News and citizen. [volume] (Morrisville, Vt. ;) 1881-current, 1902-04-23
CHAPTER XIV.
THE GEOGRAPHIC TESTAMENT.

The GEOGRAPHIC TESTAMENT.
"a Y EVER had Evarste breathed
so deeply and freely, never
vi had his pulse beat so strong
V ly, as after hearing Valsin,
an eyewitness, rehearse the
heroic fall of his brother. His spirit
bounded; he felt his powers expand;
he saw the path to the goal cleared. 1t
was an effort to feign grief in the rep
etitiOn of the story to fearful Mrs. Wy
ley, but his acting was superb, and it
sufliced to excuse hasty retirement to
the privacy of his room and the re-
quest that no one should be permitted
to disturb him. Tiptoeing steps past
the locked door and underneath the
curtained windows testified the respect
of the household for his sorrow.
With hands unsteadied by the ex-
IRENE of eXultation he opened the small
brass ribbed box of ebony in which the
sealed envelope had lain since the day
he had received it from Horace and
promised to defend Estelle from harm.
Drawing his chair into the subdued
ilSh' w IlIll hlNClOd llIlOuSn Tic W III
dow curtain, he broke the seal, took
out the one sheet of paper and, unfold
ing it, read:
PARISH OF AvoYELLEs, LOUISIANA, May 6, 1861.
|, Horace Oakfell, of "LEsperance" plantation,
in the parish and state above written Of lawful age
and without forced heirs, being of sound health
both in mind and body but knowing the GER
tainty of death and the uncertainty of the time
and I,yf -
war, into which am about to enter do make this
my last will and testament in the Geographic
form.
give and bequeath unto my brother, Evariste
Oakfell, one-half of all my estate of whatsoever
kind and wheresoever situated which may pos
sess at the moment of my death.
give and bequeath unto Estelle Latioais
granddaughter of Leonidas Latiolas of the parish
and state above written, the remainder of my es-
tate of whatsoever kind and wheresoever situated
which may possess at the moment of my DEATH
appoint my said brother, Evariste Oakfell sole
executor of this testament and dispense him from
giving bond, and direct him to make partition
of my estate by lictation within one year after
probate and deliver to said Estelle Latiolas her
share in gold money or its equivalent in interest
bearing securities to be approved by the parish
Judge
This testament has been Dated written and
signed by me on one sheet of paper at writ
ing. HORACE OAKFELL.
SO intense was the shock he expert
enced from this perusal that his head
fell forward, and for a moment his
state was one of semiconsciousness
But rage, bitter, unspeakable rage, sent
the blood surging hot from his heart.
The veins of his neck and temples
'gorged; his face grew livid. Had he
been of full physical habit he would
have died in the tempest of wrath
which burst within him. An hour he
sat motiOnless except for the witch
an an9sthetized patient under the sur
geon's knife. But one thought was de-
fined in his dazed, congested mind, and
that took the form of an infinite, malig-
nant curse upon the brother who
thwarted him even from his undiscov-
cradle grave. Exhausted, weak as a
child coming out of a cataleptic spasm,
he tottered across the room and fell
painting upon his bed. The calmness
of collapse came upon him, bringing a
gradual return of connected thought.
In his view Horace's malevolence to
him was manifest. The purpose of the
bequest of half the estate to Estelle
was so to burden the conscience of the
sentimental girl with a weight of graf
itude to his memory that the bestowal