The Milan exchange. (Milan, Gibson County, Tenn.) 1874-1978, 1883-01-06

Fo- the first few months of his uncle's
death he was perpetually haunted by
the dread that his elaborate preeaution
would be thrown away; butwhen a year
had passed he began to breathe more
FIRE ". The chances were, he thought,
that, if will existed, it would have
turned up by this time, or else it would \
probably rot away in its hiding place.
Thus by degrees the phantom coniured
up by his pusillanimous Imagination be-
came less appalling, until one dav his
anxiety was revived by very ominous
incident.
A shabbily dressed, middle-aged man
called upon him, and said he had an inn
portant communication to make. He
ave the name of Crumber, and Alfred
Laking then recollected that he was a
clerk in the Office of the solicitor whom
he had employed to wind up his uncles
estate. This circumstance seemed re-
assuring, for Alfred Laking naturally
supposed the man had been sent with
some message from his master relating
to business matters.
II presume Mr.. Baker asked you to
callg' he said, nervously. flAJ Bs
1 mo, sir; thefact is / left Mr.. Bakers
office some months ago. am at pres
ent in another situation" replied the
man. ID BD ~ It31llI W 40 Z
"What is your business, 1thenp' in
quired Mr.. Daking, with increased I'M
easiness. VIZ
.aisuppose we are quite alone, sir,
and cannot be overheard?n said the
man, mysteriously. ~ itf,ft flD =
"You can speak out, though cannot
imagine what you.can have to say that
is so important" returned Mr. Laking,
glancing to see that the door was
closed.
when 1 left Mr.. Bakers Office Itook
a situation with another solicitor said
Crumber, lowering his voice. "The
gentleman am now with is Mr.. Mayne,
of Lincoln's-inn-felds / don't know
whether you eyer heard of him, sirg>
Alfred j alking started, and turned
deadly pale. He happened to know
that his uncle had consulted this gentle
man professionally at q comparatively
recent date. 8and he, therefore, in
stinctively guessed the nature of the
reve alton in store for him.
! "Nol | never heard of Mr.. Mayne
and ! don believe my uncle did," he
replied, almost fiercely.
y
d. always consult you about his affairs, :"
returned Mr.. Crumber, rather disre-
spectfully. 'At any rate, he knew Mr..
N1ayne, who prepared will for him
shortly before he died"
| How do you know" demanded
Alfred Laking, too startled to conceal
because I've seen it. I've not only
seen it, but I've read it. Your name
isn't mentioned in that will, Mr.. LAX
ing said the man, with grin.
"A very fine story" said Alfred
Laking, with forced laugh "Pray,
how is it that Mr.. Mayne has never
written to inform me OF the alleged
willP'
because, in the first place, / doubt
if he is aware of the Coloneps death;
but, if he is, he has probably forgotten
that the Colonel left his will with him,
for his memory isn't what it was" said
Mr.. Crumber, growing more familiar in
his manner as he remarked Alfred
Laking's white lips and agitated de-
meanor. ''By some omission the will
is not indexed in the schedule of the
contents of the strong room. L came
across it quite accidentally while search.
my lOI SOluelllllD OlSc' hilOW lllP buS
, name of the testator and all the cir
! ! cumstances, the will attracted my atten-
ton. Otherwise, it would probably
have remained undisturbed for years. "
"Then do you mean to say that Mr..
Mayne is unaware of the existence Of
; the will?" said Alfred Laking, with in
voluntary eagerness.
- believe every one in the Office has
forgotten it. might purloin that will
, from the safe tomorrow and no one
would be the wiser, returned Crumber
a impressively. t.
, it was impossible to ignore the in
sidious purpose of the mans visit
, Evidently he was an inscription:
scoundrel, who desired to turn the dis
7 covery he made to account Alfred
, Laking looked at him with newly
! awakened curiosity, and was by NJ
! means favorably impressed by his ap
' pearance. The man had forbidding
expression, and it suddenly occurred t.
Mr. Laking that this was an impuden
I attempt to extort money by false pre-
lenses.
~ don't believe a word of what yol
t say" he cried, suddenly rising from
5 his seat and confronting the unwel
$ come visitor Your story is a tissue
: of falsehoodsn
: - was afraid you might think SO
D sir, so l ventured to bring the will witt
me-" said the man, slyly.
4 "What! you have actually stolen itP'
: cried Aired Lakng
t 81 have it here, anyway" returne
Crumber, coo ly, as he produced
d document from his pocket. 81 can pu
t it back where | took it from within al
o hour. OF course, it is no earthly us
| 20 mo ~