The Richmond palladium and sun-telegram. [volume] (Richmond, Ind.) 1907-1939, 1907-07-09
THE KALBERC
INHERITANCE.
loriginal.l

SeSSeu ABOUT the best qualification for
making the couple happy amiability.
At any rate, she did make them happy,
and it was supposed that when they
died Rose would be left a competency.
All went well for a couple of years,
when Rebecca Muir, girl about Rose
Fales' age and a niece of Mrs. Kali
berg, came TO the house for a visit.
Rebecca, who had no prospects but to
work for her living, not being endow
ed with any principle, made up her
mind TO Gust Rose if possible and get
herself installed in her place. How
she set about it is not especially inn
portant TO this story With a plain.
stupid matter of fact couple like the
Kalbergs it was not very difficult, es-
pecially since Rebecca was as cum
ming as she was INSCRIPTIONS. She
didn't expect to accomplish her work
all at once, but she did At her first
accusation Rose Indignantly told her
foster father and mother that they
must take her word or Rebecca's.
They didn't seem disposed to decide
for either, and Rose proudly left the
field to her enemy. Then Rebecca Of
fered to come in and help the old peo-
ing for them to accept the offer moved
in, bag and baggage.
Now the Kalberg household every
night at 8 O'Clock was darkened, the
couple going to bed and the niece pre-
tending to do so. Instead she usually
went out for amusement. Occasionally
she brought to the house fiashy young
fellow whom she introduced as Mr..
Straffin. One night Mrs. kalberg,
wanting something of Rebecca, went
to her room. There the old lady found
her niece with Straffin. Rebecca was
equal to the occasion. She begged her
aunt's forgiveness for keeping a Sc
cret from her. She had been secretly
married to Straffin. The aunt could
not understand why the matter had
been kept secret and was offended
with her niece for deceiving her and
marrying without mentioning the mat
ter to her But Rebecca said that her
husband could not gain his family's
consent to the marriage and would not
permit her to divulge it. There seemed
nothing for the old couple to do but
forgive the girl and permit her to re-
ceive her husband at the house as often
as she liked.
AS time passed Straffin appeared to
make no Roadway at gaining his fam
ily's consent to marry Miss Muir, and
she claimed that the marriage could
not be acknowledged without running
his prospects. More than a year passed
with no change in the situation, when
Mr. Kalberg died suddenly. His wife
continued to live in the house with Re
becca, and Straffin continued to visit
her. Soon after Kalberg's death his
wife, who had been long failing, also
died
Immediately after Mrs. Kalbergs
death Rebecca hunted through her
aunt's papers and found a will. To
her establishment. Kalberg had pos
sessed stocks and bonds innumerable in
safety deposit companies vaults. The
will devised that the income should be
Mrs. Kalbergs during her life and at
her death the property should all go
to Mrs. Rebecca Strafiin.
Here was a pretty pass. Straffin and
Rebecca had never been married. In
deed, he had never intended to marry
her. About the time of Mr. Kalberg's
death he had drifted away. Rebecca
was cunning and resourceful, but she
was not up to the correction of legal
flaw like this. She referred the matter
to an attorney, confessing the truth to
him, and he told her that since there
was no such person as Rebecca Straffin
the will counted for nothing. II she
could find Straffin, marry him and get
the certificate of marriage dated back
even a day before the date of the will,
she might thus secure the property.
but this would be perpetrating a fraud,
and it was sure to be found out
Rebecca, hoping possibly TO find a
previous will leaving the property to
her as Rebecca Muir, hunted the house
over, and in the desk that had been
used exclusively by Kalberg she did
find a previous will executed several
years before the last one. But it left
all the property, after Mrs. Kalberg's
death, to Rose Fales.
This was a double blow to Rebecca.
She had not only deprived herself of
fortune by her sin and the lie that ac-
companied it, but she had turned that
fortune over to the girl she had in
jured. She took the will to the lawyer
and offered him half the Inheritance if
he would find a way by which she
could inherit under the last will. He
told her that IL she gave him the
whole of it he would not be able to
make her the heir.
Rebecca formed plan of getting
some one authorized to perform mar
riage ceremonies to give her forged
certificate. but she could find no one
who cared, even for a handsome con-
sidera ton, to take the risk. She would
have torn up the will leaving the prop
erty to Rose Fales. but her lawyer
knew of its existence, and she dared
not. Since she could decide on moth
ing she did nothing Meanwhile rela-
tives of the kalbergs were putting in
an appearance to discover if the old
couple had left any property.
One day Rose Fales received a note
from an attorney stating that she was
heir TO a large estate and he would be
pleased TO secure it for Der for a prop
er legal fee. She called upon him. and
he told her of the will in her favor.