Saint Mary's beacon. [volume] (Leonard Town, Md.) 1867-1983, 1874-10-08

from out the spacious CRATE. au.s in front
of its seeming genial wasmth there stood
an apple, high. backed easy chair, in which
sitting bolt upright. could be seen the
form Of an old man. whose gaze was fxed
apparently upon the fitting fame. As il
be were in deep meditation.
The aged man bad sat before that crate,
tat evening. a thousand times before. in
this came chair. and in the fixed attitude
Of contemplation or suIky reiicence: aud
! the ancient attendant he employed as q
tman Of al work had seen bis. crusty old
! master there. the last thing before be re-
plenished the Ere ut night, for years and
years.
1t was part Of his ill-psid old servant.
understood duty, that on these occasion.
be did not disturb the revcries of bis iratc
employer. and so he did not discover tha,
Miles Graspell was dead!
| The flames Of the fresh fuel rose slow.
ly and burned low. The fire settled down
and heap of smouldering ashes only re-
mained.
Philip mounted to his cherries attic, and
slept souDdly. as was his wont, ill neg,
morning, while Miles Grsspell remained
before the crate. cold and stark. sleep
ing the sleep that knows no waking in
this life.
Upon the small table which stood at the
right of his chair there lay sheet of Ia
! per, on which was written. in the pecu-
liar but well-known hand Of the rich old
guardian Of Clara Eilwell. the commence.
ment of the usual declaration Of a will,
which had evidently been undertaken by
the old man at previous date. and which
he had that evening either been coutem-
plating or making additions to, the last
paragraph Of which ran thus:
Il further give and bcqleath unto Cla-
ra E!,weli. my wcll-csieemcd ward and
adopted daughter. only child of my sis
ter Clara. the sum Of twenty. Eve thous-
and dollars. in cash, as a wedding gift.
whenever said Clara decides to MARRY
And these were the concluding words
Oft the instrument. which had plainly been
prepared. SD far, with care and forcthought
by the hand Of the man who had been
stricken by death in the very midst of
his intrntions-wha hatevcr they were-who
now sat in his old chair, an unconscious
victim of paralysis!
Philip rose ut his customary early hour
in the morning. and repaired to tho an
ciens sitting room to put things in order
there; when, to his surprise. he suddenly
discovered that his wiry old master had
forgottcn to go to bed the nigh, previous
ly. iuasmuch as he had left him. with
cIaspcd hands. and elbows resting on the
chair arms. still gazing earnestly and
6xcdly into the now cold aud blackened
CRATE.
| Philip knew what the consequence
would be-or thought he kncw-shouli
he disturb his employers cogi,a,ions. -
lie was indiffercntly paid to perform GER
tain menial duties, aud be was forbidden
to ask questions.
1t was not little strange that the old
gentleman should have remained up all
night; but perhaps he hadn't. though.
Philip. He might have just come down
stairs. and was sulkily waiting for the FIRE
to be rekiud!ed.
Philips cyesight was none Of the best
anyway. So he hustled about. clearing
the ashes. removed the fender, when he
looked a, Miles. and he suddenly felt tha.
something was wrong there.
The servant placed his hand, for the
FIRST time in his life. upon the blanched
cold head Of his master, and exclaimed =,
Dead"
And ten minutes afterwards the rigid
corpse was surrounded by ths alar med
house. foremost among whona came the
beautiful Clara. in whose profound grief
aud corious lamentations there was no
disguise.
But all was over with Miles Graspal,
He occupied the old easy chair for the
last time, aud he had written the las,
words he would ever write in this world
was most unexpectedly summoned to
my pa,rOus house on that fatal morning,
and the first thing that arrested my attea.
tion on entering the room-where all re.
maincd yet undis,ur bed-was the docu-
ment that lay on the table beside the dead
man. whose hand. writing I was familiar
with.
Alter consulting with the young lad y
briefly. physicians were called in; but i,
was appareu, tina, the deceased had died
Of paralysis. aud the mournful cercmonic:
of his funeral succeeded the events narrated
Within for,nigb: the unfinished will,
which l took charge Of. was examined
and was subse e9ucn,'y offered for probate
The bcquests contained in this docu.
ment were unquestionahle. written in the
proper handwriting Of the deceased. and
embraced the disposal of most Of his es-
tate. in form. though the signature wa:
wanting TO the paper.
But Miles had no direct heirs. and
there were none to coatcst the will. The
clause which gave to Clara Ellwell TWEEN
ty-fve Thousand doliars-whenevcr she
decides 10 marry-was no doubt intended
to have been completed by Miles with The
name Of the man her guardian had fol
years insisted she should wed.
I But this name wss not there; and il
accordance with the written letter Of the
will. Miss Clara did decide to marry
within the next six months, and duly
received her twenty Eve thousand dollars
upon becoming. as she did the following
winter. the happy wife Of Henry Calder
accountant.
: who is that foreign lady With the low