The Democratic banner. (Mt. Vernon, Ohio) 1898-192?, 1913-09-30
A PLAN
FOILED
BY ESTHER VANDEvEER

The new connection was especially IN
fortunate for him and his only child.
Mildred. who was sixteen years old at
the time of her fathers second mar
rage. Mrs. Borand was no sooner
married than she laid plan to secure
her husbands fortune. He was suffer
ing from an incurable disease when
she married him. aud 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
go 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 systematic
nagging upon her husband to compel
him to make d 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 virtual
prisoner by his wife, 1t was not long
before he broke down under the strain
and signed a will leaving all his pos
sessions to her. except some swamp
lands that were nearly worthless.
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 Jezebe 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 ar occasional friend, her brother
giving as q reason that the invalid
was not in condition to see any one.
She realized that Mildred's friends
after her 1ather's death might advise
her to try to break the will. but the
schemer relied upon her being able to
cut off any proof that any undue in
| 1uence 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 a
| moment.
At last Borland died. His wife pro-
| duced the will he had made In her fa-
vor. and lawyer to whom she had
! paid q large retaining fee stood ready
| to enforce it against any demands that
might be set up by poor Mildred. who
had not a cent in the world to prose-
cute with and no one to take an in
terest in her case.
! 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 boxful of
odds and ends, among them few
books. On getting them to her home
she looked them over tearfully before
! putting them away. Some of the books
she had loved when child. One of
these she took up and was reading a
| familiar passage when she noticed a
daub on a word. Turning the page.
she noticed another daub on another
| 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. Scrutinizing them
closely, she found that some of them
might have been made with a drop of
coffee. some with the juice of berry,
and ON one so much of the substance
had been left that she was able to
examine it closely and surmised it to
be potato.
Mildred was puzzled. She tried to
remember from what room she had
taken it, but could not do so. sus-
picion came to her that these daubs
might mean something. Two words
that were daubed wife" and "Will'
directed this suspicion. She wrote the
words down in the order in which they
came but they were tumble. IL they
had been daubed to tell something the
person who had done the work had not
been able to find consecutive words
for the purpose.
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
nothing intelligible for the whole.
Finally she hit upon two words my
and wife" for beginning which.
after many transpositlOns. solved the
puzzle. The final reading was this:
My wife is holding me a prisoner.
cannot communicate with any one except
her and her brother. She has forced me
to make will In her favor, 1t is not my
last will and testament That instrument
is possess (ed) by my daughter. to whom
1 give all my property.
There was no date or signature
Mildred's theory was that her father
had managed to keep the book near
him and when his meals were brought
to him had used bits Of food in lieu OF
a,ta kr