Fayetteville observer. [volume] (Fayetteville, Tenn.) 1850-1966, 1876-10-12
At the Right Time.
A Lawyers Story.

Vi WHICH, Was iedQlIy dFdlldOl0
At first it was supposed tha
the old man-be was eighty-sev.
en-had died without having
made a will, as he had oftei
been heard to remark that thu
making a will seemed like /;
preparation for death, and as
there could be no question about
the inheritance Of his property
he did not choose to make any
such, to him, ghostly testament
His direct and only Legitimate
heirs were two orphans, both
girls = children of his only
daughter. One of them was a
cripple, requiring almost the
undivided care and attention
of the other, and both were be-
loved by all who knew them. &.
While people were feeling
glad that the orphan sisters
were to be thus grandly provi-
ded for, a man named James
Arnold presented a will for pro-
bate, said to be the last will and
testament of Jacob Ames, made
several years before. This Ar
mold was nephew-in-law of old
Jacob, the child of his wife's sis
Ter, and for several years been
employed as business agent of
the deceased; and when he
caused the will to be presented,
he produced q number of wit
nesses who declared that they
mad heard old Ames say that he
had made the only will he should
ever make, and that James Ar
mold was his heir and, what
seemed to make the matter sure,
two witnesses to the will, form
er servants of the testator,
swore point-blank to having
seen Ames place his signature
to the document, after which
they signed their own names.
Honest people shook their heads
at this, for these two witnesses
"A man and his Wife-Were not
above suspicion. In fact, it was
generally believed that a small
sum of ready money would buy
them, body and soul.
l entered the court late in the
afternoon of the third day, just
as the last witness was about to
leave the stand; and this was
Thomas Cloudman, the servant
just alluded to. He had been
questioned by juryman, and
had made a plain statement.
Everything was against the
poor deserving orphans, and all
in favor of the despised neph-
ew. In fact, no honest man,
under the evidence, could have
brought in a verdict against
Arnold's claim.
The juryman who had ques-
toned this witness sat at the
end of the box; by him, among
the spectators, stood old Har-
vey Goodrich, who was at that
time engaged in the paper mill
of Day q Lyon, at Portland.
/ had known him years before.
The juror held the will in his
hand, open; and Goodrich cast
his eyes upon it. | saw the old
paper maker start and tremble.
"Let me look at that!" Iheard
him whisper, for l stood close
by.
The juror, without consider
ing, handed him the document;
and before the counsel could in
terpose and regain it, Goodrich
had seen all he desired, and his
first movement, after relinquish-
ing the will, was to hasten to
The side of the orphans attor-
ney, and whisper, hurriedly and
excitedly, in his ear. l saw the
attorney, whose name was Ship
man, bend his hear attentively,
and then start to his feet. What
was it? In those few brief mo-
ments the whole audience had
caught the fever of excitement,
for it was clearly evident that
something of importance was
on the tapis.
'.May it please your Honor" +"
said Shipman, very quietIy-so
calmly and quietly that we
feared it could be nothing of
importance at all,-"I must ask
the indulgence of'the court. |
wish to present new and impor-
tant testimony"
There was a slight war of
words between the opposing
counsel, after which by per-
mission of the court, the old
paper-maker took the stand.