The St. Cloud journal. [volume] (St. Cloud, Minn.) 1866-1876, 1871-09-07

tween him and me, exaggcratiDg every
little indiscretiou, and turning his love
tor me into coldness-as she has done
latel ly-all to steal march upon me,
and cut me out Of my inheritance. I,
the only son, to be disinherited for such
worthless fool as that! BY Jove,
gentlemen, it is maddening! Listen to
the pretty little codicil I 6nd," he con-
tinued, in tone Of bitter banter, strik-
ing his iore6nger against the parch-
ment: "I hereby revoke all former
wills and tes5aments whatsoever OF
whensoever made by me, and leave to
my dear daughter, Magdalen, the sole
use and benefit Of all that I may die
possessed Of, whether in lands or money.
l also leave her my sole executrix.
Signed, Andrew Trevelyan. Witnesses,
Paul Letevre aud Nary ANIME Taylor
And you are in this, too, si1 !" he said
turning savagely to Paul. "By heaven
there seems to be pretty plot hatch
ed here -
II saw Mr.. Trevelyan sign that pa
per, aud and Mary Anne Taylor wit
messed it; but I did not know what i
was signcl," answered Paul, hesita
tingly.
Andrew bent his bloodshot eyes tu]
upon him and from him to Magdalen
and back again. He looked at th
writing OF the codicil attentivcly-
profound silence in the room.-an
again he looked at them.
"Where is this Mary Anne Taylor i?
he asked, in hoarse whisper.
"You know that she is dead she wa
our nurse" said Magdalen, in = lo1
voice.
II sec it ala plct, gentlemen!
plot! he shrieked. "But as I live, i
shall not go uupunished! I see it al
now, and you and the whole world shal
see it too. That writing is not like N,
father's-my sisters lover one Of th'
witnesses, aud her nurse, convenient.
dead since, the other. am no child
to be taken in by anything so clums,
and self-evident as this - He fuue
the paper on tho floor, and trampled j
once or twice beneath his heel. {"
shall not stay for the mockery of tbi
funeral" he said 81 have no buslnes
here. My curse upon you all In,
deadly, blightiag curse, and my reveDg
to come That is my share in the fu
neral Tomorrow"
"Andrew Andrew do not go: d.
not dishonor poor papa so shamefully =
exclaimed Magda]en, cl,nging to him
''rhink OF what you owo him Andrew
reflect"
"Owe him 2" cried Andrew. "Wha
l owe you; and what I will pay you.
He dashed her from hin with an oath
then, repeating his curse, he flung him
self from the room, and so from tn
house leaving the pale corpse stiffen
Ing in the chamber above, without I
I thought, prayer, or sigh for What hat
| loved him so we'll.
| CHAPTER III.
The excitement and disappointment
of the last few days, added to the era
ziness of a constitution broken by disi
patton, struck Andrew with terrible
fit Of delirium tremens, from which i
was thought he would never recover
He could not, therefore, make any op
position; and Magdalen proved th'
will, and took possession of the propert!
uodisturbed, wondering why he neve
answered her letters nor acknowledge:
the remittances she sent him. In hel
own mind she determined that heI
brother should share equally with her
so'f in her inheritance; only she wouli
not bind herself to this by any writer
deed or agreement, as she wished to re
serve the right of distribution accord
ing to her own judgment and the cir
cunstances Of his family. She wa
uneasy at his silence, however, ant
more than once spoke of going hersel
to London, to see what was the matter
But Paul, who had a horror Of scenes
aud who dreaded anything like con
test infinitely more than he mated op
preston and wrong, persuaded her t
remain quiet; telling her that if there
was i'll in store for her, it would come
soon enough. without her meeting il
halfway, aud that silence was tho bes'
thing that could happen between them
And, as Magdalen felt be was right
she remained in the country: calme1
and happier as the sharpness Of her sor
row wore away by time.
IA letter, miss p said the servant
one day, bringing in coarse-lookine
epistle sealed with a wafer and marked
with sprawling blot Of ink. 1t was
wet, too, with rain, and had been suf
Cered to fall into the mud. Magdalen
took it carclessly, thinking it was 4
circular or a begging-letter ; not At f1s'
recognizing the writing. But she
soon changed when she opened it and
read the name at the end. 1t was writ
ten by Andrew, in trembling, stras-
Cling hand, as if he had indeed been
very i'll but written with all the force
aud bitterness Of his natare-as il
death lad never been near enough K
teach him gentleness or reformation.-
It bepan hv acnsino her broa,}lv n