The Lakeland evening telegram., 1917-04-16

Il
ment for something.
II have drawn it To read. For and III
consideration of his relinqu!shihS All
claims on the Bradford estate
But the will being produced N'u
have no claim on the bradford estate.
The will will not have been pro
duced when the note is signed.
You should have demanded cash.
"You have no cash Besides this
matter must hc settled secretly AMI at
once. Delay would lc fatal to me.
Suppose after / have received the
estate decline to pay tie note on the
ground that The transaction is frimi
nal:"
In thai case you will not long enjoy
your property.
had been Inclined To- think his ra,e
very weak. hui considering that he
was, or suppa od lie WIS. dc1ilns with
a .irl who would not care 10 live IN Ter
ror of her life. changed my opinion.
"But why" asked. Interested more
and more in his plan. would it not he
wiser for YOU 10 destroy the will ana
inherit half the estate aS heir-at-law:
That question | decline to answer.
There may he Il number of reasons. |
NAV know of another will that | can
not control and which is sure 10 be
produced My uncle did not trust me
and might have put a duplicate will i'll
some ones haHd to he used in case
captured or disputed the one he had
made. have no knowledge Of such a
will. | simply state the case 10 yon
alphabetically"
There was no doubt the rascal had
thought It all out and had provided
for every possible contingency. What
was | TO do: Delay would be as dan
gerous to Miss Thurber as To me.
resolved to go with him and take ad-
vantage OF any favorable circumstance
that might arise. So long as he thought
I was Miss Thurber I had great ad-
vantage Of him. | had thick veil on
my hat, but in the park did not put 1t
over my face. Iates. II obliged to face
the light It might avail me.
accompanied my man to car wait
ing without the park. We entered It.
and he drove away. Presently he stop
ped and told me he must blindfold me.
After Objecting | consented, and after
that | did not know where we went
When we reached our destination he
helped me out of the car and guided
me up II few steps into house. When
he removed the bandage from my eyes
we were standing in a furnished room.
1t was dimly lighted. but l put my
hands to my eyes to cover my face, pre-
tending that the transition from dark
ness to light was painful. Neverthe-
less | caught a glimpse OF table with
writing materials on II in the center
of the room
When | took my hands from my eyes
l turned my face from the light. did
not know how well the man knew
Miss Thurber, but l did not wish him
to see my features until could no
longer avoid giving him an opportunity
to discover his mistake. Meanwhile he
had unlocked a drawer in bureau and
taken out n document, which l surmis-
ed to he the will What appeared to
be a note lay on the table. He was un-
folding the document, and | surmised
intended 10 hold 1t up for me to in
spect. In another moment he would
doubtless call on me to do so and
would see my features.
While his eyes were bent on the docu-
ment | caught sight Of the letters.
Last will and testament" printed on
it This was enough for me. l deter
mined to risk its being what l wanted.
When he turned from the paper to me
he looked into the muzzle of my re-
volver within an inch of his nose.
OF course he was armed. But what
use Is Il weapon which costs a man his
life If he makes "A motion to use it,"
Drop that document on the table" |
said in my own husky voice.
Surprise, irritation. horror, were writ.
ten ON his face lie dare not disobey.
lie tossed the will on the table, and
never taking my eye from his for an
instant, picked 1t up. taking the un-
signed note at the same time. Then I
began To back out of the room,
backed into hall and out through A
door, he following me. alert to take nd.
vantage OF my changing my glance for
an instant to draw a weapon. was
obliged to back into the unknown: but
having come over the ground even
though blindfolded. had some idea ~
1t and got safely down the steps. on Ia
the sidewalk and kept on till backed
up against an automobile.
The problem was now to get into I,
and start Ii without giving him an on.
portunity to draw and shoot me 7
thought 1t necessary to order him 10
throw up his hands. enforcing the or.
der by putting bullet close TO his en-
He obeyed readily. and. though | was
encumbered with my skirts. | tumble,
into the car behind the wheel. What /
could not do with my feet in starting I
did with my. right hand, holding the
wheel with my left. In this way | 90,