The Worthington advance. [volume] (Worthington, Minn.) 1874-1908, 1894-11-15
y "a LITTLE
Comedy 3 !! | q Of fl! Errors / / |
BY s. S. Morton.

~ I
,siss. I t;.;s h.. fftsS i4Sagli
BY s. s. Morton.
Now North's soluoquy ran on, III.
and X. stoutly maintain that there
never was any legal adoption Of Mrs.
Maynard Nina what was her maiden
name? Oh, Nina Kingsbury by Mrs.
Dunkirk; that her position in the
household during those Ave years was
merely that of-,vell, q, ward, though
shere was no legal guardianship,
either. They admit that during that
period Of five years Mrs. Dunkirk made
will in which she bequenthed her
fortune without reservation, except for
legacy of few thousand dollars to
one old family servant, to her young
friend, Nina Kingsbury. Shortly after
the MARRIAGE OF that young lady, how
ever, some rumor revived Mrs. Dun
kinks old belief that her brothers
daughter was still living, and could be
found: and acting upon that belief, the
old lady destroyed her will And now
the mooted question is: Did she ever
make another? Hunter and Ketchum
say, No. and they have kept to this
denial through everything, but Hop
hii1s and Shepherd, acting upon the in
structions Of Mrs. Maynard and my
bnothcro Ollin, bring forward docu-
ment apparently genuine and well
certified, and affirm: She did make a
second will, and here it is! OF the
manner in which this forgery was
handled by my colleagues, / can only
say that it was MGR less, but mastery.
!, ''Now, Mrs. Maynard was aware, it
seems, of the existence of that first will,
and she also knew about it's being de-
stroyed; though how, she came to be in
possession of such direct means of com
munication with Mrs. Dunkirk's end of
the line, and how she contrived to gain
information which that lady would not
be at all likely to furnish her, I cannot
for my life conjecture. Here is the
place where {; missing link must be
supplied. There is evidently a third
party somewhere! However, acting
upon her own knowledge of the circum-
stances whenever, wherever and how
ever gained, she proceeded, with the
aid of my brother and that third per-
son, whose identity I must yet discover,
to concoct the conspiracy out of which
grew this forged will.
cat this point arises the question:
How came this forged will to be dis
covered in Mrs. Dunlzirl's desk after the
first fruitless search for a will had been
abandoned? This is one OF the
mysteries that must try to solve. That
Noll did not place it there I would
stake my life. That Mrs. Maynard did
not.do so. seems equally evident. Who,
then, did? That undiscovered third
person! Nothing could be more OBJ
vious. Now, where is the clew that
shall lead to the discovery of that third
conspirator? Mrs. Maynard must fur
nish it; and this is one result toward
which must bend my energies when
see her next. \ - Taking it all in
all. this case grows sufficiently inter-
esting! I anticipate even some degree
of pleasure, from. a purely professional
standpoint, in tracing it all up; taking
a more personal view of the matter = :"
At this point his thoughts, instead Of
pursuing the straight line of definite.
ness, began to circle dreamily around
the many possibilities of the case. A
vivid recollection of that last little
scene with Mrs. Maynard came over
him; there was a grave speculative
smile on his face as he now reviewed it.
II wonder how often these interest
ing little crises are liable to occur?' he
mused, apprehensively. 'Mrs. Maynard
evidently regarded my proposition to
take upon myself all the Consequences
of this forgery without revealing her
share in the transaction as a particu-
larly edifying exhibition of, tender
hearted chivalry. Little does she know
Allan North! Before would languish
in durance vile for lovely woman's sake
l should try to keep the laws of my
country in something at least approx
mating an unshattered condition. That
isn't my way of showing devotion. On
the contrary, indorse the sentiment OF
the poet who sang in immortal verse: