Butler citizen. [volume] (Butler, Pa.) 1877-1922, 1895-10-10

a1tef MS arrival ne applleu IOT atlIlls-
sion TO the bar Of New York, but first
he won to his cause the high souled
Richard O'Gorman, then leader Of his
profession.
1t was for Edwin James a lucky
stroke, for at this time O'Gorman was
in the full possession of his magnificent
powers. Few could resist his magic. His
great heart was stirred, and he took up
the cause of his friend as if he had been
his brother. The English lawyers repu-
tation was known TO every member of
the bar of New York, and there had
been and still was bitter opposition to
his admission, but when it became
known that their eloquent leader was
his champion many began to feel that
perhaps after all ''the poor fellow ought
to be given another chance, and when
at the next meeting of the Bar associa-
ton O'Gorman in a set Grafton brought
all his splendid eloquence into play the
cause was won.
Great hearted O'Gorman had helped
this lame dog over the stile, but the
dogs heart was not in the right place,
and, as my reader Will see in the Sc
quel, he soon went lame again.
In the rear room of a somewhat lux
urious range Of offices in building on
Broadway facing the city hall four
men We're engaged in discussing what
was evidently an exciting topic. The
door of the main office bore the sign,
Edwin James, Counselor at Law and
Register In Bankruptcy. He was one
! of the four. He had failed lamentably
I in his efforts to secure a practice The
/ effects Of O'Gorman's eloquence had in
the gray light Of commonplace day faded
/ away, the more so when the ideal his
magic had created in the minds of men
/ was in hourly contrast with the man
/ himself and his history. His profession
al brethren locked upon him with sus-
| picion, and there was a general impress
sion abroad that his escapades were not
| over yet
/ Brea, with a keen eye to business,
had married the discarded daughter of
a wealthy but not overrespectable New
| York family, and he had, unsuspected,
| pulled the wires so that James had been
employed as the family lawyer, and in
! that capacity had drawn the will of the
! mother. She was an imperious, hot tenn
| pered body, one who when aroused was
| accustomed to use language more vigor
! Gus than polite, and who not infre-
/ quently went to fsticutfs with her
! daughters. The husband and father, the
/ creator of the fortune, was dead, and
the vast family property, i'll securities,
| stocks and lands, was vested absolutely
A.. T., - Il LII -.
| Brea's wife, the second daughter of the
! house (there were no sons) was down
in the very first paragraph for the mag
nificent sum of ''$1 lawful currency"
and her name nowhere else appeared in
| the lengthy document. The old lady
! was such termagant and so implacable
| in her hatred that it was a moral GER
! tainty she would never relent and
change her purpose toward her daughter.
| But James had also drawn up a second
will of his own and Brea's concoction,
and precious piece of villainy it was,
in which the wife was down for lega-
cies amounting to $3.50, 900. The genu-
| inc will James kept in his own posses
sion, ready to destroy the very moment
| word came that the old lady was an inn
mortal, while the spurious will was
kept in the vaults of the Safety Deposit
company, there to remain until the
death of the testatrix, When, of course,
it would in due time be produced.
But money must be had at once, for
| Brea and James were in sore straits,
particularly James, who had been
threatened with arrest and was so far
involved that he always entered and left
his house at night in order to escape inn
Fortunate creditors This was James
second interview with the men and the
first time he had been alone with them.
He saw at once that he had TO do with
able, clear headed men, took them into
his confidence and in order to excite
their hopes and bind them to him as
well he confided to them the plot of the
forged will, producing the genuine for
their inspection
He assured them that it was a sure
and speedy fortune, as the lady was old
and frail in health, and he also prom
ised they should share between them
800, 900, provided they would stand by
to give hand III the somewhat i'm
probable event Of the other heirs disput-
ing the will, but above all if they would
devise some means to furnish him at
once $40, 900, or at least S., 900. Money
he must have, and he could no longer
do without it.
The result Of our conference in James
Office was that the very next day an
office down town was engaged under
fictitious name and simple, unsuspi-
cious fellow hired as porter and messen-
ger. After some little negotiation he OBJ
tanned particulars Of parties banking
with the then great firm Of Jay Cooke
6S Co, corner of Wall and Nassau
streets. Briefly told, the result was that
four days later messenger walked into
their banking house with check for
$40, 900, purporting TO be signed by an
other firm, who banked with them.
Along with the check went Il letter bear
ing a signature well known to the cash
Ter, asking him to pay the check to bear
er, the result of all being that five
minutes thereafter we We're walking un
concernedly up Broadway, and sending
"a message 10 James to meet us at Del
monico's, corner Broadway and Cham
bers street, we sat down awaiting his
arrival. He had anxiously been looking
for news, and almost before we had
seated ourselves he entered, eager and
anxious looking, but when he glanced
at our faces "A happy expression came
over his own and without n word he
put out his hand. After II warm greet
ing produced the roll, and, to his de
light, l handed over to James ten five
hundreds. On the morrow | went TO the
office, and paying my messenger weeks
wages, besides making small gift,
told him he need not come any more.
With this $50, 600 coup we fondly
thought all our troubles and all our un-
lawful acts were ended. We now had
few thousands sufficient to last until
the So, 900 we had invested i'll the will
case should bring i'll n dividend that
would mean fortune for us all. So we
took things easy about town, and alto
gether thought ourselves pretty good
fellows and this world very good sort
Of place to be i'll.
Thus the winter passed by and the
summer was at hand. Our thousands of
the year before had dwindled to hun
dreds, and the old lady whose heirs we
had constituted ourselves seemed to have
renewed her youth and threatened TO
outlive us all.
Besides this there had grown up n
repugnance in our minds to the bust
ness and when one dav my friend Mac