The Manitowoc pilot. [volume] (Manitowoc, Wis.) 1859-1932, 1893-11-02

and none of these had come in con
tact with Beesou
Bill Beeson waited a month for us
to find that will, and then he naturally
concluded that it could not be found
Then he ordered his aunt ard cousin
off the place and took the necessary
legal steps to be placed IN possession
There was no getting around the fact
that he was the legal heir, and after &
time the law declared him such. HI
was told of the provisions OF the will
of course, but he refused to make any
sort Of division and settled down tc
the enjoyment of the entire estate
The lawyer realized that his reputa
ton had suffered, and aside from feel
ing cut up that Mary had been done
out of her fortune, [ felt in a sense
responsible for the disappearance o.
that valuable document. l spent
hours and hours trying to figure Out
the mystery, and one night as 1 sat
thinking over it l got the first glimpse
OF light For the first time [ remem-
bered the visit Of the tramp. He had
been left alone in the office for three
Or four minutes.
The idea that he would go to the
safe and select that one paper from
all others was far fetched, but in spite
of Mr.. Platts arguments to the con
trary / felt certain that he did it.
He would go to the safe in search OF
money. Not finding any he might
snatch at paper, hoping it would be
valuable enough to bring a reward.
Standing by itself the theory was all
right, but when | asked myself why,
if it was the will. he hadn't communi-
Gated with us, I could make no answer.
II ne got it he would be just as likely
to negotiate with Bill Beeson as with
us-even more SO. [ began an in
quiry, however, and soon discovered
several people who remembered my
caller He had been hanging around
town for couple of days before l
saw him, and after a bit [ settled the
fact that he left the day after. No
one knew which way he went, and my
investigation had to cease there.
July had come and Bill Beeson was
in full swing, and we had given up
the will as lost forever when [ happen
ed in the mayors Office one day. He
was looking through his mail, and as
he opened a cheap and badly soiled
envelope containing half sheet OF
note paper written over in pencil he
laughingly observed that he had q
large correspondence with tramps
He glanced at the letter, uttered a
''humphw and was about to throw it
away when [ reached for it and re-
marked that | would take the trouble
to answer it in his name. It had been
written with hard pencil, and the
chirograpy was scrawly and the spell
q regular puzzle. [ took it to the
Office and went over it word by word
and when | had finished I startled
Mr.. Plat by uttering cheer. The
mayors name was William Benson
The letter was directed to William
Beeson. The superscription was SC
poor, however, that no blame could be
attached to the distributing clerk
When translated into decent English
it read: WAS Jacob Beeson youl
father? Did he make will? Is the
will worth anything to you? How
much?" The writer stated that he
was in the st. Claire county jail
and anxious for trade.
Now we had a clew for sure, and
that night | started for the county
seat of the county mentioned, which
was 100 miles away. The date of the
letter was ten days old, and it had
probably been given to some prisoner
to post when discharged. l made sure
of getting possession Of the will, but
was doomed to disappointment. The
letter had been signed 81. White A
prisoner of that name, and no doubt
the writer Of that epistle, had died the
day before of consumption. and the
body was in the coffin and ready fol
burial when / arrived. [ could not
identify it as the face of my tramp
but believing that it was he l exhibit
ed the letter and asked for a search Of
his effects. He had been sent ur
about the middle Of May on a three
months sentence and had arrived al
the jail without coat. The searcl
was brief and fruitless 1t was about
a month after this episode when / SCI
out on what the lawyer called wild
goose chase. It was conversation
with Mary Thompson which caused
me to make the trip.
''This j. White probably took tht
will from the safe" she said as w,
talked it over. Where he kept him
self from Jan. 81 to the middle O
May, we do not know, but ought t,
find ont. He probably put in til,
time between here and St. Clair
county. You should learn the circum
stances Of bus arrest. If be had tn,
will he carried it in his coat. How
did it happen he had no coat whel
arrested? You must take a horse ant
buggy and drive over the highwa,
and try to locate him"
/ drove to the west for two dav
without hearing anything of J. White
Plenty of tramps had passed over tn
great highway during the winter, bu
if he was among them he could not b
lueiIlilieu. VII llS ulCTUlug Ol III
third day [ crossed the line into 81
Claire county. About 9 o'clock in tn
morning, as [ came to crossroads.
farmer hailed me and told me to driv
into his yard for safety. He was tn
owner of a bad tempered bull whic
had escaped faom the field into tn
highway and was menacing traveller
on the road to the west Half doze
} men were then trying to drive th
animal back into the field.
L expect Eli have to shoot th
critter or see him kill some one" oil
, served the farmer as we sat on til
! fence and watched the movements
the furious animal.
: He'd keep the road clear of tramp
) if allowed his liberty" 1 replied.
r ''Sartin he would. Ha. ha! ha!
was thinkin' of suthin' that happene
? last spring. A mile to the north oyt