The Cincinnati daily star. [volume] ([Cincinnati, Ohio]) 1875-1880, 1880-04-07


l have written everything as it was be-
fore, except that Ellen's name now occu-
pies my place, while l have taken hers.
Not a very great change, but one that
will make considerable difference to us
both, / reckon. Now for the most diff
cult part, and that is to copy the sigma
lures of the witnesses. l have practiced
uncle's often enough; but of course did
not know theirs; however, / must try
''He did try, and succeeded so well
that could see no difference.
"'There, now,' said he, 'just you COM
pare these two while 1 go and get glass
of brandy
"He left the room, and I, placing the
two side by side. could only distinguish
the one from the other by the change of
names.
"'Well,' he said, as he entered, will it
dor
"'Excellently well,' replied. 4 can
not tell which was written by you and
which by your uncle
"'Well, then, now to fold them;' and
from heap of various sorts of envelops,
choosing two, he took up the original
will, sealed and indorsed it as before, but
putting a small, almost imperceptible
mark in the corner. He then took the
new will and did the same, but without
the mark.
"'Now,' said he, listen carefully to
my instructions. When you get home,
replace the original will in the desk.
You will know which it is by this mark,
pointing to the corner. 1t is extremely
unlikely that Mr. Russell has been out of
bed and missed it during the two hours
you have been absent, 80 that will be all
right. This other envelope you must
keep by you until he is actually dead,
and then take the very first opportunity
of changing them. The old will you
may bring to me, and | will destroy it.
"But why not make the change at
onoef l could as easily put one in the
desk as the other
"'No, no. We must not risk it. There
is just chance that uncle may get about
again and take it into his head to open
the will, and then where should we bel
No; make the change when that is i'm.
possible, and we are all right
"T see, l see," said l half-sickening al
the dreadful deception, and yet too far
committed to draw back; 'as shall gain
equally with yourself, promise toy dc
all you wish
"When I arrived at home all was quiet,
so presently went into the sick-room
Nurse said supper is ready. If you
would like to go down, I will sit here
halt an hour for YOU
'She gladly accepted my offer, and al
Mr.. Russell was doing, with the curtains
drawn and the lamp turned down,
silently and quickly replaced the old gen
tleman's will.
"Well, time went on. Mr.. Russell, al
you know. got gradually worse, ano
towards the end was more than half hi
time unconscious. One day you gave il
as your opinion that he could not pos
sibly live till the next, and it was during
that last night that I stealthily made
the change. In the morning he wa
dead; and so far our plot had succeeded
completely. The result I say nothing
about, as you are so we'll acquainted
with it.
"But now must tell you of littl,
scheme Of my own. I loved Charles ant
would have done anything for him, ant
had no compunction in helping him, as
thought doing so was means of love
marriage and fortune. Still, he hac
taught me to be almost as willy as him
self, and to take every precaution, SO
determined to have hold upon him, in
case he should endeavor to play me false
To this end, when l got possession of the
original will went into my bedroom
and with sharp pen-knife, cut careful
ly the end of the envelope, drew out the
contents, which carefully transferred
to my pocket, and then replaced them
with blank paper the same size and
thickness, cumming the edges of the en-.
velope together again with pale gum.
dare say it was not very skillfully DONE
but it answered my purpose very we'll
Afterward, when l gave it to Charles, he
glanced at it, saw the seal was unbroken
and suspecting nothing, committed it to
the flames. We both watched it unit
it was consumed, Charles exclaiming
| Now, am really master of the Viii
lowsp A
"And / soon shall be the mistress
added. ...... ..
"Oh, that Of course he replied.
"I have told you how he kept his pro
mise-villain that he is!'
Thus finished this remarkable confes
sion-a confession which to me was a,
acceptable as unexpected. Of course
there was no mystery, and / am only
surprised that something Of the sort hac
not occurred to me before; but it mus
be remembered that l knew very little o.
Charles, and no one had even hinted--
even if they knew--of any connection
between him and Miss Leclerc. reat
the confession all over again to Ellen
and we both rejoiced at the turn event
had taken. Miss Leclerc came in for
certain amount of pity; yet we coult
not but remember that had it not beer
| for her conniyance and assistance. Charle