Waterbury evening Democrat. [volume] (Waterbury, Conn.) 1887-1895, 1893-03-06

IdIhST RECOMMENDING IIle chcLly
camp? Come, now, old fellow, own up!'
81 will tell you fully about that here
after, Noll," said his brother, flushing a
little under the laughing accusation.
"Oh, very we'll. Since the Dunkirll
will case has been introduced, l have a
word to say on that subject which l
shall proceed to say now, as Allan ut
terly refuses to talll!' exclaimed Ollin,
turning to Mrs. Maynard with sudden
animation. "Of course my brother, be-
ing duly informed on that point,
through his own connection with the
case, must have told you about the late
awkward developments in regard to
that will And right here" he added,
quickly, "allow me to explain why you
never heard about it from me. The
night before l left home, having made
an unsuccessful attempt to call upon
you, I wrote you, stating briefly how
matters stood in New York, and advis-
ing you of my proposed absence, though
not entering into any explanation of
the object of this hastily-projected trip.
Now give you my word that solemn
ly believed l had mailed that letter,
along with several business letters that
l wrote at the same time; but it now
sort, for last evening on the train,
while making a very thorough investi-
CATION of my pockets, brought to light
that identical document" holding out
to Mrs. Maynard, who mechanically ac-
cepted it, a letter duly stamped, scaled
and directed, but not post-marked,
(which 1 hereby offer you as an evil
dcnce of good faith. And now, to re-
lo1
factory work into the last two weeks,
Mrs Maynard, though it has kept me
busy day and night. have been fol-
lowing up clcw after clew and sitting
all the evidence l could get my hands
on, and the consequence is, have final
ly discovered the whole truth in regard
to that forgery. Isn't that sufficient
cause for sclf-congratulation?
Allan started perccptibly at these
words, as he exchanged n flashing
glance with Mrs. Maynard. Ollin was
too wholly absorbed in his own
thoughts to notice this at all.
"You Sec" he went on, without pause,
as, throwing off his ulster and giving it
to Williams, he returned to the little
group who were all eagerly awaiting
his next words, 81 felt little doubtful
about the gcnuinencss of that will
when found that Hunter and Ketchum
were going to contest it. To be sure, it
seemed all right enough, so far as
| could judge from the mere copy that
Jcnncr sent us; still l could not help
feeling some serious misgivings. With
out mentioning this fact to you, set
| myself to the task of discovering whom,
in case the will should prove to be
| fraudulent. could suspect. was not
| long in arriving at definite cOnclu-
| sion. That very generous legacy to
Jenncr had looked rather significant to
me from the first, and / made up my
| mind that if there was anything
wrong about the will, Jcnncr was the
first person to be investigated. Her
mysterious disappearance as soon as
| Hunter and kCtchum had thrown the
case into court confirmed my sus-
picion; consequently, when / received
q telegram from our New York attOr-
ncys, announcing the decision of the
court and demanding an explanation
| from mc-WliCh was natural enough
under the circumstanceS-my plans took
| definite shape at once. I resolved to
hunt Jcnncr up, if it took half my for
tune and all of pinllcrton's men to do
| it! 1t would take too long to
detail the curious circumstances
| that gave us our first clew; but at last
found her away up in Vermont among
strangers and on her dcathbcd. She
had been fatally injured in railway
accident while on her way to Rutland,
the accident occurring within short
| distance of her destination. Shc was
perfectly conscious when l visited her,
and she seemed to realize her condition.
| When told her for what purpose l had
come, she Immediately and voluntarily
confessed that she herself forged that
will, relating every attending circum-
stance with minute detail. l have the
confession in due form-lcgal affidavit,
sworn to in the presence of Il magis-
tratc-noW in my possession, and l tcle-
graphcd the substance of it to Hopkins
and Shepherd without an hours delay.
Thus the awkward uncertainty as to
who it was that willfully and fclOnious-
ly forged that Dunllirll will is happily
and forever at an end. Why, Allan
oh, congratulations? Thank you, my
dear boy, thank you'll"
| For Allan, after standing in apparent
stupefaction during this rapid recital,
had advanced cxcitcdly and seized his
brothers hands in n singularly impul-
sivc and hearty grasp. His countcnance
indicated an excess of joy and relief SC
mingled with srlf-cOndcmnatiOn that
Ollin stared at him in spccchlcss aston
ishmcnt. But Mrs. Maynards counte
nance suddenly grew luminous with the
dawning of a new idea.
"Oh, Mr.. North" she exclaimed, turn
ing to Allan with angelic rcproach il
her face. Il comprehend this strange
affair at last! You thought-you sus
pcctcd -"
"Spare me, Mrs. Maynard!" cntrcatcC
Allan, throwing up his hands with ;
gesture of despair. IL know Il blunde1
is accounted worse than q crime and il
this case l have proven myself to be thu
champion blundcrCr!"
) "Wcll, say, Allan," intcrposcd hi
brother, recovering the power of speech
If your repentance is truthfuliy indi
, Gated by your expression of countc
nance, you are certainly entitled t.