The Hartford republican. (Hartford, Ky.) 18??-1926, 1913-09-26
A PLAN
FoILED
BY ESTHER VANDEVEER

The new connection was especially un-
fortunate for him and his only child.
Mildred, who was sixteen years old at
the time of her fathers second mar
riage. Mrs. Borland was no sooner
married than she laid plan 10 secure
her husbands fortune. He was suffer
ing from an incurable disease when
she married him. and this enabled her
TO work her plan more easily.
Her first move was to make the
house so unpleasant for her stepdaugh-
ter that she was forced to leave 1t and
20 to live with an aunt. This enabled
her to have her husband to herself,
and as soon as his daughter had gone
the stepmother began a systematic
nagging upon her husband to compel
him to make will leaving his proper.
ty to her.
Had Mr.. Borland been in good health
he might have withstood her prod
ding: but. affected as he was with a
nervous disease and made a virtual
prisoner by his wife. it was not long
before he broke down under the strain
and signed a will leaving all his pos
sessions to her. except some swamp
Previous to his marriage Borand
had willed everything he owned to
Mildred. Mrs. Borland knew Of this
will and would have forced it from
her husband that she might destroy it,
but it was in Mildred's keeping The
only thing that Jezebel could do was
to torture her husband into making
another in her own favor. AS Mr..
Borland grew worse his wife kept ev-
cry one from him except his physician
and an occasional friend, her brother
giving as a reason that the invalid
was not in a condition to see any one.
She realized that Mildred's friends
after her fathers death might advise
her to try to break the will. but the
schemer relied upon her being able to
cut of any proof that any undue in
fluence had been brought to bear on
the testator. She changed the serv-
ants frequently in order that they
might not get an inkling Of what she
was doing. She once week intro
duced into the sickroom friends of
her husband, but never permitted any
of them to remain alone with him
moment.
At last Borland died. His wife pro-
duced the will he had made in her ia
vor. and lawyer to whom she had
paid a large retaining fee stood ready
to enforce 1t against any demands that
might be set up by poor Mildred. who
had not cent in the world to prose-
cute with and no one to take an In,
terest in her case. 81
Soon after her fathers death Mil
dred asked permission of her stepmoth-
er to take away a few belongings she
had left there. She was permitted to-
do SO, was denied nothing she claim
ed and went away with a 'boxful bf
odds and ends. among them a few
books. On getting them to her home
she looked them over -teaffuily before
putting them away. SOmeUf the,beoks
she had loved when child! aOne of
these she took up and was reading
passage when she tnoticed
daub on word, Turning the page.
she noticed another daub on smother
word. A few pages farther was still
another. Turning over the leaves. she'
found the book full Of these daubs that
had evidently been made With differ.
ent substances. = Sci'utinizing! them
closely, she found that some of them
might have been made wifi II drop of
coffee. Some with the juice Of u berry. /
and on one so much of the substitute
had been left that she was able to
examine it closely and surmised 1t to
be potato. ~ s@ fe8t --T1t
Mildred was puzzled. She tried to
from what room she had
taken it, but could not do SO. A sus- 4
picion came to her that these daubs
might mean something. Two words !.
that We're daubed wife" and VIII
directed this suspicion. She wrote the
words down'in the order in which they.
came. but they werea tumble. If they
had been dalIhed' to tell something the
person who had done the work had not J
been able to find consecutive words /.
for the purpose. .3. .-sr .--5 A-l 4
Then Mildred cut out the words she !
had written and began trying to ar
range them so that they would mean
something. Several times she gave up
the puzzle, but always returned to it.
She made certain sentences. but found
iothlng shtteIligibIe for the whole
Finally she hit upon two words--"my'T
and .wifer for-aI beginning which,
after many transpositions. solved the !,
puzzle. The-fnal ,reading was this: !
My wife is, holding, us a prisoner.
cannot communicate with any one except.
her and her 'bfother--She has forced me
10 make a win in her favor. 1t Is not my
last will and testament. That instrument
is POSSES .teD- by my dppghter. 20 whom
There was:lHo date or signature.
AIildred's theory wAsl that her. fa Their