The Lamoille news. (Hyde Park, Vt.) 1877-1881, 1880-12-29
Henry Gunson
the testator in -
his presence and in }

- his presence and in
" [ compared the scraps OF paper with
the copy found in the trunk, and it was
without doubt in the same handwriting.
l would have turned to the clerk,
whose name stood first as witness, but
he was dead; or 10 the one who had
written and witnessed the original will,
and who, at this moment, l felt sure
must know something OF this fraud, but
he had gone to drink a year or two before,
and l had been reluctantly compelled
to part with him. l asked if any one
had his address, and by strange coin
cidence letter had come from him that
very day to one of my clerks, asking
him to Call, for he was very i'll. The
moment l got that / started off for Pc
ter's lodgings in cab. found him in
bed, evidently in rapid consumption,
and had only 10 hold up the forged will
and say Significantly, How on earth
did you come to do this to make the
blood leave his face. He would not
confess, however, until l gave him
pledge that he would not be punished
for his share in the forgery, and that
was more than | could take upon me to
promise, so left him, and made my
way to vhe miserable home of the Nor
leys in Golden lane. By miserable /
don't mean unhappy, but poor. When
was admitted to the house l found
they occupied two rooms on the second
floor. The heiress of Stokes large for
tune was busy on her knees before the
fire, toasting bread Tor her husbands
tea, and her own rosy cheeks at the
same time, and Morley himself seated
in corner of the room, writing with
swift hand at the law papers he spent
his evenings in copying. Mrs. Nor
ey was quite young thing, and so
good-looking that l could scarcely be-
lieve her the daughter of my deceased
client.
"When told them of the death of old
Matthew Stokes any one would have
thought they had lost their kindest
friend. His daughter was overcome
with grief. | assured her that from
what l had heard, her father had for
given her, and that if he had known
their address he certainly would have
sent to them. Both listened breathlessly
to my story, and then, when gave my
opinion that nothing now could stand
in the way OF her inheriting her fathers
wealth, she simply went up to her hus-
band, clasped him in her arms and
kissed him, and then burst into tears.
But when I spoke of prosecuting her
fathers cousin she, with the true ten
derness and tact of a woman, said: No;
my poor father would not have dis
graced relative, even though he de-
served it. Perhaps if you wrote to him
telling him what you have discovered
he will trouble us no more
1T was hard to let the rascal slip, but
1 wrote to Gunson accordingly, and if
my pen had been dipped in acid, Il could
not have written stronger. He needed
no second dose. Without even having
the politeness to reply, he was off to
America by the quickest route, fearing
every inch of the way, l expect, that the
police were in his wake. l got the
whole details OF the plot out of Peter
Chips, from which it appeared that
Gunson no sooner discovered that his
cousin had really burned the will form
erly executed in his favor, then he
sought out my late clerk as fitting
tool to produce duplicate from the
draft. The price given was mere triAe
some G5 or E6; but Peter had re-
solved to bleed his employer without
mercy the moment he got possession OF
lthe old mans money, by the names Of