Staunton vindicator. [volume] (Staunton, Va.) 1860-1896, 1882-01-20
: the temtator in

HIS plGSt.uC0 Auu Ill
81 compared the scraps of paper with
the copy found in the trunk, and it was
without doubt in the same handwriting.
| would have turned to the clerk, whose
name stood first as witness, but he was
dead; or to the one who had written and
witnessed the original will, and who, at
this moment, [ felt sure must know some
thing of this fraud, but he had gone to
drink a year OF two before, and had been
reluctantly compelled to part with him. [
asked if any one had his address. and by a
strange coincidence a letter had come from
him that very day to one of my clerks, ask
ing him to Gail, for he was very i'll. The
moment 1 got that I started off for Peters
lodgings In a cab. 1 found him in bed,
evidently in a rapid consumption, and had
only to hold up the forged will and say sig
niicantly, 'How on earth did you come to
do this to make the 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 I could take upon me
to premise, 50 I left him, and made my
way to the miserable home of the Morleys
in Golden lane. By miserable / don't
mean unhappy, but poor. When I was
admitted to the house I found they occu-
pied two rooms onl the second floor. The
heiress of Stokes large fortune was busy
Oh her knees befor e the fire, toasting bread
for her husbands tea, and her Own rosy
cheeks at the same time, and Morley him
self seated in corner of the room, writ
ing with swift hand at the law papers he
spent his evenings in copying. Mrs. Nor
ley was quite a young thing, and SO good
looking that could scarcely believe 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 L had heard,
her father had forgiven her, and that if he
had known their address he certainly
! would have sent to them. Both listened
breathlessly 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
husband, clasped him in her arms and
kissed him, and then burst into tears. But
when spoke of prosecuting her fathers
cousin she, with the true tenderness and
tact of wona an, said: No: my poor faith
even though he deserved it. Perhaps if
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 if my
pen had been dipped in acid, 1 could not
have written stronger. He needed no Sec
ond dose. Without even the politenoss to
reply he was off to America by the quick
est route, fearing every inch of the way, I
expect, that the police were in his wake. I
got the whole details Of the plot out of
Peter Chips, from which it appeared that
Gunson no sooner discovered that his cou-
sin had really burned the will formerly ex-
ecuted in his favor, than he sought out my
late clerk az Citing tool to produce du-
plicate from the draft. The price given
was mere trife-some e5 or e6; but Pc
ter had resolved to bleed his employer
without mercy the moment he got possess
sion OF tho old mans money, by the means
of the forged document Peter was dying
when he made the confession, but Mrs.
Morley was ut his house next day, aud
took the poor fellows breath away by tell
ing him she would see that his wife and
children we're we'll cared for. The strlck-
en- man stared at her some moments in
dead silence, and then he feebly snatched
at her hand and burst into tears. He
couldn't speak, but the simple gesture said
more than a thousand words could have
conveyed.
Mrs. Morley has not been spoiled by
her good fortune. She is the same loving
and geaerous-hearted woman that she was
in poverty. She declares to this day that
She is not a whit more happy in her grand
house than she was in the two-pair back
in Golden lane. And believe she speaks
the truth" PEA i