The true northerner. [volume] (Paw Paw, Mich.) 1855-1920, 1881-01-07
what Is necessary now, or do you know

nOOu, we are btfanSefs mere, interrupted
my husband. We are from Cornwall,
and are come to live in London, and
have only been in the house three DAYS.
My dear brother came to stay with MS
Yesterday. He has been out all day.
The moment he came in he tainted.
and then-and then ran for you. Will
there be any need for an inquest?
Indeed, said the doctor, Tn afraid
there will.
"'Oh, how very distressingl went on
my husband Can we not be spared
this pain?'
"The other paused, and then said
slowly, with peculiar expression on his
face:
"'Well, surely, surely with what you
tell me, and with what l have seen OF
the case, might perhaps certify, and so
spare Won the distress of any inquiry.
"'Thank you. thank Won a thousand
times said my husband earnestly, rs
saw him press couple of the sovereigns
he had lately taken from the dead mans
pocket into the doctors hand.
every well, them answered that
functionary: Il will manage it, and do all
that is necessary. I will send some one
"When he was gone / summoned up
courage to ask the meaning of what
had heard
"'What are your intentions' Pray
tell me, / said
You always were an idiot, he an
swered, but will try and make You un-
derstand for once i'll n way. Any woman
who was not fool, and had been a living
wife and alive TO her husbands well
fare, could have seen with half an eye
what my game is. It's very simple
one, and mind you do not spoil it, or il
will he the worse for you; and that You
may have no excuse for doing SO, I'll
tell you what it is. There was some
thing like six hundred pounds in notes
and gold in that poor devils pocketbooh.
There is nothing to show who he was TO
anybody but me. who luckily can keep n
secret, so | shall not tell you his name;
besides, it does not signify. Not soul
but our two selves know how he came on
to my premises; he can never be traced
there. / pass him of rs my brother, and
bury him accordingly. No one here
abouts knows who we are, so who is to
say he is not my brother? Had not good
luck brought him to our hospitable gate
Mt the critical moment, and had you not
been the far-seeipg, clever woman YOU
are, and not let him III, why, he would
have fallen down dead in the public high
way, and his property have been at the
mercy of the first person who found him.
They might have been honest or not.
He would have been taken to the hos
pital, and of course his friends would
have been duly informed OF the sad loss
they had sustained Now, as it is, they
will be spared this sorrow, because they
will never know what has become of him.
He will only he one more victim added
to the list of mysterious disappearances.
Well, but, broke in, his friends
will make inquiries after him. He may
be traced to our gate, and we may be
called upon to explain.
I'VE may he, continued my husband
but it's sufficiently unlikely. 1t will be
a cursed piece of i'll luck if he is. Who
is TO trace him into this God-abandoned
region? Under all the circumstances
and by your own showing, it is most i'm
probable--nay, it is impossible.
Yes, l again interposed; but he will
be advertised for and described
Every likely he went on; but the
doctor and the undertaken are the only
people besides ourselves who will have
seen him, and they will have nothing to
identify him by even if they ever know
or hear anything about the disappear
ance. They will never recognize in my
dear brother, poor John Smith, who died
of apoplexy, here in my house, under the
very eye of the doctor, the forlorn man
by the name of - (but will keep that
to myself who was last seen, etc as
the advertisement will run. No; they
will not know the name. II will convey
nothing to their minds; how should it!
For, remember, the moment you so iu-
diciously let him in and closed orr gar
den door upon him, the lost man had
ceased to be. From that moment he be-
came my brother John; the real man was
gone as clean ont of existence had as
clean parted with his identity. as if he
had never beenl By heavens! it's
stroke OF genius on my part. never
guessed / was half so clever fellow,
added my husband, triumphantly.
"'But, cried / once more, this is a
very dreadful, a very dangerous game,
as you call it, to play. 1t is absolute
theft, and worse -
If You can not Use, better language.
he said, hold your tongue; don't insult
me. l tell YOU the money might as
we'll have fallen into my hands as into
those of the first policeman or pot-boy
who might have found him L want 1t
badly enough, and if you don't betray
our secret there is very little risk of my
right to it being disputed.
But, said, the watch, the rings,
as well as the money-they may lead
to Your discovery
Not at all, he answered, If they
are carefully converted, and / will man
age that The notes are tho only diff
ficulty; but can get over that, too. If
go straight TO the Bank of England to-
morrow morning, directly it is opened,
aud change them into gold, shall be
there long before their loss is known, or,
consequently, the numbers are stopped.
The young fellow, perhaps, will not be
missed for a week; he comes a long way
from here; have seen enough to tell me
that We do not know what his habits
were: we do not even know that any one