Herald and news. [volume] (West Randolph, Vt.) 1878-1943, 1890-05-15

hitherto failed Inc wiz 80 - -.
the next of kin, for whom GeoHrey was o.'e
of the counsel upon the usual GROUNDS ol un
due influence and fraud. but as It seemed az
present with small prospect OF success' ~,
,bough the circumstances were suspicious
sno,,gh there was not the slightest evidence
~ either. This curious case, OF which tne
e,,,l;nas are here written, is briefly set out,
because II nroved 70 be the foundation OF
Gaotfrev's enormous practice and reputation
at the bar -.
He read the brief through twice, thought
II over we'll and could make little OF IL. II
was perfectly obvious to him that there hao
been foul play somewhere. but he found him
self quite unable TO form a workable hypothe-
SIS Was the person-if it was person
who had been seen running away concerned
in the matter? If so, was he the author OF
the footprintsl OF course, the ex-lawyer'
clerk had something to do with it-but whats
In vain did Godfrey cudgel his brains; every
idea that occurred to him broke down some
where On other.
ave snail lose this" he said aloud in de
spair suspicious circumstances are mol
enough to upset will, and then, address
ing beatrice, who was sitting at the table,
working;
aHere, Miss Granger, you have smatter
ing OF law; see if you can make anything OF
this and he pushed the heavy brief towards
her.
Beatrice took il with a laugh, and for the
next three-quarters Of an hour her fair brow
was puckered up in a way quaint to see. Az
last She finished and shut the brief up. Lee
me look at the photographs, she said
Geofrey handed them TO her. She very
carefully examined first one and then the
other. and as she did so light OF intelligence
broke out upon her face.
,'Wen. Portia, have you got itf' he asked
al have got something she answered. y
do not know If il is right. Don't you see,
theold man was superstitious; they frightened
him first OF all 10y ghostly voice or some
such thing into signing the will, and then To
death after he had signed it. The lawyers
clerk prepared the will-he would know how
TO do it, Then he was Struggled into the
room under the he'd, or somewhere. dressed
up as a ghost perhaps. The sending for the
son by the niece was blind. The thing that
was seen running away was boy-those
footprints were made by boy. have seen
so many thousands on the sands here that
could swear to IT, He was attracted 10 the
house from the road, which was quite near,
by catching sight of something unusual
through the blind; the brief says there were
no curtains or shutters Now look at the
photographs Of the footprints. See In No. /,
found outside the window, the toes are
pressed down deeply into the mud. The
owner of the feet was standing ON tiptoe TO
get better view. But in No 2, which was
/ found near where the son thought he saw q
1 person running the toes are spread out quite
| wide That is the footprint of some one who
I was in a great hurry. Now it Is not prob
/ able that boy had anything TO do with the
testator's death. Why, then, was the boy
running SO hardl | will tell you; because he
was frightened at something he had seer
| through the blind. SO frightened was he
/ that he will not come forward, or answer
the advertisements and inquiries. Find q
boy in that town who has joint missing on
the third toe OF the right foot and you will
soon know all about it.
''By Jove,n said Godfrey. what a Grim
inal lawyer you would make! believe thai
YOU have got IT, But how are we 10 find thr
boy with the missing toe joint Every pos
sible inquiry has already been made anc
failed. Nobody has seen such boy, who's
deficiency Auld probably be known by hi
parents or schoofellows.N
Eyes. said Beatrice, lit has failed becaus
the boy has taken TO wearing shoes, which
! indeed he would always have TO do at school
/ His parents ii be has any, would perhaps no
speak OF his Disagreement and no one els
might know Of it, especially II he were new
conner Ia the neighbornood. 1t is quite pos
sible that he took of his boots in order q
creep up TO the window. And now will tel
| YOU how | should set to work to find him.
should have every bathing place In the rive
running through the town-there is a river
carefully watched by detectives. In thi
weather. (ths autumn was an unusually warn
one) "boys OF that class often paddle an
sometimes battle. II they watch close enough
they will probably find a boy with a missln
toe joint among the number"
''What good idea, ? said Godfrey. "Iwil
telegraph 70 the lawyers at once certainl.
believe that you have got the clew"
1 And, as il turned out afterwards. Beatric
bad got il; her suggestions were right in a
most every particular The boy, who prove
to be the sou of peddler who had recent
come into the town, was found wading, an
by a clever trick, which need not be detailed
frightened into telling the truth, as he ha
previously frightened himself into holdin
his tongue He had even, as Beatrice con
iectured taken off his boots to creep up {
the window, and as he ran away had, in hi
fright, dropped them into a ditch full G
water There they were found, and wen
far to convince the jury of the truth of h
story. Thus it was that Beatrice's quick wi
laid the foundations of Geoffrey's great SUE
! cess
] This particular Monday was a field day q
] the vicarage. Jones had proved obdurate
no power on earth could induce him to pa
the e34 lis 4d due on account of tith,
d Therefore Mr.. Granger, fortified by a judl
ment duly obtained, had announced his il
/ tention Of distraining upon Jones' hay an
cattle Jones had replied with insolent def
ance. II any bailiR or auctioneer or sue
{ people came to sell his hay he would kill hi
or them.
8 So said Jones, and summoned his supper
E ers, many of whom owed 1.-THE, and none {
! whom wished to pay it, to do battle in h
cause. For his part Mr.. Granger retaine
{ an auctioneer of undoubted courage, who W,
[ to arrive on this very afternoon, supporte
by six policemen, and carry out the sal
/ Beatrice felt nervous about the whole thing