The weekly Panola star. [volume] (Panola, Miss.) 1857-1881, 1872-05-11
THE HIDDEN WILL.

y
A stealthy figure was skulking
beneath the gloomy walls Of the old
fashioned farm house that had been
the home of the Linwoods for gem
erations past. The figure had glided
from a thick wood not far from the
rear Of the building, aud when il
had reached the very walls it would
have required the eye of a cat to dis
tinguish the human being from the
patches Of vines that were clinging
to the quaint old mansion.
Z" All well, so far" muttered the
prowler. " Must be midnight. Not
light--not sound--not a breath.
Al asleep these two hours, no doubt.
Well, give me twenty minutes more,
and | am master of this rich estate
---pnless my cruel>hearted old father
adopted a new hiding place for bis
valuables before his death. That
he did not do, I'll venture, for he
never knew that I discovered the
old one---the snug little hole-in-thc
wall. les, aud, a hundred to one,
there is where the missing will is--
the will which, once discovered by
other than myself, would force me
to remain the vagrant 1 have been
But let me once get my clutches on
it, and out OH the cold world YOU 20,
a beggar, my proud pretty cousin,
with that very atfectionate husband
who has, no doubt, married you on
account of your prospects, Z
1t was Tracy Linwood who, at
dead Of night, was stealing up into
the shadow of his youths home.
He had proved perverse boy and
a bad young man, apd so vicious and
utterly abandoned had he become,
before reaching the age of twenty
five, that his father had expelled him
from the paternal root forever. In-
deed, the good people of the neigh
borhood had lost all patience with
him, so reckless had been his be-
havior, and warned him to leave; so
he had disappeared-had been heard
of in South America, in California,
in China, and finally lost sight of al
together. Several years had passed,
and it was supposed he was dead, |
but eghad recently made his ap, |
pearance again, and was living at the |
village hotel. |
But old Mr.. Linwood was dead
now. He had died only few
weeks before the re.urn of the way
ward son. He had died very sud-
fact, had been thrown |
from his horse, one evening, on his |
way home from the village, aud 80 !
badly hurt that he never spoke
again. Two years before the sad
accident, however, he. had adopted
a pretty niece, Ella Linwood, and |
promised to make her his sole heir. |
She had since married worthy
young man, named John Duncan,
and tie pair lived happily at the old !
farm house with their adopted !
father. The property was situated
in the heart OF ore Of the newly-dis-
covered oil regions, and was now
worth a mint Of money. !
Mr.. Linwood had made will, |
and had told Ella all abontit and it !
secured to her the bulk of bis large |
fortune. II was signed, witnessed |
and sealed, but since. the old mans
death it could not be found. Search |
and inquiry wasmade everywhere,
but neither the will nor a large sum
Of money, that the testator had beel,
known to possess, could be found. /
He had placed them somewhere for
safekeeping, but his death had been |
SO sudden and unexpected that he |
had divulged the secret to no one. |
Such were the facts known to the
community, and such were the facts
known to Tracy Lihwood |
The latter had claimed the prop
erty as the direct heir, and sought |
to dispossess Ella and her husband
by legal measures; but . delay of
two or three months had been grant
ed them, OH their asserting that euch
. will was in existence, to give them
time to produce it. Meantime they
possession. Thus matters
stood on the night with found |
Tracy Linwood stealing up to the
Did mansion, under cover Of the
larkpess, certainly with no good in,
tent. kH y u II
/" The kcy---ah right" he NUT
cred, while he applied the key toll
he rear door. Fits like n charm.