The weekly Ottumwa courier. [volume] (Ottumwa, Iowa) 1857-1872, 1858-09-16

TTUMWA, IOWA,
ness itself, compared with his wife. Her face
was bloodless, her hands tremulous, and her
expression like that Of one ready to faint
Imagine the horror when she saw the produc-
ton Of the will, and then the proof BY the on
ly surviving witness, brought to court from his
residence In neighboring town. The letters
Of administration were revoked, and Mr.. Al
ford, one Of the executors, was appointed Mil
dred's guardian. Completely bafied, dumb
and despairing, Squire Clamp and his bride
leftthe room and drove homeward. A pleasant
topic for conversation they hsd BY the way,
each accusing the other Of duplicity, treaeh-
cry, and folly The will provided that she
should receive an annuity OF one thousand dol
larf dssi~s her vidosohood 90 that the Squire,
by wedding her, had new incumbranes with
out any addition to his rssources Bad bar
gain, decidedly, be thought. She, on the other
hand. had thrown away here dependence, in
the hope Of retaining the control Of the whole
estate; for when she consented to marry
Clamp, she had no doubt that he had posses
sion Of the win and would, Of course. keep It
concealed. Seldom II is that both parties to
transaction are 30 overreached.
The successful party stopped at Mr.. Hard
wick's that evening to exchange cong,atula-
tions. He, a. well as Mildred and Mark. was
interested in the lost will; for Mr.. Klnloch
had mentioned the fact Of the unsettled boun-
tary-line, and directed his executors to make
clear title Of the disputed tract to the black
smith. The shop was his the boys. At all
events, would be undisturbsd. One provision
in the will greatly excited Marks curiosity
The notes which he owed to the estate were to
be cancelled, and there was an unexplained
reference to his uncle Hardwick and to some
occurrences Of long ago. Mildred at once re-
called to mind her fathers dying wordsf-his
calling Tor Mr. Hardwick, and his mention Of
the cabinet. She had often thought Of her
search in its drawers, and Of her finding the
lock Of sunny hair and the dried flower. And
the blacksmith now, when asked, shook his
head mournfully, and said, Gas he had BEFORE
"Sus some time nun-not nowW
CHAPTER XVII.
The Eext day Mr.. Afford came to town and
advised Mark to marry forthwith.
"I've ben thinkin' it over" he said. 'sand I
b'lieve it's the best thing to be done. You've
g't tough customer to deal with. AMI it NAV
b, some trouble to git all the property out OF
his hands. Bal when the heiress is married,
her husband can act f,r her to better advan-
tage, guess I'll speak to Mr.. Rook aud have
he fair 'tended to right away.n
Mark submitted the matter to Mildre,l, who
hlushed properly, land thought it rather hasty.
But Mr.. Affords clear reasoning prevailed,
and the time was appointed at once. Mark
and Mr.. Afford then went to call upon the
lawyer. They entered his office without
knocking, and by chance found him busy with
the accounts and papers; they were scattered
over the table, and he was making computa-
tions. As soon as he was aware Of the pres
ence Of visitors, he made an effort to slide the
documents under some loose sheets Of paper !;
but Mark knew the bold hani at once, and
without word seized the papers and handed
'"em " '''. n.oa :.
s.y p"'e' 'iuare' Know sa.d VT.
' D e o" . ""0 mus
von,t dsnv ,hs h,nd,v,;,;,, .,no.a 90, 49,.
o,e.tio. INV r,vh, ~ the,. ,s,.n
The rage Of Mr.. Clamp may be Imagined.
"Good mOrnin,, Suuare,'' said the triumphant
.xecutor awh.n ,.s,v. ,ooL al ov., ,h.s. =,
f,ir. we,,l trouhI. von and N. -;,d.- th,.
va. =, ,.o.nt an, so, ,,h,, ~. ..h.aoo, /. an.
rorn
tn. .;mn,. rr.n...t;oo. so- -. ~.aa;,v
mar. .oon -. /. ,nd ~. ho,.,, .,..,.h..-..S
s,,n.. had N. nl.,.u,. 40 .;v;n. .w,v ~.
h,;d. nv,.. ;ov,,L ~, %. . ,...r, -
a;,v hoth h,d n....d ~ h-o,., ,,,, u..v .,;.,.
. "a Ma too m.n, ,..o,,...;a.. aua,h. 49,;
d.nt a.c,iu. - N, H.,a-;cL ma. NJ. ..a
and .nnr.h.n.iv.- Rut \. d.vo,,,v ,h,,k.d
Go, :. no c,..n.a hia hr;d. - ~. h,.o,, o.,
~. ..;a. !. ,,.