The L'Anse sentinel. (L'Anse, L.S., Mich.) 18??-current, 1901-09-07
SIMON GILBERT'S WILL
Copyright. 1901, by Authors syndicats.)
BY william wendham.

T HAD my own idea of detective
until met Daniel Draper. After
my first contact with him / had
no further notions regarding the
proposition. I was young law
yer, just established in practice as
junior partner in firm with
a big income. was at the crit
ical point in most puzzling casa
will case in which I was strangely in
terested. 1t was not the amount in
volved, 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 un-
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 rs 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 Like $4,000.
Phoebe had taken the offer after
some thought and many tears. She
was an orphan without 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-
tion 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
left to his two daughters, and Phoebe
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 latter document, forit
was most certainly signed in Gilbert's
handwriting. OF that my partner was
sure; he knew the signature well. 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 seeff there was not way to
fight the later viii. I was absolutely
'baffled as to line upon which to base
a fight. I was relating the circum-
stances to a friend of mine, a reporter,
when he suggested that call in Daniel
Draper and talk the matter over with
him.
Daniel Draper-not that crazy,
shiftless son of old Draper, the black
smith,"
"The same" replied the reporter.
-"And don't bet too much on his being
crazy. He has helped me out of many
hole when have had an assignment
I couldn't land. You know he is am
bilious to become detective"
The upshot of it was that my friend,
the reporter, brought Daniel Draper
to see me and laid the case before
him. He was loose-jointed, round
.shouldered young fellow with shock
of tow colored hair covering rather a
well-shaped head. His features were
not attractive and no two of them
seemed to match. His mouth wore
ihalf-conciliatory, half-apologetic ex-
preston and his eyes were dull and
listless and seemed to only half see
the objects upon which they fixed
themselves.
He asked lot OF questions, having
apparently no relation to each other,
and many of them seeming to have lit
tie or no bearing on the case. Then he
inquired abruptly IL he could see the
will. We went to the courthouse and
looked at the document. Draper gazed
Iblankly at 1t sideways and upside
down and turned 1t over and looked at