Barbour County index. [volume] (Medicine Lodge, Kan.) 1880-current, 1901-09-18
SIMON GILBERT'S WILL
BY William Wendham.
Copyright, 1901, by Authors syndicate.)

my first contact with hlm mad
no further notions regarding the
proposition. | was young law
yer. just established in practice as
junior partner in firm with
IA big income. l was at the crit
zeal point ia a most puZzling Casa
will case in which l was strangely in
terested 1t was not the amount in
VOWED. but rather the unaccountable
injustice that seemed to have been
committed that attracted my interest.
Phoebe Parker was the niece of
Simon Gilbert. He had lived with
his books and his daughters I'M
til Julia, the elder, took it into
her head to marry Richard Rad.
cliffe. the broker, and at the same
time Fanny, the younger, fell in love
with Tom Belden. Then the old man
declared himself. He did not propose
to be left alone in his age nor to be-
come mixed up with other families. If
one or both of his daughters insisted
on marrying, well and good. He would
not be unfair. He, would give them a
dOwer-as much as he could spare. The
balance of his fortune, at his death,
would go to some person who would
live with him and make him comfort
able. The daughters were determined
and married. and true to his promise
Simon Gilbert gave each of them $4,000
and never entered their houses. He
hunted up niece. Phoebe Parker. and
told her if she would take care of him
while he lived and not marry he would
treat her like daughter and will her
all he had. This amounted to some
thing ike $4,000
Phoebe had taken the offer after
some thought and many tears. She
was an orphan without a cent and in
love with Jack Shirley. But Jack had
his crippled father and invalid mother
to support and it WAS out of the ques-
ton for him to think of marrying
while they were alive-unless he could
buy an interest in the business. and
that would cost ten or twelve thousand
dollars. So she had gone into the grim
and gloomy house of Simon Gilbert and
there she had worked and wept, trying
to make the old man comfortable and
pining for kind woodland for Jack,
with whom things did not improve.
Simon Gilbert went to his lawyer,
who was the head of our firm. and
had his will drawn, leaving everything
to Phoebe.
But after the death of Gilbert what
was the surprise of every person who
knew the circumstances when another
will was found. dated six months be-
fore his death, in which the estate was
Of 70 HE two danubtarS and no
Parker was not so much as mentioned.
My partner had drawn the will, giving
the property to the niece, but he could
not question the liter document, for it
was most certainly signed in Gilbert
handwriting. OF that my partner was
| sure; he knew The signature we'll. He
was equally sure that the old man had
intended to deal honestly and justly
with his niece, and on the girls behalf
he had asked me to look into the mat
ter and see if there was not a way to
fight the later will. l was absolutely
baffied as to line upon which to has
n fight. 1 was relating the circum-
stances to friend of mine. reporter.
when he suggested that call in Daniel
Draper and talk the matter over with
him.
"Daniel Draper-not that craz-,
shiftless son of old Draper, the black
smith?"
THE same" replied the reporter
"And don't bet too much on his beine
crazy. He has helped me out of MANY
hole when have had an assignment
l couldn't land. You know he is am
bilious to become a detective
The upshot of it was that my friend
the reporter, brought Daniel Draper
to see me and / laid the case befor,
him. He was a loose-jointed. rount
: shouldered young fellow with a shocl
of tow colored hair covering rather
well-shaped head. His features wer,
, not attractive and no two of then
seemed to match. His mouth wore ;
half-conciliatory, half-apologetic ex
. preston and his eyes were dull an,
: listless and seemed to only half Sc,
the objects upon which they fixe,
themselves.
! He asked lot of questions, havin.
J apparently no relation to each other
and many of them seeming to have lit
tie or no bearing on the case. Then h
inquired abruptly If he could see tn
, will. We went to the courthouse an,
looked at the document. Draper gaze,
blankly at it sideways and upsid
down and turned it over and looked a
. the back. Finally, just as my patienc
was about exhausted, he pulled from
his pocket a magnifying glass an,
looked through that for some minutes
Then he reached over and took piec
of plain paper and laid it over the sig
nature and under the signature an,
over and under many of the lines o
the writing in the win. Then he sal,
. he was ready to go. When we arrive,
at the stairway leading to my offic
he turned to leave me with a careless
and preoccupied nod.
Have you solved the problem?"
asked, sarcastically. I could not re
. frain from that one shot. The answe
nearly hoored me-
II Not quite Draper replied, quiet