considerably shocked god mess me when did this happen three weeks ago was the reply he died of of this occurred i should state ui yes he was very attended throughout his sufferings which were protracted and severe by the � � the life policy dr a highly respectable and skilled as you doubtless sir are aware i could not comprehend the man this dry business sort of was not the language of a parent and one too who had lost a considerable by his son s death what could it mean i was in truth fairly puzzled after a considerable interval of silence which mr whose eyes continued to wander in every direction except that of mine showed no inclination to break i said � it will be necessary for me to write immediately to your cousin mr i trust for your sake the wiu be continued but of course till i hear from him the must be suspended certainly certainly i naturally expected that would be the case said still in the same quick hurried tone quite so you have nothing to say i suppose i remarked after another dead pause during which it was very apparent that he was laboring with something to which he nervously hesitated to give utterance no � yes � that is i wished to consult you upon a matter of connected with � with a life assurance office a life assurance office yes the man s pale face flushed crimson and his speech became more and more hurried as he went on yes fearing mr sharp that should die we might be left without resource i resolved after mature deliberation to effect an on his life for four thousand pounds four thousand pounds yes all necessary were gone through the the life policy medical gentleman � since dead of the by the way � examined the boy of course and the was effected for four thousand pounds at his death i did not speak a suspicion too horrible to be hinted at held me dumb unfortunately continued this was only effected about a � before poor s death and the refuses payment although as i have told you the lad was attended to the very hour of his death by dr a highly respectable most gentleman very much indeed i quite agree in that i answered after a while dr is a highly respectable and eminent man what reason i added do the company for non payment the very recent completion of the policy nonsense how can that fact standing affect your claim p i do not know replied and all this time i had not been able to look fairly in his face but they do refuse and i am anxious that your firm should take the matter in hand and sue them for the amount i must first see dr i answered and convince myself that there is no legitimate reason for the policy certainly certainly he replied i will write to you to morrow i said to the conference after i have seen dr and state whether we will or not take proceedings against the company on your behalf he thanked me and hurried off dr confirmed mr in every par j t he had attended the boy a fine light haired lad of eleven or twelve years of age from not long after his till his death he suffered dreadfully and died of and of nothing else of which same disease a servant and a female in the same house had died just previously it is of course dr remarked in conclusion as unfortunate for the company as it is strangely lucky for but there is no reason for payment upon this representation we wrote the next day to the assurance people threatening proceedings on behalf of mr early on the morrow one of the managing called on us to state the reasons which induced the company to hesitate at the claim in addition to the doubts suggested by the brief time which had elapsed from the date of the policy to the death of the child there were several other slight circumstances of suspicion the chief of these was that a neighbor had declared he heard the indulging in mirth in a room adjoining that in which the corpse lay only about two hours after his son had expired this scandalous of her husband the wife appeared to faintly against the had consequently resolved non dr s declaration who might they argued have been deceived to have the body in order to a post examination as to the true cause of death k the parents voluntarily agreed to this course a application to enforce it would be unnecessary and all doubts on the matter could be quietly set at rest i thought the proposal under the circumstances reasonable and called on mr and mrs to obtain their mrs was i found absent in the but her husband was at home and he on hearing the proposal was i thought a good deal startled � shocked rather � a natural emotion perhaps who he said after a few moments silent reflection � who is to conduct this inquiry dr will be present with mr the surgeon and dr the newly appointed physician to the assurance office in place of dr who died as you are aware a short time since of true ah well then he answered almost with alacrity be it as they wish dr will see fair play the examination was e� and the result was a beyond doubt or that death as dr had declared had been solely occasioned by the assurance company still hesitated but as this conduct could now only be looked upon as perverse obstinacy we served them with a writ at once they gave in and the money was handed over to mr whose joy at his sudden riches did not i was forced to admit appear to be in the 