AUNT JIMMY'S WILL [Illustration] [Illustration: "_'Hem!' The lawyer cleared his throat._" (See p. 52.)] AUNT JIMMY'S WILL BY MABEL OSGOOD WRIGHT AUTHOR OF "BIRDCRAFT," "WABENO THE MAGICIAN," ETC., ETC. _ILLUSTRATED BY FLORENCE SCOVELL SHINN_ New York THE MACMILLAN COMPANY LONDON: MACMILLAN & CO., LTD. 1903 _All rights reserved_ COPYRIGHT, 1903, BY THE MACMILLAN COMPANY. Set up, electrotyped, and published October, 1903. Norwood Press J. S. Cushing & Co.--Berwick & Smith Co. Norwood, Mass., U.S.A. [Decoration] To my God-child MARY ELIZABETH MILLER [Decoration] "_Aim at the highest, and never mind the money._" --L. M. ALCOTT. [Decoration] CONTENTS CHAPTER PAGE I. RED PINEYS 1 II. HER UNCLE JOHN 23 III. AUNT JIMMY 38 IV. A CAGED BIRD 58 V. MRS. LANE PLAYS DETECTIVE 77 VI. BIRD'S COUSINS 103 VII. SUMMER IN NEW YORK 131 VIII. THE FLOWER MISSIONARY 146 IX. 'RAM SLOCUM'S TAUNT 162 X. LAMMY CONSULTS OLD LUCKY 181 XI. THE PEWTER TEA-POT 202 XII. THE TUG OF WAR 217 XIII. TELLTALE TROUSERS 225 XIV. THE FIRE-ESCAPE 242 XV. THE BIRD IS FREED 258 ILLUSTRATIONS "'Hem!' The lawyer cleared his throat" (p. 52) _Frontispiece_ PAGE "Bird crouched in a black heap" 8 Bird, Lammy, and Twinkle 13 "'Buy something to-day? Nice goots ver' cheap'" 99 Bird and Billy on the fire-escape 137 "'They ain't fer me, fer sure?'" 158 "'It means, Lammy Lane, that the Lord don't forget the orphan'" 230 "Bird was found at last" 267 Aunt Jimmy's Will I RED PINEYS Bird O'More crouched in a little black heap in the corner of the sofa that stood between the closed windows in the farmhouse sitting room. Her eyes, that looked straight before her, yet without seeing anything, were quite dry; but her feverish cheeks, that she pressed against the cool haircloth, and the twisting of her fingers in the folds of her gown, told of grief, as well as her black frock and the closed blinds. Outside the house, in the road, half a dozen country teams were hitched to the rickety fence, while their owners roamed about the yard, talking in low voices, and occasionally wondering aloud "when the women folks would be ready to go home."