The Arkansaw traveler., 1885-06-20
CHAPTER II

CHAPTER II
 Having furnished description of the | bag and its contents, to be telegraphed up the line, Mr. Goulding proceeded to the police office, where he consulted an inspector, who, if he had not the wisdom of the serpent and the eye of the lynx, might at least have laid claim to the gravity Of the owl This functionary opined that the missing bag would be found in Crewe, thinking it, perhaps, an honor to the town that the theft had been the work of local pickpocket. He re- commended that hand-bills should be is- sued !; and having learned that the bag contained about thirty shillings, he thought the reward offered ought to be two pounds; but 1t IS plain that he con- sidered the documents of merely second ary importance.
 MT. Goulding did not agree with him. thinking it far more likely that it had been taken by a passenger, and half re- gretted that he had not proceeded by the train. However, he directed a re- ward of i've pounds to be offered, and then retraced his steps to the railway sta- ton, rejecting as he went on the best course to adopt. The serious part of the affair was that MT. Mossop, being in such a precanous state, might die at any time in which case, if the will were not recov- cred, or if by any chance 1t fell into Sir Peters hands, the latter might inherit the property to the exclusion of Mrs. Reddie, unless, indeed, its execution and contents could be established by independent evil dence, which would be practically impos- slbie. Under the circumstances, he de- cided to return at once to Chester and draw up new will as briefly as possible, to be ready for any emergency. Now, a will only three or four lines in length may be quite as valid and binding as one which extends over many pages, but no lawyer likes to admit as much, and MT Goulding naturally felt it contrary to his professional instincts to construct such rough-and-ready document. However. necessity, which knows no law, may be excused for dispensing with legal forms and phraseology so on this occasion he determined to do off-hand on a sheet of paper what had been supposed to occupy the attention of his firm for days. It was fortunate that he carried the bulk of his money in his pocket, and was therefore at no inconvenience in that respect. Ac- cordingly, having dispatched a telegram to his wife, and another to his partner in business, he started by the first train for Chester, and before o'clock found him. self once more at the gate of The Firs." Here he was met by the woman who kept the lodge, and perceived from her grave face that something had happened. Putting his head out of the cab. he asked whether there was any change in Mir. Mossop's condition.
 "He's gone, sir" was her reply.
 MT. Goulding simply inquired, "Whenr
 "Soon after daylight this morning, sir near eight maybe"
 Without further remark he proceeded to the house, telling the cabman to wait. There he found the servants ln genuine distress, especially the butler, who had been longest in Mir. Mossop's service. The nurse explained that her patient had been very bad during the night, being much weakened with fits of coughing, and at about 8 o'clock he had expired. He had scarcely spoken at all for . good while before he died, except to ask for a drink; but once he had said something about the will being carried out-she was not sure of the exact words. Nearly an hour had elapsed before any one thought of sending to the hotel for MT. Goulding and when the messenger did go it was too late, as he had left for London.
 Having listened to the nurses state. ment, Mir. Goulding thought over the matter for minute. He could not re- main long enough to look af.er the fu- neral arrangements, but of course some body must do so, and on consideration, he found there was nothing for it but to leave that duty in the hands of the but Ter, who was a most trustworthy man. He therefore wrote the necessary instruc- tions, and having seen that the old gen. tleman's papers and valuables were safely locked up, he left William in temporary charge of the house, promising to return in time tor the funeral, if possible.
 It was only when in the cab on his way back to Chester, that his thoughts had leisure to revert to the will. He felt himself to be in very unpleasant posi- ton 2; for Sir Peter Mossop. as the nearest relative of the deceased, would be certain to attend the funeral, and would natur- ally expect to hear the will read imme- diately afterward. Mrs. Reddie, too, would be at "The Firs with the same object and how was he to explain matters to her9 Of course the will might be re- stored in the meantime; but if it were not, Sir Peter would probably lay claim to the property by applying for letters of administration. He now very much re- gretted that he had not left it with Mir. Mossop, where it would have been safe Il but all solicitors have a propensity to take charge of their clients documents, and in this instance the custom was likely to prove unfortunate. However, he did not doubt that the offer of a suf- fcient reward would lead to the restora- tion of the will, which could be of no value to any one but the legatees; unless, indeed, the thief should happen to have some knowledge of the Mossop family, and try to get big price for it from Sir | Peter, if the latter were 50 dishonest as to i wish to destroy it and claim the property. |
 On arriving at Chester Station, MT. | E aA A