The Vermont watchman. [volume] (Montpelier, Vt.) 1883-1911, 1895-10-16

the pains which he had taken during
the long illness of his wife, concluding
with, ~ shall never forget It'll
DR.. Brown only shook his head. He
was thinking of the dead woman's will,
and answered evasively: 81 could not
have helped your wife much, since |
never discovered the real cause of her
illness"
" No self reproaches, doctor You
did what you could, and whether this
disease can be exactly diagnosed seems
to me, from what | know of it, alto
gether doubtful"
" Every disease" replied the doctor,
"must finally disclose its cause to the
patient and thorough investigator; but
in this case there were so many accom-
panying phenomena that ii was quite i'm
possible to discover the exact cause of
the predominant disorder, at least in
the living body"
The doctor, as he said this, looked
sharply at his companion, over whose
countenance a slight cloud seemed to
pass; yet there was scarcely any dis
cernible change in his voice as he re-
piled: No, no, doctor; we won't do
thatl The beloved body was sufficiently
tormented in life; in death at least it
shall restl"
Yes, but it was the wish of the
dead; and isn't there any direction to
that effect in the will?"
No!-yet perhaps-I don't know.
Anyway the will is to be read to-
morrow, and should any such direction
be found there-well, | suppose 1 shall
have to carry it out. L will send i'm.
mediately an announcement of the
death to our attorney, Mr.. Bait of Lon
don. You will be present at The open
ing of the will, will you not?"
" Most certainly"
The doctor during this CONVEX sation
had again approached the bed of death.
He carefully scrutinized the surround
ings and, as if in an absent minded
manner, picked up little box from the
table which stood beside the bed and
carelessly pushed back the cover. AT
sight of the contents he could hardly
restrain an exclamation-fo there, eX-
actly as had been described to him,
were baby's cap, yellow with time,
and lock of hair tied with a ribbon.
" Probably some of your wife's keep
sakes?" he remarked, turning inquir-
ingly to Morley.
-" Yes, and as such they must be
given into the hands of her daughter"
"Will you allow me the pleasure of
sending them to her by my sister, who
is going to Switzerland tomorrow"
" suppose it would be more proper
that she should receive them at my
hands; and yet, as 1 shall have to re-
main here for some time yet, and
journey home in her delicate state of
health would be hard for the child, l
shall be very much obliged to you if
you will send them to her.
DR.. Brown thrust the little box deep
into his breast-pocket, and took his
leave with the assurance that he would
faithfully execute MIR. Morley's COM
mission.
Once at home, under the light of the
lamp, he was not long in searching for
the further contents of the box, and he
was filed with both horror and aston
isbment as his search brought to light,
from beneath cunningly-contrived
double floor, the will as it had been de-
scribed to him-a clear, correct copy.
After this discovery, the doctor awaited
with feverish anxiety the hour for the
announced opening of the will.
AT last it arrived, and Brown had to
acknowledge to himself that its con-
tents agreed exactly with the copy in
his hands until it came to the names of
the heirs. Here appeared clearly and
plainly, "my daughter, Maria Dix";
and there, just as plainly, "my hus-
band, John Morley" No directions
with regard to an inquest or autopsy
appeared therein.
Il demand proof of the genuineness
of that will" rang loud and clear
through the room. No one could i'm.
agine from whom the words proceeded
The will had been drawn up and care.
fully preserved by prominent attorney
in London, and the family involved
was one of the first in the county; and
now came this demand, which, as
everybody knew, was an unmitigated
insult. Who had brought 1t forward?
The chairman looked all about the
room. There he stood-Dr. Brownl
He had again, quite uncOns ciously,
come under the spell of that mysterious
power, and in obedience to its behest
had called out those words; now that
they were spoken, he would not recall
them. Standing upright, the doctor
repeated: 81 demand an examination
of the will" AS he spoke, he had the
comfortable feeling of having kept a
promise.
"By what authority" asked the at
torney.
GAS the guardian of the deceased's
daughter"
Have you anything to offer in sup
port of this request?"
Yes, a copy of the original will"
"Will?"
And this has reference to an en-
tirely different party"
ALLOW me to look at the document"
DR.. Brown handed over the copy. A
committee retired with it to another
room. On their return the chairman
announced that, in accordance with
DR.. Browns request, preliminary ex-
animation of the will having been
made, the judge had decided to enter
complaint against Attorney Bait of
London for having falsified the will.