Montgomery County sentinel. [volume] (Rockville, Md.) 1855-1974, 1897-01-29
niece, cone u tor yonr aharer.

MS niece, come III for your shareI''
Don you see. although called him
uncle, | was only his wife's niece, and
in reality no relation whatever. My
aunt was living when l first came TO
them, so long ago that can scarcely re.
member it but she died soon after, and
then my uncle and l took care of each
other.
How did you employ yourselfs"
asked Mrs. Power.
'Oh, / had the house to attend to,
and the poultry yard, rs we'll as the gar
den. And then l USED to read good
deal; uncle had quite collection Of
books, He had been buying them all hia
life, chiefly secondhand ones believe
some of the books were valuable. There
was an old copy of Master Humphreys
Clock. with pictures in 1t, that used to
delight me when l was child pictures
Of Nell and Quilp and Dick Swiveller =
Tho words "his wife's niece" had
somehow seemed familiar to me, butt,
was not until the allusion to Master
Humphrey Clock hat Supplied anotiI
err link in the chain that there flashed
into my mind the remembrance Of the
will hidden in the old copy at home
Michael Darcy's will, with its bequest
TO my wife's niece. Anastasia Ffrench.
| could hardly keep the excitement out
of my voice az link after link in the
chain Of evidence WAS supplied in AN
swer to my questions. found that her
real name was Anastaaia, now cut down
tn Anna French; that her uncle's name
was Michael Darcy. and his farm was
known w Carrignalea, In reply TO my
query az to her reasons for believing
that her uncle had made u will In her
favor. she said;
After my poor uncle got the para
lytic stroke Of which he died no made
several attempts to speak. and ~ far ~
we could understand his words were al-
ways about money and about having
made ii all right for Annie, Besides,
our old servant always declared that
about week before his illness he had
called her and another woman. who was
accidentally in the house. into the sit
ting room and made them witness pu-
per which he said was u will When
they had finished signing, he said. half
to himself, Now my mind IL ut rest
about Annie.
Why did he not get tho will proper
ly drawn up by n SOLICITOR
He was fond Of reading lawbookH
and knew something about law himself.
He had sometimes made willis for other
people, and l never heard that there
was anything wrong about them"
And the will could not be found2"
1.-The will could not be found. We
hunted everywhere for IL in vain, and
then Patrick Darcy said he did not be-
Leve 1t had ever existed and that old
Margaret had invented the whole story.
The other woman had left the neighbor-
hood by that time. Patrick Darcy offered
to give me some money. but refused
10 take q gift from him l knew one Of
the nurses in the sisterhood here at
Marshport. She had been nursing
lady in our neighborhood the winter be-
FORE 10 wrote to her. and she got mo
taken as probationer. / was there for
six months. and then went to London
to be trained. l intended to revolution
ize the whole art Of nursing, but now
Laurence has spoiled ail my plans.
There was no doubt that this was the
heiress Of the will In my possession.
The question was. Did the e8. 900 exist.
or had the heir made away with
it2
took my leave ~ soon as could.
The first thing did on reaching home
was to take Master Humphrey from
the bookshelf and make sure that the
will was quite safe. Next morning
took it to my own solicitor. who assured
me that 1t was valid will, properly
executed. In u few days he Informed me
that Patrick Darcy was well to do
man and mark for II larger sum than
the one due to Anastasia Ffrench.
A day or two later, therefore. pre-.
sented myself again ut Mrs. Powers.
~ have brought you wedding pres.
emit. my dear" said to Sister Anna,
handing her the three volumes Of MAS
ter Humphrey.
Indeed, DR.. Moran" said Sister
Anna, II don't think anything could
give me greater pleasure than this; it Ia
just like the copy of Master Humphrey
we had ut home. Why, / do believe IL
Ia the actual book. Here IL the very
pencil mark that poor uncle was NO
angry with me for making. Where did
you get this, DIR. Moran Was 1t from
Patrick Darcy"
IT bought il, my dear. at u second
hand bookshop II year or two ago. Ii
was only The other day discovered that
you had an interest In 1t. Turn TO the
picture Of Barnaby and his raven /
think you will find something there
that concerns you.
She turned the pages with practiced
hand until she reached the one she
sought.
"Oh," she exclaimed, there Ia my
uncle's writingi How strange II seems
10 find IL herep'
"Read II. :" said
She glanced quickly over 1t, the color
fading out Of her cheek as she did 50.
1T IL the will, " she gasped--"my uD-
clN'g will b--Chambers' journal