Aberdeen herald. [volume] (Aberdeen, Chehalis County, W.T.) 1886-1917, 1904-06-02

DR.. Grey pulled his beard. A week
ago he had seen Mary and another
man-Dick MarlOne together, and
their attitudes told him something that
Mary would not have confessed for
worlds. He remember il now, and
that Dick WAS poor: and he frowned
again.
A few minutes later some one came
! from the sickroon to tell him that Mr..
Kaye was rousing. aud he and Mary
went in together.
His keen eyes told him nj once that
the change he had expected had W'-
CURED. Mr.. Kaye was sinking fast.
His hands travelled rcstlcssly over the
counterpart. Mary bent over him.
THE will" he cried feehly Il want
to sign
| He pointed to n table on which were
some papers. DR. Grey brought them.
before him held him up while he
scratched his name fcebly on the
parchment.
| Dying men have strange fancies
sometimes. and II had been Mr. Hayes
| fancy during the last few hours to
| make a fresh will and to do II without
a lawyer. No one could understand
| why. but he had been unaccOuntably
restless until il was done. Now his
dying eyes stared dimly at his feeble
signature and his fingers dropped the
pen.
Read it," he said slowly. and Dr.
Grey obeyed. 1t was apparently the
same as his other WILL which was at
the moment in his lawyers office. and
this had only been done in order to
humor a dying man.
Dr. Grey read it carefully.
THE last will of me. Geoffrey
Kaye" the sick man repeated slowly
"Ycs-everythng- my daughter
Mary--everything to my daughter
Mary
| He fell back and stretched ont his
hand.
! Take II away now" he said. Put
1t in my desk yonder. shan't be long
now
DR.. Grey obeyed. and Mary took her
fathers hand.
| "Oh, father father she cried under
her breath
| He looked into her face.
MY good little girl" he said slow
| ly. MY good little girl. You'll al
ways remember. Mary want you to
be happy? You'll remember that?"
| Mary's eyes filled. and she put her
head down on the pillow beside him to
hide her tears.
A few days later GeofYery Kaye was
dead. and a few days later still Mary
sat facing small group Of people In
the library in Treherne Court. She
looked whittier than ever in her black
mourning frock. and her eyes were
heavy and red trimmed.
II suppose it is all right" she said
YEARLY. 'lf Mr.. Guest Is satisfied l
shall not dispute II, Oh. | couldn't dis
pute it,"
| The woman who faced her lifted her
head boldly. She was a dark, thickset
woman. as unlike the late Godfrey
Kaye as 1t was possible to be. Yet,
nevertheless, there seemed to be not
the slightest doubt that she was his
daughter Mr.. Guest, the solicitor, and
| old Dr. Grey had tried to find some
| flaw in her story. but it seemed right
enough.
Twenty-Five years ago Mr.. Hayes
| wife had deserted him, taking with her
| her 2-year-old baby. They had been
very poor. and Mrs. Kaye hated pow
erty as tiercely as foolish, empty head
| cd women do sometimes hate it. 1t
| was Mrs. Hayes one strong emotion
hatred Of the poverty which kept her
from the luxuries of life. and she left
1t for what she stupidity believed was
| far better.
| When Mr.. Kaye got his divorce she
married again. only to plunge some
years later. when her second husband
had run through his fortune. into pow
erty deeper still. Apparently it broke
her heart, for she died leaving her
| child to the care OF her husband-an
adventurer. swindler aud thief.
| How they had lived since her moth
er's death Claudia Kaye did not care
to say, but she had come upon Ire
herne Court by accident $50 she In
| formed them, had probably tried to
blackmall Mr.. Kaye, aud would no
doubt have tried again had he not met
| with the accident. She had seen him
and spoke to him, she said. and he had
owned her as his daughter.
| Now she claimed the estate. and
both Mr.. Guest and DR.. Grey were dis
heartened and troubled, for the last
will Mr.. Kaye had made had upset
everything and played straight into
| the hands Of the woman before them.
for he had distinctly written his
daughter" instead Of his adopted
daughter" as he had meant to do. His
other wills each had adopted" prefix
ed. but this last--that strange fancy to
rewrite his will--had undone every
thing
And it was so absolutely unneces
sary-unlcss. indeed. the memory of
the past had affected him and made
him wish to reinstatc his own daugh-
| ter.
Yet they could not believe that. for
he had not mentioned herhad not