The Baltimore County union. [volume] (Towsontown, Md.) 1865-1909, 1900-08-04
ESTABLISHED 1850.

| hSfSA WAANCO VI gave lAC olAS AlCSt III
dication of recognition. Then I went
away with my mind in turmoil. II
1 had been called upon to swear to
the man S identity in a court of law,
would have done so without hesita-
ton but for the fact that, though re-
turning my glance with one as pro-
longed and steady as my own, he had
shown no sign of recognition.
"Now, I needn't tell you how my
father and myself began to speculate
and what thoughts were exchanged.
Suffice to say that none of our sur
misses approached the truth.
"And now, to go back to Mr..
Tompkins' sudden seizure and the
events which followed. OF course our
| inn,liriac nfta~ Al--~ -:-l-a----- r r-a
quent, and my father called several
times, but Mr.. Tompkins did not for
some time recover consciousness. At
length he began to evince some slight
intelligence, and my father or myself
was thereafter with him day and
night, so that if he recovered his
senses we might be ready to do any,
thing for him he might desire in re-
lation to the arrangement of his af-
fairs. He had no relatives near at
hand and, in fact, none with whom
he ever directly communicated. He
had younger brother who had dis
graced himself and been convict and
was occasionally helped through us
by Mr.. Tompkins, but always in so
indirect manner as to prevent his
discovering the whereabouts of his
benefactor. So far as we knew, Mr..
Tompkins had made no will, and yet
we knew that he must be worth over
$500, 900.
'But will come to the occurrence
to which / alluded at the outset. I
was sitting in the sick mans room
one night reading before the fire. He
grew restless, and 1 arose and saw
that he was moving and struggling as
thought trying to rise. I spoke to
him, and he tried hard to respond and
gripped my hand with extraordinary
vigor for so sick a person. Seeing
that he was using every exertion to
sit up in bed, I helped him as we'll as
I could, but just as he had acquired
an apparently upright position his
frame relaxed, and he fell back. 1
stood by him for some minutes, and,
as he seemed to be breathing easily,
1 resumed my place at the fire-side,
once and again casting glance at
the bed.
Suddenly experienced strange
sensation, and, on looking up, saw
a spectral figure standing right oppo-
site me. I rose with an exclamation
of surprise and approached the form,
wondering how the sick man could
have left his bed and passed me with
took step toward the dimly outlin-
ed figure. Then I saw that one hand
was pointing toward a small, old
fashioned desk which stood on the
top of bookcase. As my eye fol-
lowed the direction indicated the form
disappeared. I turned, expecting to
see the figure moving toward the
bed. Nothing, however, was visi-
BILE. I went to the bed and gazed
upon corpse
"The man was dead beyond ques-
ton. / summoned the housekeeper
and other attendants, and when the
body was properly disposed all of us
quilted the room. locked the door
and gave the key into the custody of
the housekeeper, directing her to al
low no one to enter the room until
my father came next day with the
undertaken.
"Next morning I accompanied my
father to the house. 1 had already
informed him what had occurred,
and as soon as some other matters
were arranged my father took the
desk, and we retired to another room.
On opening the desk there was ap-
parently nothing in it but quire of
note paper. We made a close exam
ination but, as it was simply desk
to be carried in the hand or in
trunk, we found nothing that would
indicate any secret drawer. took
up the note paper and carelessly turn
ed over the sheets. A surprise was
in store, for on the inside sheet there
was writing. 1t turned out to be the
holograghic will of the deceased
that is, will wholly written by him
self. 1t bore date the very day when
he last visited our Office and was
struck down by apoplexy.
"The will left all in trust to GER
tain woman for the benefit of the tes-
tator's five children, mentioned by
name, with their places of abode.
The name of the trustee I cannot, of
course, mention, nor would it be
right to give the address. The will
was duly admitted to probate. The
trustee did not bear the name of the
testator, but all the children did.
"How do 1 account for the spec
trail form? Well, I think he had felt
symptoms of the attack which car
ried him off and wrote the will and
came directly to our Office, intending
to inform my father of the fact of its
existence. At the point of sepera-
ton from the body the spirit obeyed
the last impulse of the dying man. !"
-B,0okLyn Citizen.