The independent-reporter. [volume] (Skowhegan, Me.) 1909-1955, 1911-11-09

! sole nelr by the court OF cnancery, Dut
was astonished to find none of those
securities that his cousin was reputed
| to have possessed, not even a deed to
the homestead, appeared among the
deceased's papers. However, this was
a valuable piece of property, and Peter
Brown moved into 1t.
Cicily Boardman was overwhelmed
by her loss. At first her mind dwelt
solely on the blighting Of her life. 1t
was not till later that her loss Of for
tune occurred to her. Even a compe-
tency would have made n great differ
ence to her and her mother, who was
In feeble health. But gradually she
rose above both these misfortunes SO
far rs to take hold of the world again
and perform the work Providence had
allotted her. She had but Just resign
ed n position as teacher in the county
school. After her lances death she
resumed It,
Cieily knew little about the Brown
estate. except that Harvey had told her
that it was Of considerable value
When she had resumed condition to
enable her to think about worldly af-
fairs and heard that the estate had
turned out to be. of much less value
than had been expected she was sur
prised. Could her lover have misrep-
resented the matter to her? The sup
position was not to be entertained for
moment She had dwelt almost to
brooding on the words she had heard
In his voice, or a voice very like his,
as In some way connected with his
death. but no Interpretation to them
had occurred to her. When she was
told that Harvey had left no fortune
except the Brown homestead an ex-
PLANTATION of the message telephoned
to her on the day of his death flashed
into her brain.
Its In the northeast corner of the
smokehouse.'
What smokehouse? There was no
smokehouse on the Brown property.
She and her mother occupied few
acres of ground that had formerly
contained the buildings of n farm. A
smokehouse was. besides the dwelling,
the only building left. Had Harvey
while waiting for his wedding been
seized with n presentiment that he
might die unmarried and, remembering
that In this case his cousin would get
all his property, buried something for
her in the smokehouse? Taking up n
pick and shovel, she went into the
smokehouse and began to dig.
She had but to remove n few inches
of earth when she came to one Of
those tin boxes commonly used for
keeping documents. Taking it up, she
ran with it into the house and up
into her room. The box was locked,
but the key was tied to the wire han
die on the lid. Opening the box, she
took out bonds, stock certificates and
lastly a deed to the Brown homestead.
One paper remained on the bottom,
contained in an envelope sealed with
wax. 1t was addressed to Cicily.
Tearing 1t open, she took out folded
paper indorsed in printed letters,
Last Will and testament Of and In
writing John Harvey Brown" I'm
folding the document, Cicily read
few words bequeathing all the tesla
tors possessions of every kind to her.
But why had her lover not told her
that he had left the box in the smoke
house? Gradually n probable eXplana-
ton came to her Harvey feared that
In the event Of his death before his
marriage his cousin. even If Harvey
made Il will in her favor, might get
possession of the document and de-
stroy it. Harvey was a secretiye man
and might not have intended to speak
of the buried box II no necessity arose
for doing So
And here came up the mystery OF
the telephone message Had not Har
yey when caught In the storm been
aware of his danger, gone into house
where there was telephone and sent
the message? But this theory would
not hold, for If he could go into a
house he might remain there and be
out Of danger Moreover, if Harvey
had sent the message from any house
on the route he WAS known to have
traversed the fact could be ascer-
tanned.
Cicily hlalsd the will into the court
of chancwy aud was put in possession
of her property. One day she drove
over the road from the Brown homo
stead to the place where Iarvey's
dead body had been found looking for
houses in which there were telephones.
The only instrument was in Farmer
Hardwick's. she interviewed Hard
wick, heard his story, and the two
stood face to face with Il deeper mys-
terry than the one that had thus far
puzzled them.
Cicily Boardman has not married
and will never marry. She occupies
the Brown homestead alone since her
mother died, living life of solitude
She is known rs a woman whose mind
Is normal ON all subjects save one.
That one is a belief that she received
n telephone message from her fiance
after bis death, Farmer Hardwick
lent color to the story she tells so long
as he lived, but even his confederation
failed to convince any one of Cicily
Boardman's sanity.
There are a few-advanced thinkers
Who believing In the possibility Of
90 VCSfh tho