h of her or not, ain't worth while debatin' now.
Anyhow, she stuck to it until the last one had cashed in, puttin' Durgin
off from month to month and year to year. Then it turns out that the last
of the bunch, Uncle Theodore, had left her a good-sized wad that
Purdy-Pell had always supposed was comin' to him, but which he didn't
grudge to Cornelia a bit.

So there she was, all the lingerin' ones off her hands, and her sportin'
a bank account of her own. She's some tired out, though; so, after
sendin' Durgin word that they might as well wait until fall now, she
hikes off to some little place in New Hampshire and spends the summer
restin' up. Next she comes down unexpected and hits New York.

In the meantime, though, Durgin has suddenly decided to scratch his entry
for that partic'lar Matrimonial Handicap. Not that he's seriously
int'rested in somebody else, but he's kind of got weary hangin' around,
and he's seen a few livelier ones than Cornelia, and he feels that
somehow him and her have made a great mistake. You know how they're apt
to talk when they get chilly below the ankles? He don't hand this
straight out to Cornelia, mind you, but goes to Mrs. Purdy-Pell and Sadie
with the tale, wantin' to know what he'd better do.

Now I ain't got any grouch against Durgin. He's all right, I expect, in
his way, more or less of a stiff necked, mealy mouthed chump, I always
thought; but they say he's nice to his old mother, and he's makin' good
in the law business, and he ain't bad to look at. The women folks takes
his side right off. They say they don't blame him a bit, and, without
stoppin' to think how Cousin Cornelia is going to feel left alone there
on the siding, they get busy pickin' out new candidates for Durgin to
choose from.

Well, that's the situation when I'm handed this assignment to go and
inspect the head of the Purdy-Pells' obituary department and see if she's
all comfy. Couldn't have weighed very heavy on my mind; for I don't think
of it until late afternoon, just as I'm startin' to pull out for home.
Then I says to myself that maybe it'll do just as well if I ring her up
on the 'phone at her hotel. She's in, all right, and I explains over the
wire how anxious I am to know if she's all right, and hopes nobody has
tried to kidnap her yet, and asks if there's anything I can do.

"Why, how kind of you, Mr. McCabe!" says Cornelia. "Yes, I am perfectly
well and quite safe here."

"Good!" says I. And then, seein