The New Bloomfield, Pa. times. (New Bloomfield, Pa.) 1877-188?, 1880-04-27


should not urge you but these are not
ordinary circumstances. You have no
home here but on sufferance, and so the
sooner you come to mine, the better"
(" Well, we will talk about that to-
morrow, when we have had little time
to think"
bade her good night, for In truth /
wanted q little time TO think. That Mr..
Russell had really made another will to-
tally altering the disposal Of his proper
ty, could not believe; his whole con-
duct and conversation forbade It, and
yet how else explain the will as read
that afternoonp To be sure he might
have done so, without saying anything
to me about It: but / could not bring
myself 10 think so.
When 1 retired to rest, / fell asleep no
nearer a solution. The last thing / re-
membered was, that 1 was determined
to go to Kinton the first thing In the
morning and consult Mr.. Sparks, legal
friend of mine. This resolution / duly
carried into effect, and luckily found
him at his Office and disengaged. After
the usual greeting and little ordinary
conversation, / opened the subject up
permost In my mind and that he might
clearly understand 1t, gave a detailed
account of my connection with the Rus
sci family. recounted the old mans
affection for his niece, and the conf
dence he reposed In me and then mar
rated the incidents of the interview in
which Mr.. Russell showed me the will
and contents. L then dwelt upon the
death, the funeral and reading of the
will ; the contents of which were total
ly different from what had expected.
This done asked his advice and opin-
ion.
AS to my opinion" he said, 81
must have time to consider; but my ad-
vice Is, that you leave the matter in my
hands for few days, and will see his
solicitor and examine the will myself. j
suppose there is no question of the val
idity of the signature 7 Who were the
witnesses p"
g Their names are James Dobson and
VIM. Green"
"Ah Well, come to me in three days
and bring them with you; or If they
cannot come. bring specimen of their
hand writing. By-the-by who were the
witnesses of the will which you read in
the presence of the old gentleman ~
Unfortunately, 1 cannot remember
just now"
That's a pity still 1t does not mat
ter much. The chances are that Mr..
Russell had the same men, and you can
easily find out If they witnessed his sig
mature at two different times or If not
Cottam is not such large place that 1t
would be difficult to find out If any 9TH
er two men ever acted as witnesses"
"Then you think two wills were real
ly made 7"
Why what else could I think You
yourself saw one, and another was pro-
duced."
But, could not the one saw be al
tered 7"
",Ah ! that is an exceedingly difficult
matter and almost certain to be detected.
Besides, who was to do it 7 You say it
was kept in a secret receptacle, known
only to Mr.. Russell and yourself; SO that
1t really does seems to me on the face of
it that he changed his mind, and made
another will some time between his con-
1,arsa tinn x1,ith vou and bia daatb Tha
old will he would doubtless destroy at
the same time. But leave the matter
in my hands, and will look intb it for
YOU"
AS this was all that could be done at
the time, 1 took my leave and returned
to Cottam. The next day sought out
Dobson and Green and as they could
not go to Kinton, asked them to give
me specimen of their usual signature.
They both remembered witnessing Mr.
Russels signature to a paper ; but neith-
er had done so more than once. With
this information waited upon Mr.,
Sparks at the time appointed. He was
ready to receive me, and entered upon
the matter at once.
81 have seen the will" he said, "and
l am bound to say 1t seems correct In
every particular-not a sign of an eras-
ure or alteration in any. part. Every
thing is written in the clear, concise
style for which Mr.. Russell was so noted.
We lawyers of Kinton have had many
opportunities of seeing wills made by
the same hand, and for one have no
dntIht fhot tha npa ohosu,, tsaa 10 fha oyas,