, 1876-09-15

1T Is. indeed. very strange" replied
the young lady. They have never
spoken 10 each other for years. Ny
father could never bear to hear the
name of his brother Oliver mentioned,
and when when he did speak Of him,
which l have before said was seldom,
he always spoke of him as a bad-bearted
man
"And yet you say the signature to the
will was in your fathers handwriting ?"
"Yes, sir, 1 am perfectly satisfied of
it; so much so, that when some of my
friends advised me to contest the val
idity of the will, being firmly convinced
that my father really did sign it, Irefused
most positively. 1 care nothing about
my fathers wealth, and it is not to re-
gain this that ask your assistance, sir;
my simple wish is to obtain Mr.. Henry
Warnings release"
Has the will been proved?" 1 asked.
" Oh, yes.' she replied, ." my uncle
has taken full possession"
"And what have You been doing
since?" I asked more out of curiosity
than any thing else.
Il have obtained some music pupils,
and am doing very we'll, as 1 before
said have no concern about myself"
Have you any letter or document
with your fathers signature attached to
it?"
Il have a number at home" she re-
piled; by-the-bye, 1 think 1 have
letter of his with me now, written to
me some six years ago, when he was in
Albany"
So saying she took from her riticule
the letter in question and handed it to
me.
"Will you allow me to retain posses
sion of this ?" 1 asked.
Certainly" she replied; " but can
assure you that if you suppose the will
to be forgery you are mistaken. The
will is undoubtedly genuine"
".Well, my dear young lady," re-
turned, d" do not doubt your word, but
you may be mistaken. At all events 1
should like to Judge for myself"
1 then bade her good morning, and
expressed a wish to see her again that
day week. When she had gone, 1 i'm
mediately put on my hat and coat, and
directed my steps to the recorders Of
fee, for the purpose of examining the
will Aided by the index 1 found it
readily, and commenced to read every
word of it.
At last I came to the signature. 1
took from my pocket the letter Miss
Milford had given me, for the purpose
of comparing the signatures. There
could be no doubt whatever but the sig
nature was genuine; the letters were
found exactly the same, and were evil
IDENTIFY writted by the same hand. Still
there was a marked difference between
the two. That attached to the letter
was bold and firm, while that attached
to the will was weak and tremulous.
The will was witnessed by John Dorsey.
The fact of the difference in the sig
natures Immediately aroused my sus-
picions. A persons signature rarely
differs except when the mind is infiu-
enced. But then again reflected that
time might impair persons writing,
and compared the date of the will
with that Of the letter. What was my
astonishment to find that they were
both dated on the same day, namely,
January 1, 1910. I next held up the
document to the light, for the purpose
of seeing if there was a watermark on
the paper. 1 found such was the case,
and the Continental Mills, 1843, :"
could be made out most distinctly.
Here was a will purporting to have
been signed in New York on the first
day of January, 1910, by man who
was in Albany on that day, and on
paper that was made three years after
ward. And yet there could be no dis
putting the fact that the signature was
a genuine one. The whole truth in q
moment flashed across my mind, and 1
Immediately set about unravelling the
web. went to work with q good
heart, nor had 1 but little doubt of sue
cess.
My first proceeding was to make in
quiries as to the exact date Of Mr.. Mil
ford's disappearance. I discovered that
it was on the tenth day of January, and
that Oliver Milford had come to take
possession Of the property on the
twenty-frst. 1 also made inquiries as
to the past life Of the heir of the prop
erty, and found that in Boston, from
which city he came, he bore very dis
reputable character, and no one would
trust or believe him. 1 then returned
to L., and putting up at a country
tavern, I called the landlord one side.
"Mr. Adams" said I, do you know
any one Of the name of Dorsey living in
this neighborhood?"
" Yes, sir; there's Mr.. John Dorsey
who lives over the river"
"What kind of a man is he ?" I
asked.
"He's very tall, strong man." he
replied.
!" 1 mean, what kind of character
does he baarP"
"Well, can't say much in his favor,
so would rather not say anything.
" 1 suppose he is not very much liked