The Worthington advance. [volume] (Worthington, Minn.) 1874-1908, 1894-11-29

. services; whereas, you KNOW, N Ln1S---
1 other Win, abe spoke these words
shrinkingly and with averted glance
'.this legacy was doubled, was it. notT
eyes o. yes No. you are RICH" was
North'sf absent-minded response, while
his eyes,as he kept them resoluteIy upon
his note book, sparkled in triumph. II
merely wish to get every little thread
Strengthened out, just for my own bene-
fit. OF course we maintain in public
that you knew nothing about Mrs. Dun
kinks will, never dreamed of the posi-.
bility of its existence-no, no, that's 3
little too radical, in view of this letter;
well, then, that you had no definite
knowledge of its existence until this
contest came up in court" g..4@5s i j 4
He paused here and idly sketched
squares and angles and perfectly mean
ingless characters in his notebook
while his thoughts ran on rapidly:
link and my chain Of evidence is being
fast welded together. Jcnner- surely
there can be no mistake about it; these
three are the conspirators- Mrs.
Maynard and Noll! Why, it just occurs
to me Jenner is that missing witness
whose mysterious disappearance occa-
stoned SO much delay and speculation,
as well as recrimination, each side ac-
cusing the other Of having spirited her
off in order to prevent her testimony
from being taken. In view of her con-
fdential relations to her mistress for
so many years it was Believed that she
could give important testimony in ref
erence to Mrs. Dunkirlk's will; but
when the papers were issued summon
ing her as q witness it was ascertained
4 that she had suddenly disappeared from
New York, and no trace of her could be
discovered. Now, to what conclusion
does this fight Of hers point2 Clearly
and indisputably to her completely IN
this forgery! She is beyond all doubt
as deeply concerned init as Mrs. May
nard or Noll; indeed, without her aid
they could not have carried out their
scheme at all I presume It was s part
81 their plan for. her Il, disappear in
case the will were contested Yes, yes,
there can be no; doubt now about this
conspiracy. i comprehend It from be-
ginning to end. The evidence Is accu-'
mulating, and each suspicious circum-
stance fits perfectly into its appropriate
place. The motive that actuated Jenner
isapparent enough; the generous legacy
from her old mistress was the stake for
which she played In order to secure
for herself these glittering thousands,
after that genuine document had been
destroyed, it was necessary that a will
in favor of some available and not i'm
probable heir should be produced and
probated. Annie Dupont, the sole heir
atrlaw, was among the missing; or
rather, she was in that still more hope
less category Of persons whose exist
ence has never been satisfactorily estab-
Gshed. Clearly, then, Annie Dupont
was not to be considered in this connec-
ton. No more available person than
Mrs. Maynard could be found; there
fore she was the one selected. Now,
this line of argument would lead to the
conclusion that the conspiracy origin
ated with Jenner; but on the other
hand, with the same facts a little diff
fcrently confgured, it could be as
clearly shown that Mrs. Maynard and
Noll originated the scheme, selected
Jenner as an indispensable accomplish.
and by allowing her legacy to be
doubled drew her, willing instru-
ment, into the conspiracy. This is I'M
doubtcdly the true state Of the case. It
was Jenner, beyond all question, who
placed the will in Mrs. Dunkirk's desk
and subsequently led up to the dis
covery of it by the lawyers. It was
.Jenner alone who could have gained
access to Mrs. Dunkirk's private seal.
1t was Jenner who reconected that Mr..
Herman drew that first will; Jenner
who furnished the specimens of hand
writing by the aid OF which the for
gerry was effected; but they made their
first fatal mistake in dating this forged
will after Norristown's death and
Kernan's departure for Europe. Well,
well, I am slowly solving all the
mysteries Of this case; and yet thus far,
Notwithstanding my reckless attempts
to do so, have been unable to put my
hand on single direct and indisputr
able proof Of Mrs. Maynard's share in
the conspiracy. Can hope yet to OBJ
tain this evidence?" gs.s ..s5
He raised his eyes to her as this ques-
ton entered his mind. She was appar-
emily lost in reverie as profound as his
had been; she seemed even to have lost
all consciousness Of his presence, and
when he spoke abruptly after a long in
terval of silence she started as If the
whole current Of her thoughts had been
changed.
ssJenner was quite an old family
IS 4 ~ - a0sS
The question was so strangely irrele-
want to her own reflections that Mrs.
Maynard smiled little as she answered
it. s5
Eyes, she came from England with
DR.. and Mrs. ,Dunkirk when they were
married, forty years ago. She was
their housekeeper. and s. thu capacity