Thomas County cat., 1886-08-26

in. the name Il smith mr.e,f. snd mv cona.
DENTAL clerk 3ded an address -khe frst that
occurred to him. know nothing Of the Mr.
John Smith you refer to. neither docs he. IL
" rs m accident However, NO harm IL done.
Yours very truly. H. Il TAPE
mo harm is done, as Mr.. Tape says"
said Mr.. Retainer, as Augustus looking
stupidity perplexed, handed back the
letter to him.
II don't quite understand" MUIR
INJURED Augustus, though he perceived
well enough that there had been .
fatal mistake somewhere.
ut is very simple" explained Mr..
Retainer. "a client of Messrs. Tape
& Parchment's "a gentleman we'll
known in society, but rather eccen-
tric-gave Instructions for his will. but
expressly asked that it should be drawn
under a fictitious name, so that clerks
and other persons through whose
hands the draft might pass should
not be able to identify him with the
tcstator. 1t was an odd precaution.
and l must say. added Mr.. Retainer.
looking severely at Augustus ''that l
thought at the time it was almost in.
sulting. However, the result is that
none but the confidential clerk who en-
crossed the will for signature is IN the
secret"
II understood you to say that you
knew all about the testatOr," cried
Augustus. beside himself with vexatioD
and disappointment.
$50 l did. The secret was confided
to me-" said Mr.. Retainer. Had you
mentioned that you knew certain
John Smith of the address given l
should have been on my guard. But
you merely said you knew the address.
Il did not know him at the time, !"
blurted out Augustus.
He could have bitten his tongue of
the instant after, for he saw he had be-
trayed himself. NJ. Retainer, in y
voice of thunder, ordered him out OF
the room, and Augustus. overcome
with humiliation and confusion, need
ed no second bidding.
The prevailing Sentiment which. agi
tated the bosom of Augustus when Il.
came to consider the situation was =
deep sense of having been cruelty
wronged and deceived The insinua-
tions of Mr.. Brittlebone concerning
Mr. Smiths circumstances had, as we
have said, for long time caused him
uneasiness, and now that it had trans
pired that the old gentleman was not
the owner of the property mentioned
IN that fatal will Augustus had no diff
ficulty in convincing himself that his
rivals version was correct Most un-
reasonably he suspected poor Arabella
and her relatives of having attempted
to inveigle him into patrimOny by
false pretenses. and in his virtuous IN
dignatlon he did not pause to consider
the injustice of the charge. Acting
upon the impulse of the moment, he
Immediately wrote and broke off the
engagement. using expressions of re-
proach and harshness which poor Ara
bella had done nothing to deserve.
After this it was particularly CALLING
to Augustus to be condOled with for
having missed the hand of an heiress.
1t turned out. however. when too late
to repair the hasty step he had taken,
that old Smith. thought not fabulously
wealthy, was certainly rich enough to
make most desirable father-in-law.
Before Augustus had recovered from
the unpleasant shock of this vexatiOus
diligence he received visit from
Mr.. Brittlebone. which resulted in his
being swathed in vinegar and brown
paper for several weeks. As reward,
apparently, for this brutality, Mr.. Brit
tlcbone had the undeserved happiness
OF leading Miss Arabella to the altar:
but this was not until the prosecuted
Augustus. in the unenviable capacity
of defendant in an action for breach OF
promise, had been mulctcd in heavy
damages. which enabled the young
couple to start handsomely in business
in the hardware line.-LOndOn Truth.