The Redwood gazette. [volume] (Redwood Falls, Minn.) 1873-1940, 1878-05-23

| u"nuSOu0 Oil paintings gr8CcO C0<
walls. am very fond Of pictures, 30
raising the lamp, 1 walked round the
room slowly inspecting them. On thu
right of the fireplace / came upon 8
picture with its face turned toward thu
wall. l turned the picture. 1t was thu
portrait in oil of young and very
beautiful girl in dark riding-habit
Hearing footsteps outside the door;
restored the picture to the position in
which had found it, and as did 80
saw written at the bottom of the frame
"Magdalen Bramleigh." ee7
The footsteps heard were those OF
the housemaid, who had come to an.
n0unce that Mr.. Bramleigh was ready
to see me. l followed her upstairs,
and was ushered into large comforta.
ble-looking bedroom. A cheerful fire
burned in the CRATE. Facing it was a
large four-post bedstead hung with
white curtains, and at the head of the
bed Mrs. Churton was standing, with a
small table in front of her, on which
were placed an inkstand and some pa
per. She pulled back the curtain and
saw an old man propped up by pill
lows, his face drawn and the eyes very
much sunk. almost feared that he
was too far gone to make will; but
after speaking with him for a little time
| felt satisfied that the intellect was
quite clear.
Turning to Mrs. Churton 1 told her
that she need not wait; I would ring if
wanted anything.
Yes, gO-gO, Hannahr' cried the
sick man; and l fancied that could
detect an eagerness in his voice as if he
desired her absence rather than her
presence. As Mrs. Churton left the
room l caught sight of the reflection Of
her face in the glass over the chimney
piece, but do not think she would
have scowled quite as much had she
known that | was looking. began by
asking Mr.. Bramleigh what were his
wishes with regard to his will. In low
tones he told me that he desired to leave
everything to Hannah Churton, his
hOusekeeper, as reward for her long
and faithful services.
l spoke gravely to the old man, al
though without much hopes of success,
but at last l got him to confess that he
had had no intention of making his
housekeeper his sole heiress until she
had herself preached the subject to
him. She certainly must have had
great power over the old man to in
duce him to agree to such a scheme. I
proposed to Mr.. Bramleigh that he
should leave his property to some one
on whom he could rely, in trust for his
daughter. l also volunteered although
l have an aversion to the trouble and
responsibility of a trusteeship, my
services as trustee for this purpose.
My arguments prevailed. He assented,
and l prepared a will accordingly, the
old man requesting that his medical
man, DR.. Ramsey, should be nominated
as my co-trustee, and that an annuity
of ESQ should be paid to Hannah Chur-
ton for life.
l read the will to him very carefully,
explaining, as did 50, its full effect.
When l had finished, he muttersd
"Quite right-quite right; but l am
afraid Hannah will not be pleased" l
cOunseled him not to mention it to her;
and my advice seemed to satisfy him.
Ringing the bell. I requested Mrs.
ChurtOn to summon James Burn and
Margaret Sims, the two servants who
had witnessed the first will. AS soon
as they were in the room, l gave Mr..
Bran4leigh a pen, and placing the doc
ument before him, l said distinctly, so
that all might hear: ''Ihis which 1
have just read to you is your final will,
and you request James Burn and Mar
garet Sims to witness your execution of
FTP" eft isl do" he solemnly said,
as with feeble fingers he wrote his
name. The two awe-strickcn domes-
tics then added theirs, and think their
hands shook more than the testator's.
Hannah Churton was a silent spectator
of the whole of this; but could not see
her face, as she stood in the back
ground, out of the light of the lamp.
Before allowing any one to leave the
room, I placed the will in a large en-
velop. Fastening it with wax, inn
pressed it with Mr.. Bramleigh's mono
gram and crest by means of seal that
was on the tray of the inkstand. The
old man watched me closely, and when
had finished, he said: keep it'll
it is wanted" thus relieving me of a
great deal of embarrassment, for I did
not like leaving it in the power of Ham
nah Churton, lest she should tamper
with it.
On our way down stairs DR.. Ramsey
told me that his patient was rapidly
sinking, and that he doubted whether
he would live another twenty-four
hours.
Taking him into the dining-room and
shutting the door, told him my sus-
picions of the housekeeper, and that I
felt afraid of leaving Mr.. Bramleigh
alone with her all night. He agreed
with me, and promised to send his as
sistant to watch till the morning, when,
if Mr.. Bramleigh should still be living,
he would on his own responsibility
place a trustworthy nurse in charge.
The housekeeper opened the door to let
US out.
ut is all right, Mrs. Churton," ma
liciously said, as the doctor wished her
goodnight. II am quite satisfied now.
The will will be safe in my keeping.
By-the-by." 1 added, looking her sharply
in the face, chad you not better let
your masters friends know of the dam
ger he is in? DR.. Ramsey says he does
not think he will last much longer.'
She mumbled something in reply,
but could not catch what it was.
stayed talking upon Indifferent sub
jects, to while away the time until the
arrival of DR.. Ramsey's assistant. Mrs.
Churton, however, was, unlike her sex,
remarkably reticent; l could only get
the shortest replies from her. She
seemed very much astonished and rath-
er displeased when DR.. Ramsey returned
with his assistant. He explained to her
that, although there was no chance Of
saving his patients life, yet his last
moments might be alleviated by skilled
attendance; and therefore, as he him.
self could not stay all night, he had
brought his assistant for that purpose.
In ones experience of mankind we
find that it is possible to lie sometimes
too clever. Mrs. Hannah Churton was
very clever, but she committed two
great mistakes. The first was in con.
sulting LAWYER. The will drawn nv