The Columbian. [volume] (Bloomsburg, Pa.) 1866-1910, 1875-10-08

|
ing sound in my ears. A blow had been
dealt from behind by an unseen hand, and
under the force Of it dropped bleeding and
senseless.
More than week hal elapsed before the
sense of life returned to me- ! was in my
own bed, and Bridget's kindly face was
| bending over me. Pain rackcd my brow.
and was conscious of having suffered in
| tensely. 1t was some time before | wa,
permitted to ask questions, or to receive in
formation as to what had happened. At
length Bridget gratifed my curiosity to an
extent.
She informed me that my patron, Rodney
Gauntlet, had died on the night to which |
have alluded, at three minutes to two is
nearly as Bridget could calculate, she being
then the only person in the house except
| myself Her reason for fixing the hour was,
! that at three minutes to two-thc time at
which the house clock gave "warning"
being startled by strange noise, had gone
! into his room only to find him dead in his
chair While there, sound overhead APP
prised her Of my fall, and at the same
moment st. Paul's struck two. On rushing
up stairs, she had found me on the floor
where had fallen, as she supposed in hur-
rying to the sick mans aid, and with the
back of my head bleeding
] kept my own counsel. | said nothing
| to Bridget; nothing to the Doctor when he
came. In the mean time formed this hlrth-
er resoution-I would say nothing unless my
| impressions received some confirmation
through subsequent events. One such con-
| tirmation they did receive-it was a very
startling one. When Rodney Gauntlett's
will came to be read, it was found that his
fortune exceeded all belief. He had been
money-grubbing and speculating all his life
but no one suspected that he had died worth
three millions of money! His will dis
closed that fact for the first time. When
heard the words tainted. Here was Il cor
roboration Of what | had discovered in my
dream, or whatever it was 50 strong that it
utterly overpOwered me. Unless had read
it in the paper | took from the japanese
cabinet, how could | have thought of that
sum? Such a thing was beyond coinci-
dence, and when | came to myself, | ea-
gerly demanded a sight Of the will. 1t was
handed to me, and one glance dispelled all
my illusions. 1t was not written on the
paper had seen, and it contained no men
ton Of my relationship to the testator. My
name was there, but only for an annuity of
three hundred pounds for life. The bulk of
the vast fortune was left in other ways a
very large slice falling to the share of the
man | detested and had rejected, Hugh
Dimsdale.
Time passed on. | had quilted the old
house. All | have related had become a
thing of memory, Bridget was dead. Hugh
Dimsdale had gone | know not where-to
the Indies had heard but neither knew nor
cared. | was receiving my annuity, and
enjoying Il simple country life, over which
the shadows of the past fell lightly In the
process Of time | had almost persuaded my
self out of the reality of what ! had long
held as the mystery of my life.
One winter evening an adventure occurred
to me.
was returning home from a long walk
Tired and anxious to reach my cottage be-
fore dark, took a short cut through the
field adjoining-a farm. In the field were
several stacks of hay and corn, and as
passed these saw that a group Of person,
evidently from the farm itself, were bending
over some object lying on the ground. My
curiosity was aroused, | quilted the path
and went toward them. As they moveC
aside on my drawing near, | saw that it was
man who was the object of their attention
"A squalid man in the garb of a beggar
lie was ill., haggard starving-yet | coulC
not mistake that face
"IIugh Dimsdalew w | exclaimed aloud.
He shuddered as he lay, then looked ur
feebly, shading his eyes with tremulou
hand With that hand he then beckoned ne
to his side. Too weak 10 speak aloud, il
was only by drawing my ear towards hi
mouth that he could make me understand
what he had to say. 1t took this form:
"Julia Gauntlett-for that is your true
right name-I robbed you of all. l did il
Yes, yes no need to hide it now. | knew
Gauntlett's last will was hidden in that cab
inet-knew it from the first knew its pur
port and stroye to make you mine in conse
quence. Had you consented we should hwy
shared the old mans millions-you and
You rejected mc,aud had recourse to othe
means to get the later will destroyed, ;
that might benefit by former one undo
which was entitled. | was in the hous
when he died, his life shortened by m
l. means. | a ,sed from his room to yours whe
| | made sure of the old will which gave IL
so mnch. | came upon you as you read Il
will, in which he had acknowledged you
his child, and left you all, 1t WAS | VIII
struck you down and secured that pape
= | swear to you that this is the truth.
i But tell me-" | cried, what do yC
know of my fathers motive in discwning II
%, my mother"
Y Nothing"
!. "And this other will?'
d "Destroyed Consumed in the flame
II The fortune can never be yours"
:, They were his last words, spoken with !
stihcnng lips and they were true. Wit
?, out the will it was impossible for me to g,
G one penny more Of my fathers princely IL
r tune than now enjoy The wealth he h
IA designed as Il recompense for the wrong
l. had done me--lIcavcn alone knows VIII
had flowed into other channels, and cot
m never be recovered, ! had held the right
it for three minutes only, from the NONE
" of his death-that in which he had appear
ID to me-until the villains hand snatched
? away. Only for three min out o
,e whole lifetime but during that space
e2 income exceeded that Of any potentate
m | the world, 1t was at the rate of milliO