St. Landry democrat. (Opelousas, La.) 1878-1894, 1881-12-10
A STRIKING LEGACY.

The persons assembled at Lumber
Hall to hear the hearing of old Mr.. UNI
berglowth's will after his funeral in
cluded all the nearest relatives of the
deceased, and they happened to be in
dividuals so diverse in their pursuits
and characters that it was only in such
place and for such purpose that they
could have met at all. But all were
equally interested in the circumstance
that had brought them together, for
MIR. Umberglowth had died childless
widower and his large property was I'M
entailed. He had been a cold, stern,
unsociable old man, living much alone,
and had never favored soul with ,any
hint as to how he should dispose OF his
wealth, except that he had once said
that his money should go to his own
kin, not to public charities or "any
nonsense of that kind
1t was generally anticipated that his
cousin, Mr.. Stephen umberglowth,
would be found to have inherited the
bulk of the property; and Stephen was
of this hopeful opinion himself. He
had been received at the Hall as the
presumed heir, and had taken upon
himself to do the honors of the place to
his relatives. These were Lady Beak-
well, the deceased's sister-in-law; the
Rev. Clement Gloam and Mr.. Dennis
Callingclere. sons of his two sisters who
were dead.
Mrs. Gloam and Mrs. Callingclere
had both come with their husbands TO
attend the funeral, and there were also
present to hear the will read DIR. Grin
ming, the deceased's physician, and DR..
Brush, Vicar Of the parish. These two
had been invited BY Mr.. Purkin, the
solicitor who had the will in his keep
ing.
1t has been said that Mr.. TIMBER
glowth's relations were dissimilar in
their character; they were SO much so,
indeed. that during the two days they
had spent at Lumber Hall they had
found little to say to one another. Lady
Blackwell was a widow of forty-five,
with snug jointure of $4,000 year,
who went q good deal into society and
consorted only with people of the high
est rank. A very we'll dressed, selfish
gentlewoman she was, with excellent
manners, shrewd mind and sarcastic
tongue. She passed for wit, though
she set up no pretentions to that char
acter by saying smart things at random,
which would have been d vulgarity de-
spicable in her sight. She simply
pecked at people and things obnoxious
to her when they came in her wav. The
Rev. Clement Gloam, Vicar of st. Cap
ercuyt's, Pimlico, was tall, lank- haired,
with sad voice and unctous WAYS. He
wore cassock and Gloucester hat and
was noted both for the rigidity of his
tenets and for his eloquence in the pull
pit. He had private income of f1,-
900, besides what he drew from his
church, and he was happy in the pos
session of wife who was as strict as
himself, who always dressed in black
Denny Callingclere and his wife Alice
were two very different people and lit
tie better than heather In the sight of
Mr.. and Mrs. Gloam. They had an in
come Of FL, 500 and spent every penny
of it in enjoying themselves at race
meetings and in the hunting field. They
always rode together; they both betted;
they whiled away their autumn and
winter in rounds of visits to country
houses. where they were ever welcome,
and they were the gayest, brightest,
most attached couple you could find.
They had come down to Lumber hop
ing Uncle Umberglowth had remem-
bered them for "a thou or two," which
would help them to pay of outstanding