The Washington times., 1913-10-12
DAILY
THE FLYING COURTSHIP F. 1KyArH
Serial The Plot Laid Washington Baltimore

you. Do you think, dear, YOU can care
enough for me to"
She had risen from her chair and
stood before Inc, straight and proud
her dak eyes tender and shining.
7 think, she said falteringly, that
If l have deprived you of anything
Dan. It is only fair to make restitu.
ton That is
Mary cried. starting to my feet
and reaching for her.
Beg pardon" said a voice behind
must tell you of this
with a gesture of annoyance, I fear
l turned and confronted young Nesbit
He was smiling at US, and in his hanc
he held forth a phonograph cylinder
I'm afraid I've done something ex.
had to have your clothes Cleaned up
Mr.: Mansfield. and in taking things oui
, of the pockets ! found this. 1t happens
that have one OF these machines In
the house; 1 do some of my law lork
hero. 1 was so curious about the af.
it into my machine. 1 suppose YOU
know what the cylinder is?"
Mary AMI looked at each other and
then back at the cylinder.
"So.,. No.. 1 , said; I've no idea"
We followed him wonderingIy, and
watched him slip the cylinder into
place on a phonograph that stood al
the side Of a desk. There was a dou-
bie set Of ear pieces. and he handed
Mary and me one each.
Now. listen." he said, as we placed
them to our ears
He turned a switch connected with
the little electric motor, and the cy,-
inoer BEGAN to revolve. There was an
instant OF confused Iuzzing and then
I; Rufus Jennings. being Of sound
and disposing mind and memory, dc
hereby declare this to be my last will
ana testament, expressly revoking all
other wills and testaments made by
direct that after my lawful and
Just debts shall have been paid
n. Mary dropped the receiver with a
TITS Uncle Rufus!" she exclaimed,
The missing winw cried. you
recognize his voice?'
Perfectly"
The cylinder went on again, and the
phonograph repeated into my ears the
clear, rather sharp voice Of rufus Jen-
nings. Mary listened, too.
We heard 1t to the end. In some re-
spects 1t did not differ materially from
the will that Vinton had In his posses
sion, although 1t bequeathed to Mary
more than one-ffth Of the property.
and made no provision for an income
date Of 1t. as declared in the voice of
Jennings himself. was very recent
clearly later than the written document
which / had gained and then lost
Mary and 1 looked ct each other
inder were repeated: The chimney
weisht-the thing which had thrust
absent -mindedly into my pocket, and
which had by pure luck escaped de-
struction when the aeroplanes crashed
to earth-was the last will Of Rufus
Jennings!
Are you a lawyer" I demanded Of
young Nesbitt.
Il practice at it." he admitted, smil-
ing:
Can you tell me II a will like that
is legal?'
1T beats me-" he answered, knitting
his forehead TT would probably de-
pend on circumstances. II there were
witnesses, for instance''-
1T can be proved that he spoke of
this will" I said excitedly, remember
Rsas had Spoken jnst Sefore he
That might help" said Nesbitr.
There are cases where verbal wills
have been probated. This seems to be
neither a verbal nor a written will.
never heard Of such a case"
But II it could be shown that it was
this testator's habit to leave his rec
ords upon phonograph cylinders?"
That might help, too." he admitted.
Particularly IL the will did not hap
pen to be contested. In a contest, Of
course. with a written will against 1t.
why-well, to tell you the truth, I
don't believe there's a precedent for
such a situation. II you'll excuse me-
I'm going to dig for A while among
my books. It's an extraordinary case
extraordinary"
As young Nesbitt left the room, l
turned to Mary and cried exultantly: