The Argosy — page 289: what you’re looking at

Machine-transcribed from the original scan — historical spelling and the odd misread are preserved.

270 The Hammonds’ Ugly Duckling. ‘Time went on, the Hammond quiver filled fast, and Miss Priscilla could not but be reminded by more than one circumstance of her rash promise. As long as Mrs. Hammond lived, she gave no hint of fulfilling it; nevertheless it is probable that it weighed upon her conscience, for she was a fairly honourable woman, although a very stingy one. However that may have been, when the gentle Amy died, in an outburst of regret and generosity Miss Priscilla wrote to Mr. Hammond that she had destined £10,000 to the member of his family who before the age of thirty should have fulfilled a certain condition. This condition was not communicated in the letter, but it was, the writer said, set forth at length in a sealed packet deposited with Miss Priscilla’s solicitor. It may be imagined what an object of interest and curiosity that whimsical lady became to all her young cousins after that! She was made prodigiously much of by them, and seemed to enjoy the pro- cess. It is true that while they were still children her attitude towards them was marked by a certain subtle distrust. She appeared to watch then narrowly, and consistently snubbed any effort at self- assertion. But as they grew up she relaxed towards them visibly, and as they neared thirty she became increasingly suave. So much was this the case, that each in turn began to look upon him, or herself, as the future happy recipient of the magic sum. Peter, the eldest son, was so obviously in the old lady’s good graces, that—slow, honest soul!—he almost married on the expecta- tions which she excited. George, the next eldest, was now on the verge of the fateful age, and Gertrude was but three years off it. To both Miss Priscilla was benignity itself Edith she petted more than anybody, and the only one whom she decidedly disliked was the unlucky Joan! Besides these uncertain chances accruing to them from Miss Priscilla, the Hammond girls, at eighteen, each came into a small legacy of £300, left to them to “do what they liked with.” Ger- trude and Edith had of course long ago received and partly spent their legacies, and, as this story opens, Joan had just touched hers. i. Mrs. MerepITH and her son, the Paynes and Dr. Jeffreys (the family doctor) had been dining with the Hammonds. It was a fresh autumn evening, and the blaze of the first logs upon the hearth was exhilarating. ‘What are you going to do this winter, Payne?” asked Mr. Hammond. “T am off to Munich. JI have an order to write the article ‘ Bavaria’ for Griidener’s new ‘Encyclopedia of European History.’ It is the very kind of work I have been seeking for years,” answered EMONMIELIOOKS (EO)