American fiction; Detective and mystery stories, American; Narrative poetry, American
Then in a day or two, one afternoon
Margery Camp and Elenor Murray came
Here to my office with a bundle, which
This Margery Camp was carrying, rather large.
And Margery Camp was bright and keen as winter.
But Elenor Murray seemed a little dull,
Abstracted as of drink, or thought perhaps.
After the greeting and preliminaries,
Margery said to Elenor: "Better tell
What we have come for, get it done and go."
Then Elenor Murray said: "Here are some letters,
I've tied them in this package, and I wish
To put them in a safety box, give you
One key and keep the other, leave with you
A sealed instruction, which, in case I die,
While over-seas, you may break open, read
And follow, if you will." She handed me
A writing signed by her which merely read
What I have told you--here it is--you see:
"When legal proof is furnished I am dead,
Break open the sealed letter which will give
Instruction for you." So I took the trust,
Went with these women to a vault and placed
The letters in the box, gave her a key,
Kept one myself. They left. At dinner time
I joined them, saw more evidence of the will
Of Margery Camp controlling Elenor's.
Which seemed in part an older woman's power
Against a younger woman's, and in part
Something less innocent. We ate and drank,
I took them to their places as before,
And didn't see this Elenor again.
But now last night when I see Margery
She says at once, "My niece is dead;" goes on
To say, no other than herself has care
Or interest in her, was estranged from father,
And mother too, herself the closest heart
In all the world, and therefore she must look
After the memory of the niece, and adds:
"She came to you through me, I picked you out
To do this business." So she went along
With this and that, advancing and retreating
To catch me, bind me. Well, I saw her game,
Sat non-committal, sipping wine, but keeping
The wits she hoped I'd lose, as I could see.
After the dinner we went to her place
And there she said these letters might contain
Something to smudge the memory of her niece,
She wished she had insisted on the plan
Of having one of the keys, the sealed instruction
Made out and left with her; being her aunt,
The closest heart in the world to Elenor Murray,
That would have been the right way. But she said
Her niece was willful and secretive, too,
Not over wise, but now that she was dead
It was her duty to reform the plan,
Do what was best, and take control herself.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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