St. Cloud Democrat. [volume] (Saint Cloud, Stearns County, Minn.) 1858-1866, 1860-09-13

ZION OF CRIME, OF WMch l am sure ne is as
innocent as I am.
"it does, indeed, seem perfectly prepostereus
that he should have committed the deed. There
appears to be no possible motive for It,"
'Ah, sir, if you only knew his heart as we'll
as do, you would be convinced that it is ut
terly impossible that he could have committed
the fearful deed. My father loved him, and
imposed no obstacle to our marriage"
I reflected q few minutes on this strange
case for, to tell the truth, at first glance did
not know what to make of it: The whole affair
appeared to be involved in mystery. Of course
I did not for moment suppose that Leonard
Appleby was really guilty of Mr.: Melvin's
death. The utter absence of motive, and the
to gain by the death Of the father Of his be-
trothed, satisfied me that he could not be the
guilty party. Then the thought naturally arose
in my mind, if Leonard was innocent, who was
guilty? Here again could come to no salts
factory conclusion. 1t is true, my suspicious
pointed to MIR. Richard Melvin but there was
nothing could gather from Miss Melvin's mar
rative which served to confirm single one of
them. AS has been seen, she did not even de-
ny the authenticity Of the signature of the will
''Has the will been proved, Miss Melvin?'
asked at last.
"Oh, yes," she replied; 'uncle took possess
sion Of the property some weeks ago."
"And what have you been doing since?" I
asked, more out Of curiosity than anything
else.
81 have obtained some music pupils, and 1
am doing very we'll; as before said, I have
no concern for myself. I wish you to prove
that Mr.. Leonard Applebyis innocent.
''Have you letter or any document with
your fathers signature attached to t?''
81 have a number at home,'' she replied !;
''bythe-bye, think have a letter Of his with
me now, written to me some six years ago,
when he was in Washington -c=
So saying, she took: from her reticulc the
letter in question, and handed it to me:
win you allow me to retain possession Of
this?' said. ::.'~ o..
"Certainly,'' she replied; ''but:I can assure
you again that if you suppose the will to be q
forgery, you are mistaken. The will is un-
doubtedly genuine" ~,'
'Well, my dear young lady," replied, II
do not doubt your WORD, but you may be mis-
taken; at all events, l should like to judge for
myself"
Making few inquiries AZ to the exact posi-
ton Of her fathers house, and as. to the means
Of reaching it, I bade her good morning, ex-
pressing q desire to see her again that day
week.
When she had gone, I Immediately put on
my hat and coat, and directed my steps to the
recorders Office, for the purpose Of examining
the will. Aided by the index soon found it,
and commenced to read every word Of it. "
TWAS by no means long document, but
went on to state that he, Reuben Melvin, be-
ing Of sane mind, did thereby bequeath unto
his beloved brother, Richard Melvin, all his
personal and real estate, &C., &c. The docu-
ment appeared to be drawn up in perfect legal
form, and the most captious special pleaucr
could take no exception to it whatever. At
last came to the signature. took from my
pocket the letter Miss Melvin had given me for
the purpose Of comparing the Signatures
There could be no doubt whatever but the sig
nature was genuine; the letters were formed
exactly the same, and were evidently written
by the same hand. Still there was marked
difference between them. That attached tc
the letter was bold and firm while that attach.
ed to the will sras aceak and hcmulous.
This fact Immediately aroused my suspicious
"a persons signature rarely differs, except
| when the mind is influenced; but then again
l reflected that time might impair persons
writing, and compared the date Of the will
with that Of the letter. What was my aston.
ishment to find that they were both dated OF
the same day, namely, January 1st, 1910.
next held up the document to the light, for the
purpose OF seeing if there was watcrmark or
| the paper. found such was the case, and thu
| words s'Connecticut Mills, l843," could bt
made ont most distinctly.
Here then was will, purporting to hav,
been signed in New York, on the 1st of Janu
ary, 1910, by man who was in Washington
on that very day, and on paper that was mad,
three years afterwards. And yet there coult
be no disputing the fact that the signature wal
a genuine one. The whole truth in a momen
flashed across my mind, and Immediately Sc
about unraveling the web. l went to worl
with good heart, for had but little doubt o
success.
My first proceeding was to make inquire
as to the exact date Of Mr.. Melvin's disappear
ance. discovered that it was on the Sd o
June, ana that Richard Melvin had come t.
take possession of the property on the 10Th
l also made inquiries as to the past life of tn
! heir to the property, and found that in Boston
from which town;he came, he-bore a very dis
reputable character, and that no one woul,
trust or believe him. h...
My next proceeding was to visit Oak Lea
Manor, the estate in question. My purpos
was to have an interview with the proprietor
so that might observe him we'll, and perhap
gain a few points by my scrutiny. soo1
reached the dwelling, and ringing boldly at tn
bell, demanded an interview with Mr.. Richar
|
ted into his presence. I found him to be
gentlemanly man enough, but with rather
forbidding cast of features. noticed tw
things in particular about him; one was, tha
he had a club-foot, and had a restless manner
l made some plausible excuse for my visit
think 1t was that had heard he wanted to eel
his property, and would like to purchase it
, such was the case. He replied to me politely
stating, of course, that the report was false
and bade him good morning. ,.
When left the house, l determined to yisi
the stable, for reason the reader will discov
er, by and-by. I found two very fine horses
and the ostler, q good-humoredz Irishman
there.5y 2.AJ q 1c> #"r Il t#@G i lGdt
e"Fine Aorses.:: these said !, 7ss entere
the door. 2-y,:~t ,,+..; s.-f+-o,y e{4 |
''sure, an you may well say that replie
the ostler, proud of my notice: