American citizen. [volume] (Canton, Miss.) 1864-1890, 1873-03-15
VOL. XIII.

and spoke of me as his cousin, or rattle
as his first cousin once removed. there
fore deemed it my duty to search for hi
will to ascertain if he.had expressed in i
any instructions in relation to his funeral
hope that you see nothing OBJECTIONABLE
in thatr'
Mr.. Merdock merely bowed. Heavoid
ed any statement of opinion on the sub
ject.
"The will 1 found contained no in
structions of the kind referred to
Further of its terms need not speak jus
now; especially as the document having
been drawn by you, you are already &C
quainted with its contents"
1.-THE only will of which l know any
thing" said Mr.. Merdock, after minute
deliberation, twas executed by the ties
tator in my presence some ten years ago
The will was engrossed in duplicate,
| course am in the habit of recommend
| ing IN such cases-as q matter of pru
dencc and precaution. One copy is now
in my iron safe. The other the testatol
took into his own keeping. That is,
presume, the document to which you have
been referring"
'.No doubt"
| Let US be quite sure" said Mr.. Mer
deck, still with his air of elaboration. HI
left the room. Presently he returned
The will bore date the 18th of March
1852"
"That is the will in question. 1t was
found in Mr.. Delpratt's desk"
| "You found none of later dates Nc
will or codicilf'
"No, though I made careful search
posal of his property did find, but these
were unsigned-mere notes of an infor-
NAL character. Nothing in the nature of
q will. You know of nonef"
81 know of none"
There was q pause. Mr.. Merdock took
pinch of snuff
"3Ir. Delpratt died rather suddenly
that is to say, he had been suffering, as
all his household well knew, from disease
of the heart of long standing. Still none
looked for his illness Terminating fatally
at SO early date. His medical attendant
visited him frequently of late. He was
not present, however, when the sad event
occurred He is fully satisfied, however,
as to the cause of death. He attributes it
to aneurismal hypertrophy of the heart
l Am not doctor enough to understand
precisely his meaning"
The young man dabbed his white face
with his handkerchief. He was much
moved, and his voice trembled as he con-
tinued:
81 need hardly say that my cousins
death has been q heavy blow to me. As
you know, MIR. Merdock, in times past
there were many differences between US
due to my folly, to my misconduct, am
now prepared fully to admit. But we
had been reconciled. We were on init
mate and affectionate terms. l regarded
him as my benefactOr, and was deeply
grateful for all he had done for me. Most
unfortunately was absent from the house
at the time Of his death.
Mr. MerdOck waa silent hut ha now
seemed, from under his beetling eyebrows,
to view his visitor with new curiosity.
His attention was attracted, perhaps, by
the restlessness that marked the young
mans manner. He moved uneasily IN
his chair, shifting his position constantly,
and twisting his handkerchief into q
string by the unconscious contortiens of
his hands.
81 had left the house early in the morn
ing, to attend the meet at some few miles
distance from Lupton. 1t was late when
l returned. My cousin had then been
dead some hours Coming up to London,
to transact some business that could not
be postponed, resolved to call upon you,
MIR. MerdOck. In the first place, have
to request that you will attend the funer-
al, which is fixed for the 9th, at noon;
and in the next place to beg that you will
act on my behalf, as my legal adviser, in
the new position that devOlves upon me
under the terms of Mr.. Delpratt's will"
II shall attend the funeral, of course"
said the lawyer. 81 have sincere respect
for the memory of my late friend. shall
attend, if you please, in my character as
professional adviser, during many years,
of the deceased"
"a carriage shall meet the early train
from town at Andover-the nearest sta
tfon 20 Lupton Manor"
"Anv business ARRANGEMENTS in rega ri
to your own future position it may be
well, perhaps, to defer until after the
funeral"
GAS you think best. Good morning,
Mr.. Merdock. will only add hope
that you will dismiss any prejudice you
may have formed against me in relation
to my life in the past. do assure you
that am different man. am not now
as you once knew me. Good morning"
They shook hands and parted. Mr.
MerdOck resumed his desk, after careful
ly rubbing his fingers with his silk hand
kerchief. They had left SO cold and
clammy by his visitors grasp.
Apparently Mr.. Merdoek was not in
inclined that day, or he was
preoccupied; his attention was absorbed
by the news of the death of his friend and
client, Eustace We're Delpratt. He found
a difficulty in devoting himself to other
matters. He sat idly in his chair, glanc-
ing now at the tin box, now at the first
column of the Times newspaper, now at
the graveyard outside his window. And
at intervals he studied the card of Mr..
Ernest Delpratt.
Later in the day the lawyers room was
abruptly entered by Mr.. Pixley, the Sec
rotary of the Albatross Insurance Com
pany, of which Institution Mr.. Merdock
had been for many years the solicitor.
81 was passing Merdock, so thought
I'd look in" said Mr.. Pixley, an active,
bustling gentleman, who always declined
a chair, finding that he could talk with
greater ease if permitted an erect posture,
with space for free movement and gestic-
ulation. "We're in for a heavy claim.
The matters not ripe for discussion, but
it's worth mentioning. l don't say that
it's suspicious as yet; but it's odd, and
sooner or later, take it, you'll have to
look into it for US. Yet the parties are
OF great respectability; they always are, I
notice, In cases of an unpleasant COM
piexion. And it's odd, as said. The
lie only dropped four days ago. Yet al
ready it's been thought advisable to notify
the fact to us, and the party most inter
ested has called in person at the office.
Now l consider that rather sharp work
What can be the reason of it? It's a pol
icy of long standing heavy risk.we
divided 1t of course with other Offices,
The sum insured, with accumulated bo-
muses., makes a heavy total. Is it all fair?
That's the question"
"That's the name of the gentleman who
called upon you," said Mr. Merdock, and
he handed the secretary Mr.. Ernest Del
pratt's card.
''The very mani You've seen him