Year: 1875

| stantially as follows: He was a nephew
| of the late Mrs Shelmire, and was quite
| boy when his aunt was married. His


new uncle saw him on that occasion and
| took quite fancy to him. The wedding,
he said, was in distant town where his
parents resided, and when the wedding
party broke up Mr.. Shelmire said to him ::
Remember me, my boy, if you ever
| want help" Years after, when chance
left him. penniless in London, he remem-
bered the circumstance, and went in
search of Mr.. Shelmire and the old man
gave him warm welcome. Your aunt
| is dead, my boy" he said, :" and | have


no kith nor kin Oh earth that know of;
had a daughter, but she is dead, too,
and can't learn that she has left me any
| children to take care of You are well
come indeed my lad" With this he


took him home and treated him most
affectiorately while he stayed. The old


man was anxious to adopt him and keep
him with him till death should separate
them; but Bledsoe was sailor, and soon
began to long for another voyage, and at
last told the old man that he must go
The night before he went Mr.. Shelmire


sat up after HIS usual bedtime writing,


and in the morning he gave to his
guest a folded paper which he told
him would do him good some time. The
| old man at the same time gave him
elO0, and, leaving London the same
day, BledSOe had seen no more of ii
| until the day before his interview with
the proctor He had been at sea most of
the time since, and had learned bv the
| merest chance in Liverpool, while look
ing over the files of paper, of the
death of Jacob Shelmire Curiosity led
him to examine the document which he
had given him, and he discovered, to his
| amaZement, that it was the last will and
testament, giving all property to him
and making him his executor. In addi-
ton to this the fellow swore that he had
often seen Mr.. Shelmire and both the
witnesses write, and that he knew these


were the genuine signatures.


That the man had lied from beginning


to end could not have the least 'oubt.


saw deliberate, determined perjury in


his snaky-looking eye. For two hours
did | cross examine him, endeavoring to
| find a weak spot in his story but he had
| thoroughly fortified himself, and de-
livered his evidence with all the cool
| ness and nonchalance of an expert. AS
for Passmore, he swore quite as plumply
as Bledsoe that he was well acquainted





names were on the will, and that they
were all genuine signatures. Further
than this, he remembered distinctly the
fact of Bledsoe's visit, and even went so
far as to swear that Mr.. Shelmire sent


him for Drake and Larned the night be
fore Bledsoe left He said that he found


them, and requested them to go to the
house on business, and that both had
told him they would 90.


| could make nothing more of them


than this; and the surrogate admitted


the will to probate when the examination
was finished. From this decision | took
an appeal to higher court.


shall have nothing to say at present


of the triumphant looks and actions of
these two scheming villains, nor the grief


and dependency of poor Virginia. The
sight of her pretty face, pale and patient,
| and so very anxious, made me nervous


and unfit for work; and at last | told


my student, Will Wyman, that he must


talk with her whenever she came INTO the


office.


"TeH her" said, "that ! am working


hard for her and that | will do what can


be done"


And with that left him to talk with


her and comfort her. And Master VIII,


as | have good reason to think, was not


averse to the duty and performed it TO


the mutual satisfaction of both.


Only a few weeks interviewed before
the sittings of the court at which the


case was to be tried | worked with the


zeal and fidelity of my nature, and with
the Indictment of my sympathy for the
poor girl; but when the day of trial came
/ ha! to confess to myself that had ac-


coInpiished next to nothing. Icould not
find a single person who knew anything
about Bledsoe or his pretended visit to


the deceased; and -ur. Shelmire as well
as both of the pretended witnesses to
the viii were SO little known in the city,
| and their transactions with business men
which required them to write had been
so few, that it was with great difficulty
that ! could find anyone who knew this


writing. And of those who had seen
them write and who examined the pre-
tended will, there was not one who could
| swear that either of the signatures were
not genuine.


| entered the court on the morning of
the trial with strange feeling of hope
| lesSness Except the assertions of fraud
and conspiracy that | could make for my
client, / knew of nothing that promised
4 to tell in her favor. Virginia took her
seat at the counsel table by me, and
/ looked with interest and curiosity upon
I the unacCust0med scene. She was look
| ing very handsome, Notwithstanding the
| anxiety in her face; and there were
| others present besides VIII Wayman


who thought SO too. | had almost for
| gotten to mention the deep interest that
| Master VIII had taken in the case since
| its commencement. | wanted somebody
| to whom | could talk in confidence about
! it. nd so he had become thoroughly post
! ed in ali its details. | knew that he pom
| dered over them considerably, but | was
| far from thinking that he had worked
| out anything that could be of any prac-
| tical use in the case. | understood him


better before the day was over.


The case was called and a jury i'm
paneled The respondents counsel
! opened the case in an address of half an


hour, giving all the details and telling


minutely what he could prove. Then
| followed the evidence of Bledsoe and
| Passmore, given as audaciously and com
pletely as before the surrogate. My
| cOunsel's examination failed to en-
| trap either of them into any iRconsisten-
| cy, or to shake their wonderful self-pos-


session in the slightest.


At the conclusion of the respondents


case my counsel addressed the jury in
| behalf of my client. He roundly
charged perjury and fraud upon the two


mer Who had occupied the witness box
| all the morning, pointing out the suspl-
| cious circumstances that both witnesses
| to the pretended will were dead. and the
| difficulty of finding anyone that knew
| their writing. He insisted that the pre-
| tended will was u base fabrication, ard
that the whole story of these men was h
| lie, coined and uttered for the purpose
| of defrauding a poor girl of her patri-


mony.


Virginia told her story in brief. She


told who she was, how long she had
| lived with Mr. Shelmire, and what her
relations with him had been. The point
| in her evidence was that he had very
| often declared that she should be his
heir; that he had never mentioned the
subject of a will to her. and that she


never heard him speak of Rufus Bledsoe.
The Jury were evidently interested in
the girl, and, | thought, sympathized
! with her; but | well knew that this could


not prevail against the strong affirmative
| evidence of the respondent.


Will Wayman had sat quietly by the
table, taking minutes of the evidence.
| He now handed me scrap of paper,


folded, torn and soiled, with the follow
| ing written upon it:


| Mr.. John Gregg-Please send me two bari s
| -four, Barlow Mills. JACOB SBELMIRE.


The person to whom this was addressed
| had long been large operator in flour,
1 - IL \ l..