The Chickasha daily express. (Chickasha, Indian Territory [Okla.]) 1899-current, 1907-02-14

It would bring him to terms If he re.
fused to marry me when she died.
The end came sooner than I was
led to suspect He had been with her
for an hour before. and came to call
me to take his place. / had wondered
at her symptoms, but now for the
first time I guessed. He had been
slowly poisoning her. but getting tired
OF waiting had, during my absence,
given her a larger dose. She knew
that she was dying.
Here" she gasped; Il trust you
Hide this will until my lawyer comes
should have let him take It with hin
that night. Hide it,"
THE lawyer who had made Cousin
Rhodys last will took It on himself
to look out for that will. He would
not take my word that at the verl
last Cousin Rbody ordered NE to de
stroy that will, as could prove by q
housemaid This maid was deaf and
while she heard enough to know that
Cousin Rhody had ordered one Of the
Wills burned she was not quite sure
which one it might be; but, under my
direct look, faltered that 1t was the
newest will.
But the lawyer went at the matter
In high handed manner. He put
every room and drawer in the house
under lock and key until a search was
made for that viii. He sent for a
woman to not only search my room
but myself for that missing will, which
carried in my bosom. looked about
for hiding place for the will, but
there was none. Quick as thought
stepped from a window to an outside
balcony. The next window on this side
the house opened into the room where
they had laid Its mistress. Before the
woman or sheriff reached my room, /
had, by means of these windows, I'M
seen, gained access to where Cousin
Rhody lay in her coffin. | tucked the
will under her body, and when the
sheriff and the woman brought To
search me came into this room was
sitting calmly reading.
"Renarking that I had been sent by
Cousin Rhody's heir to watch by her
body, went very quietly, though with
some good show Of Indignation over
the insult as termed 1t, back to my
own room by way Of the doors now.
1T was several hours before the
chance was given me to return to
Cousin Rhody's room, and when did
so | found the coffin closed, and
funeral director In charge with orders
to not again open 1t.
In vain I plead with the heir to al
low 1t opened He had given orders
that 1t should not be. It was not pol
Icy felt to tell him Of the will. l i
would get 1t afterward. | knew she
would be placed In the family vault.
She had ordered that she was not to
be buried in the ground. She feared
lnterment. The will, | consoled my
self, | could get at any time. There
were two keys to the vault, and | had
ayailed myself of one.
"But 1t was never to be. Knowing
hat Cousin Rhody's death would not
bear investigation, and fearing that
ret the question might be raised rela-
i've to how she died, the heir had the
,ofin placed in the stone niche pre-
Jared for 1t, and giving out that he
cared ghouls might steal the body
md ask reward. he placed heavy
harges of dynamite in and about the
ofin. l did not know Of this until too
ate.
How he jeered when I told him
vhere I had hidden Cousin Rhodys
ast will. How he scorned me when
threatened to tell the lawyer where
had hidden the will, and why Cousin
lhody had died. Who would believe
neg he said, and if they did, who
ould now get at Cousin Rhody
'ronck's body to prove it? / was a
ool.' He gave me some money, but
e never married me. He is stiIl liy-
ig. He has become a miser of late.
lie holds all of Cousin Rhody's land
ltact. He has not squandered it. 1t
20 years
Does the housekeeper and lawyer
Ill live?" the professor hurriedly
sked.
YES" came the murmuring reply.
But another was speaking now. It
as the young nurse. clear and IN
sive.
'If that woman tells the truth,
+hich she has 50 far as can follow
er, then | am Rhoda Bronck's heir,
II my mother was Mariory Bronck-~
The hypnotized woman struggled
ack to normal condition, wonder
lg what she might have said.
The Bronck vault was opened by
.wfuI edict. A workman famous for
andling explosive in safe manner was
)und willing to take sway the stone
ON the niche holding the coffin, and
SIX moving it out. It was then found
lat the present heir had done hts
-ork we'll; under other hands in re-
loving the explosion that might have
slowed would have wrecked a town
bout that vault The win was found
5 stated By the nurse, but ere It was
)und, she and the man she loved-or
ated-had disappeared forever from
iat land.