Uneasy Money

me of the death of Mr Ira Nutcombe, the only all-the-year-round inhabitants were the butcher, the grocer, the chemist, the other customary fauna o

of a "tongue" for sucking liquid food,' the last of which peculiarities, it is interesting to note, they shared with Claude Nutcombe Boyd, Elizabeth's brother, who for quite a long time-till his money ran out-had made liquid food almost his sole means of sustenance. These things, however, are by th

th Boyd would have challenged it. She had not prospered greatly. Wit

ert on them. She had started her apiary with a small capital, a book of practical hints, and a second-hand queen, principally because she was in need of some occupation that would enable her to live in the country. It was the unfortunate condition of Claude Nutcombe which made life in the country a necessity. At that time he w

, who get up early, and do it now, and catch the employer's eye, and save half their salaries, have sisters who never spea

tore-its absence of the fiercer excitements, might in time pull him together and unscramble his disordered nervous system. She liked to listen of a morning to the sound of Nutty busy in the next room

, yawning. Outside her window the birds were singing, and a shaft of sunlight intruded itself beneath the blind. But what definitely convinced her that it was time to

ue slippers, yawned again, and went downstairs. Having taken last night's milk from the ice-box, she went

ed that she was a young woman very well able to take care of herself in a difficult world. Her hair was very fair, her eyes brown and very bright, and the contrast was extraordinarily piquant. They were valiant eyes, full of spirit; eyes, also

who sometimes lumbered over and stole James's milk, disposing of it in greedy gulps while its rightful proprietor looked on with

, having finished his milk, began to wash himself. A squirrel climbed cautio

nded on a rickety windwheel. It was with a dark foreboding that she returned to the kitchen and turned on one of the taps. For perhaps three seconds a stream of th

it!' said

he dining-room to th

ut

was no

my preci

receding chin and a small forehead raised itself reluctantly from the pillow, and Claude Nutcombe Boy

he Speed Kid, on whom head-waiters had smiled and lesser waiters fawned;

now, his cold quarts that were

sprouted like a weed, till now in the middle twenties he gave startled strangers the conviction that it only required a sharp gust of wind to snap him in half

orning,

e?' asked her b

e singing, the bees are buzzing, summer's in the air. It'

Nutty's eyes. Elizabeth was

atch somewhe

' said Elizabeth, carelessl

foun

fraid we aren't a v

hy can't you see old Flack and m

e him. Meanwhile, darling Nutty, will you get some clothes on

, it's ov

more than thr

s a ton! The last time I w

t suspicious. You should hold your head up and throw your chest o

lent Nutty

l person would just be turning in; you send me across country to fetch pailfuls of water wh

, so long as you get the fluid. We must have water.

e a man to do th

is to be able to pay expenses. And, as a matter of f

? I know. You needn'

eth fl

if I wasn't only too glad to have you here. What I was going to say was that

alarm came into N

say that you want

The sort of life you are leading now is what millionaires pay hundreds of d

't fee

are ever so

y ar

ooked at hi

n't been-seeing anyt

ng about monkeys. Why should I dream ab

bout all sorts o

were being chased up Broadway by

right again when you have been living

balefully a

ceiling? It looks like a hornet. How on

s. I am going to pounce o

ly two weeks since Uncle Ira died. We ought to be hearing from

he has left

aven't I? I wrote to him regularly at Christmas and on his birthday, didn't I? Well, then! I have a feeling there will be a letter from the lawyers to-day. I wish you would get d

t she was sorry that it could come to her only through the death of her uncle, of whom, despite his somewhat forbidding personality, she had always been fond. She was also sorry that a large sum of money was coming to Nutty at that par

utside interference and will resolutely defend themselves,' Encyc. Brit., Vol. III, AUS to BIS) Elizabeth deduced that one of her little pets was annoying him. This episode concluded, Nutty resumed his pail and the journey, and at this moment there appeared over the hedge the face of Mr John Prescott, a neighbour. Mr Prescott, who had dis

appeared. Nutty selected one of the letters and opened it. Then, having stood perf

ndon lawyers. No other communication could have galvanized him into such energy. Whether the contents of the letter were good or bad it was impossible at that distance to say. But when she reached

' cried Elizabeth, every mat

f paper that bore the superscription of Nichols, Ni

ds! He's left me twenty pounds, and all

other. Now she was inconsistent enough to boil with rage at the shattering blow which had befallen him. That she, too, had lost her inheritance hardly occurred

planter, this Lord Dawlish. She pictured him as a crafty adventurer, a wretched fortune-hunter. For some reason or other she imagined him a sinister person w

she loathed and detested William Lord Dawlish-unhappy, well-meaning Bill, who only a few hours back

is attention on his tragedy Nutty had to trudge three-quarters of a mile, conciliate a bull-terrier, and trudge back again carrying a heavy pa

rone. Who was Lord Dawlish? What had he done to ingratiate himself with Uncle Ira? By what insidious means, with what devilish cunning, had

was a soft-hearted girl, easily distressed by the sight of suffering; and she was aware that Nutty wa

ough to tell Elizabeth that she had formed a too conservative estimate of his probable gloom

s the

glanced at

-past

is man to prepare his bally bath and lay out his gold-leaf underwear.

pieces, she had not the heart to ask him to play his customary part in the household duties, so she washe

ighter is cursing the waiter for bringing the wrong brand of cha

feeling tired out, she went to her room to lie down until

ounds to try to find Nutty. There had been no signs of him in the house. There were no signs of him about the grounds. It was not like him to have taken a walk, but it seemed the only