Litchfield enquirer., 1881-10-27


 with old Mir, Lovelrs successor about paying oil the mortgages. They called upon the peo- pie whorented the hall. and found them Well disposed to get out of their bargain. The old house was dreadfllly in need of repair, and s was the ifiortgagee. It was arrangeti that Mir HoBiyer should take the lease off tneif hands, and be placed in possession at IDidsummer. Itis said that when he iiitrotdced ..lny broth. CT, Colonel HobIyer, lat the house that had once been his home. and might be his lnherit. ance, he sat down and chuckied till he nearly ehoked 7e ta' 4@ka s@ 4ei7@ H5st ? @ag' E Business concluded. they obtained rern,is- sit,u to go over to tue house, to renew old "reminiscences and after they had been thus engaged about half an hour I Joined them, by appointment. to take their orders respecting certain architectural Improvements. As came up heard Mir Hoblyer say, thought rather grimly, 'sThis was onr room. '.Il was" replied the colonel '.How we'll you remember and many prank we have played here! It seems to me brother William, tha. the sacred presence of our dear mother per vades these once happy spots Do you think that the blessed departed are permitted to watch over us and rejoice with us OF such an occasion as this ?"
 I felt quite touched by his words and the solemn but tender manner in which they were spoken $ but the elder brother only sat down in. 8 chair and chnckled. He had got so much in the habit of chuckling lately that suppose he could not help it. or that perhaps it was his way of hiding his feelings. have known men who, would laugh, at the o most pathetic story, for the same reason.
 On our way back to the hotel Colonel Hob. iyer was good enough to ask my opinion of the gentleman they were employing as their lawyer, was he not somewhat slow?, It is not for one professional man to run down another, so said something 'ai,out slow and sure; to which the Colonel observed, with a laugh, that yonng Mir. Lowell was surely slow which is fact. II think" he continued, T"I must take little responsibility upon my. self. was ajudge in India for many years, and fancy l can draw up 6 simple law paper as well as MT. Lowell Might we trouble you Git is always 'swe'' ito col,e up to our room and witness my brothers sgnature2 We wan, to have this affair of the mortgages settled as quickly as possiblep 9E&-s1>i | .'si's-'' ,a
 Well, assented, and soon paper, with a red wafer on the bottom of it, was presented for Mir. HOblyer's signature. It was no. n paper which the colonel had drawn up; but one of those printed forms of power of attnr. ney itf which the grantor authorizes his alter ego to do every mortal thing which one rnarl can do for auothcr in the way of business and convenants at the end, with all and singular whomsoever it may coucern. to ratify. aud confirm all his said attorneys lawfu, acts done in the premises. B Old Hoblyer u.seannot for the life of me call him Mr. when think of this), cast quick glance up at the written words (hs own name and colonels), and said fneekiy :oh.'' t.-"1a i1H -1.iiaI 1T l6 70, but you should have described yourself more accura ely, brother Fred. Colo. el Fred. erick Hobyer sounds so cold ana formal. Pray substitute His dear brother, Colonel Frederick Hoblyer, half pay 275th regiment, and late of her Majestyns Indian Civils Ser vice."
 The colonel whispered something about i teflinea,ions not being regular, but the other was not to be refused. t..- .-.< we will initi:.I them, dear Fred, and then there can he tno,objection besides, between hrothers"-and he. had his way. B, '.'Now. 2 lie said, when the paper was signed, sealed and delivered. and had witnessed 1t, '.I think 1 !. win 1go out and smoke d cigar '' si aa s9it o He sauntered of into the stable yard ,s and IS soon as he was gone the colonel went down to the bar and consulted Bradshaw. 'H
 As 1 walked home was nearly run over a, q sudden turn in the road by Mir. Grimes dog cart. with his fastest horse in the shafts; and 5tliere on the box cilackling' sat Old H0blyer, obeing driven al ten miles, an hour toward Steepletown Junction. Later on had to gt to our station on business, and there I foun,i Dthe Cs,l6riei and his Indian valet waiting for fhe 7:45 krain. "a Fren. that smonient Ikne " there WAS something wrong, but for the life of me could not make out what it was.
 What it was came out on the trla of Joshua Siptbings and Micliael Hogat for conspiracy to defraud one William Hoblyer Tue nIaI, who stood in the dock as Jnsllua Stebbngs was the soi-distant Colonel Hoblyer, late resl ,deht at the courti0f his haghness the raiah of Muskatapore :, and his native, servant when washed, turned out not only to be Mike Ho. gan, noted swindler but also the gentleman who hat been pitched on his head opposite Old Hoblyer's, cottage that day when the fa. vorite was so hadly beaten in the great ira tional steepiechase. Now do you see The sick MaH having heard whispers that his host vas q miser, snd being 0f .ans Investigating dispo. sition and dexterous with q file, made false keys, and during HObyer's absence rent.col lecting, read letters and papers which proved that the old man had 6 large sum of sum of money invested in bank and railway stock. the scrip of which was deposited with Messrs. Barring 6 Go. s5It might just as we'll have been at the bottom of the Red Sea. as, far as Mike was concerned. The question was how toiget at it? The thought that there were twelve thousand pounds to be got at, and not got gave Mike great pain, and nearly brsught on relapse.
 But he got strong '.hope springs eternal in tiie human breast" He took unto inself 8 smarter rogue, and between them they con certed this plot; Stebbins was to appear ss Hobiyer's long lost brother. Mike {wio could not trust him alone) wassnto be Mikeejee k,oT Tnlsn d. of while turbaD and some liquorice-water. They. were to spend hundred or two upon greedy old Hoblyer, so as to throw him of his guard make great fuss about. buying back the property. and get signed that power of attorney which waste place the old misers boarded wealth at their mercy. But bless you, old HOblyer spoiled them the second day !; that is why he chuckied 80. They had picked up a gnoti deal of inf0rmation about him and his fasniiy, but like impostors, had get soae of it upside down; He took his gold watch and his new clothes and his boots and his dressing. bag, with the ivory-haniied fd-fads, and everything else he could get hold Of, and ,cbuckled ,laH He did not care how much they spent on him and ten minutes after he had signed that paper he was ou the road to Stee pletown to catch the London express and be in Bishopsgate street in good time to give the wOuiu@uC cwtuuiCto HI CudFSc Ul JUG pOiIC6 lwbenthey appeared. tnj hso1la ssa .yi'nJ9 n There neyira was a clearer case. Their counsel tried to break down old Hoblyer's evi 'derice by suggesting that he was guilty of ob 'taining sgo0ds s(his watch, etc., , by falsely pretending that he believed the prisoners false pretence. But it would not do. Old sHoblyer did not mind it bit He sat- and ichuckled all the time. The crafty customer they had taken for a fool fixed them upon the face of the document they tiisked their all to get There, in his own hand writing, the Col mel made the false statement which convicted them both of conspiracy to defraud. ..,sa.,,4
 But the oddest thing of all remains, to be told. What do you think the old hunks did ,with the income of hisgstocks Every penny of it he sent to M Beaver, who by the bye inherited the capital when he died. And who was ". ! Beaver Why. the woman who had tilted him and spoiled hisiife , She had .uaar- ried aA serious young ,, man who beat her, sqnandered her fortune and abandoned her abroad, with three babies at her skirts. for . pirrsfao ri<lnSs pfxtst