, my, f mother's maid of many years. ! .'. was vory glad to seo Hannah ! there, because her presence told me ! . aSaf"" that my mother had remembered hor( ' mm In Lno and 1 rHtnor ahamofacodly , - 4K acknowledged 1o myself that it was ! :fm vorv Probable if sho had not dono so iMf that I might have a quarrel with " jfl John over tho giving to her that :H which I thought she deserved. I .fHE John .seemed quite surprised to seO( jfl Hannah there, although ho said noth-j Lm Jlaminh Hovers Near Ti.-ith the Lawyer and Charles arose ifl m John led mo to a seat, and dear .IV Hannah hovered over me, trying to make me perfectly comfortable. IB "Don't make me an invalid," I said, "I am perfectly well." I 'B "You certainly look the part," said .B Cousin Charles. Mm "Yes. doesn't she?" said John tri-t : B umphantly. "I told the doctor yester- day that Katherlne would be well enough to go home with me Immediately, Immed-iately, and you can sec that she is going to bo able to do so." j Charles looked at me inquiringly. I was sure ho thought my brilliant col-jor col-jor and sparkling eyes was occasioned by the nervousness I fqlt. And 1 ! knew ho was right, as already I was j beginning to feel weak and trembly. I seated myself with an air of bravado. bra-vado. I would not give up until I had to, on that I was determined. However, How-ever, I think I know better than any-lono any-lono else in that room what was In ! store for mc. i Bereft of Its legal verbage, my i mother's will left everything to "her i beloved and only child, Katherlne 'Gordon," everything that she possessed, pos-sessed, with the exception of two be-1 be-1 quest. She gave my father's library , to Charles and requested that Hannah Han-nah should draw from the monthly Income accruing from the estate the sum of $50. ' I do not know what made me do it, but as the paragraph regarding Han-uiali Han-uiali was read 1 lifted my eyes to (John's face, and saw his eyebrows raise in surprise- My heart hardened 1 immediately. ( The Lovo of Money I I just can not understand John's love of money; he seems to think ' more of it than he does of anything elso in the world except himself. The look of complacency which ho had on his face while he thought that my mother had left her little fortune to me was considerably weakened. It 'was with great chagrin that I realized that my husband begrudged to the old servant who had faithfully waited on my father and mother for years the tiny monthly sum that would keep her from penury. My thoughts were Interrupted by hearing the lawyer read words to the effect that I should be the solo executor of the estate without bond, and that everything, ''with the exception of those two bequests, be-quests, should be mine. "With the exception of the house," said John, as the lawyer finished, '. do not imagine Mrs. Gordon's mother moth-er had much to leave my wife." "Until last , week," answered tho lawyer, "1 should have said you were correct, Mr. Gordon", and that your wife would probably have from the estate only about ?100 a month, but last week, on some land which Kath-erine's Kath-erine's father purchased many years ago in Texas .oil was found, and T have the pleasure of announcing that she bids fair to be a very rich woman." wo-man." "Great Scott!" ejaculated John. Tomorrow A Matter of Business