Centre Democrat. [volume] (Bellefonte, Pa.) 1848-1989, 1881-01-20
the tc5tator in

- - the tc5tator in - -
-- - his presence and in
" compared the scraps Of paper with
the copy found in the trunk. and it WAS
without doubt in the srme handwriting
/ would have turred TO the clerk.
whose name stood first as witness, but
/ he was dead; or 10 the one who had
written and witnessed tic original viii.
and who, at this moment, / lclt sure
must know something OF this fraud, but
| he had gone TO drink year or two before.
and had been reluctantly compelled
| TO part with him. ! asked If any oac
| bad his address, and by strange coin
| cidence .etter had come from him that
very day TO one OF my clerks, asking
him 10 call. for lie was very I'll. The
moment | got tha: started of for Pc
tcr's lodgings in n cab. | found him in
bed, evidently in . rapid consumption.
and had only TO hold up the forged will
and say significantly. How on earth
did you come To do this TO make tue
blood leave his face. He would not
confess, however. until / gave him a
pledge that he would not be punished
for his share in the forgery, and that
was more than could take upon me to
promise, 80 | left him, and made my
way to he miserable home Of the Nor
leys in Golden lane. By miserable |
don't mean unhappy, but poor. When
was admitted to the house / 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 for her husbands
tea, and her own rosy cheeks nj the
same time, and Morley himself seated
in p corner Of the room, writing with a
swift hand at the law papers he spent
his evenings in copying. Mrs. Nor
ley was quite n young thing, and so
good-looking that | 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 had heard. her father had for
given her. and that II he had known
their address he certainly would have
sent to them. Both listened brcathlessly
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, clnsped him in her arms and
kissed him. and then burst into tears.
But when | 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 n relative, even though he de
served II. Perhaps II 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
| wrote to Gunson accordingly. and II
my pen had been dipped in acid, could
not have written stronger. He needed
no second dose. Without even having
the politeness TO reply, he was of TO
America by the quickest route, fearing
every inch of the way, ! expect, that the
police we're In his wake. l 20; the
whole details OF the plot out Of Peter
Chipps, from which it appeared that
Gunsou NJ sooner discovered that his
cousin had really burned the will form
orly executed in his favor, then he
sought out my late clerk as n fitting
tool to produce a duplicate from the
draft. The price given mas mere tribe
some Is or GO; but Peter had re-
solved TO bleed his employer without
| mercy the mOment he not r,oaaaaaion nf