The Lamoille news. (Hyde Park, Vt.) 1877-1881, 1880-12-29

WHICH L Acu W uu. ne Ecm tlueu uQ-
moved.
"'I tell you it's ali the same to me who
gets it. he persisted. ITS nothing to
me whether the mans good or bad.
Disobedience in children must be pun
ished, and l can't do better than enrich
my own cousin
Finding him so firmly resolved, 1
promised to have draft OF his will pre-
pared, and to send it to him for perusal
by my confidential clerk, which was
done the following week. The wit
nesses were clerks of my own. When
signed, / was about 20 place it with the
other papers conneO.cd with his bus
mess, but the old man snappishly told
me that he meant to keep that himself,
and accordingly it was handed to him.
1.-Two or three years passed. during
which time l made large and frequent
investments for him, but no further
mention was made of his will. One
morning l received a note from his
bousekeeper, telling of his somewhat
sudden death, and shortly after reading
thenote was called upon by the cousin,
Henry Gunson.
g am good udge of faces and disliked
the man the moment l saw him He
was not hypocrite, and made no show
OF sham grief at the death of his relative;
on the contrary, he smiled, and ap-
peared perlectlyjubilant at the stroke of
good fortune.
"' You have heard he said, 1 be-
lieve, of my cousins death, and came
here because he once told me that, three
or four years since, you had drawn up
a will in my favor
All this was natural enough, but
there was something in the mans man
ner that made me study his face closely.
1t seemed to me that under an appear
ance of simplicity lie was playing
deep game. Yet what game could he
be playing l was forced to dismiss
the thought, and turn my attention to
business.
g" It is true that Mr.. Stokes did in
struct me to draw up such will, but
lie did not in rust the keeping of the
document to me- l answered. i have
the draft of it, and that is ALL
THE man looked startled, but the
look was not one of genuine surprise,
and only made me suspect him more
strongly than ever.
"' Where in the world can the will
be, then p he said. Perhaps you could
go out with me and take charge of
things, and see if it can be found p
"This was said with curious look
into my face, as if he had been saying to
himself, l wonder if he suspects me p
and, contrary to my usual practice, !
resolved to go in person instead of send
ing It clerk.
"a cab which he had kept in waiting
took us to the house, in which we found
the nurse who had attended the old man
in his last illness, and an elderly woman
wo had acted as his housekeeper. The
nurse was not so stupid as many old
fash ioned nurses, and took occasion,
during momentary absence OF Gunson.
to draw me aside and say, Il hope the
old mans money won't go to that man.
He was here ever so often before Mr..
Stokes died, and they quarreled hot, I
can tell you.'
"'What did they quarrel about p l
asked, with much interest.
"' think that man asked Tor money,
for / heard him say: l shall be ruined
if cannot pay l did not hear all that
was said, but it was bitter while it
lasted, and the OLD man had me in with
fearful ring of the bell, and told me to
show that villain out
"'I saw murder in his eye,' lie said,
and not a p emmy of my money shall he
ever finger. | wish / krew where my
poor girl lives. She should have it all,
poor thing Then he ordered me out
of the room, and l heard him shuttle
across to the fire, and when / came back
[ could see he had burned something in
the tireplace-which, l believe, sir,
was the will
"No doubt the old mans days had
been shortened by the excitement from
these frequent quarrels. When man
of no moral principles, like Gunson, is
given an interest in another's death, it
is not at all unlikely that he will try to
hasten the removal of all that stands
between him and a fortune-especiall
when he thinks it can be done without
danger of discovery. felt, however, as
| the man rejoined me, thorough repug-
nance to him, and was very near telling
him not to trouble to look for the will,
as | had reason to believe that it had
been destroyed, but I conquered the
ceiling as well as could; and, indeed,
had no evidence to prove that the will
had been destroyed.
"The housekeeper then showed us a
trunk in which old Stokes had kept all
his papers. I opened it, and at the top l
found little packet of letters from his
daughter. / glanced at one; it was full
of sorr3w and tenderness, asking SO ear
nestly if she might show him their boy.
The letter went on: We c!ll him Mat
hew, father; and when we were without
bread the little fellow said he would
come to you ami ask for some for
mother. He was sure you would not say
no; but now my dear husband has
, work, and although it would not be to
beg we should come, yet do want, dear
father, to see you once more Over the
next few words the ink had run, or the