The Meeker herald., 1918-02-02
A Scheme That
Failed
lcopyrlsht. i1i7. western Nsvsp.p.r Unioe. j
3, nNoR MARSH

respectable family. were poor.
An uncle In South America died and
left them coffee plantation. The be-
quest was made with the provision
that they live on the property and
develop 1t. 1t was not worth much.
but might be made valuable.
Ben was disposed to try business
scheme mt home and forfeited his share
of the Inheritance by remaining where
he wns. Jim took up the property In
South America.
Ben lived with widowed sister.
who soon after died. leaving her broth
er a little four-year-old girl.
At the age Of fifteen the girl. Adele
Weatherby. became her uncle's house
keeper. There was sincere affection
between uncle and niece. the relation
between them being more like that be-
tween father and daughter.
When Adele was seventeen years old
her uncle paid some attention to Mise
Mildred Conyngham, young lady Of
the fashionable set.
When Mr.. Coverdale was about nifty
years old he fell i'll. Miss Conynghnm
visited him frequently and sent deli.
cacies, He was devotedly nursed by
Adele for months, when unfortunately
she also fell ~. It was then that Miss
Conyngham betook herself. bag and
baggage to the Coverdale home to
care for the invalids. not waiting for
an Invitation or even their permission
Both invalids were Ill long while
and Miss Conyngham was unremittins
In her attentions to them.
Meanwhile Jim COverdale In South
America had prospered.
The only knowledge Of Jim Cover
dale's growing wealth that ever
reached his native town came in this
wise: A man who had been to South
America met Miss Conyngham and she
asked him II he had ever seen or
heard anything Of Jim Coverdale liv.
Ing In Brazilf
ayes" was the reply. II have been
on his plantations"
ellis plantationsf"
eyes, I suppose he has a dozen Of
them. Jim Coverdale Is an enormously
rich man."
At this point Of the story several
important matters connected with II
occurred very near together. Jim
Coverdale sold out his property in Bra
I'll and left for his former home In the
United States. Before his departure
he made will leaving all he possessed
to his brother. This will ..e sent, by
different steamer from the one on
which he sailed, to his brother's lawyer:
John williams, with instructions to
shy nothing about 1t. The ship on
which Jim Covertlale sailed was lost
in 4 storm and all on board went down
with her.
Ben Coverdale died a month after
the arrival Of the will, but he never
knew Of his Inheritance. Then came
news Of the shipwreck and Jim Cow
erdale's name in the list Of passengers.
When Ben Coverdale's will was
opened 1t was found that his small
property was left to Adele.
When Miss Conyngham heard Of the
death of Jim Coverdale she felt GER
tain he had left his property to his
brother, Ben. Hearing Of Jim Cover
dale's death. MFR. Williams opened the
will and announced to Adele that she
was the owner of princely fortune.
Then came Miss Conyngham with a
statement that Ben Coverdale had told
her that In codicil to his will he had
left her a third Of. his property.
The fact was. Miss Conyngham
knowing that Jim Coverdale was rich.
that he was dead and had doubtless
left his property to his brother. tried
to induce Ben Coverdale to marry her.
Failing in that she used all her ener-
gies to induce him to leave he- por-
ton of his possessions. Coverdale
finally yielded and sent for his 30
llcitOr.
When the will was admitted to pro
bate It was evident that something
had been torn from 1t. This soon be-
came a matter of general knowledge
and Immediately the friends of Adele
Weatherby and those Of Miss Conyng-
ham were pitted against each other.
Up to this time the contents of
James Coverdale's will were unknown
to anyone but Adele and the attorney,
who had 1t in his keeping.
For a time neither admitted nor de-
MED that any codlcil was attached to
the will. Later the attorney acknowl-
edged that there had been a codicil and
that 1t had been torn of, but this adj
mission was made only to Miss Conyng-
ham. She was assured that she would
not be benefited by its production and
she was advised not to compel him to
produce 1t.
This was the end Of the matter till
the case came into court and Mr.. Will
liams was called upon to state II the
will had been mutilated. He produced
the. will and fragment, which he
showed had been torn from 1t by the
Jagged edges Of each paper which fit-
ted into the other. Then he proceeded
to read the fragment: