People's Pilot, Volume 2, Number 48, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 19 May 1893 — ALITTLE COMEDY OF ERRORS [ARTICLE+ILLUSTRATION]

ALITTLE COMEDY OF ERRORS

By SSMORTON

ICopj righted 1891, by S. S. Morton, and published by special arrangement]

CHAPTER XlL— Continued. ‘•The only difference, I believe, was In the amount of Jenner’s legacy. In that first will Mrs. Dunkirk bequeathed five thousand dollars to Jenner, in consideration of her long and faithful services; whereas, you know, in this — other will”—she spoke these words shrinkingly and with averted glance—“this legacy was doubled, was it not?” “Yes yes you are right,” was North’s absent-minded response, while his eyes, as he kept them resolutely upon his note-book, sparkled in triumph. “I merely wish to get every little thread straightened out, just for my own benefit. Of course we maintain in public that you knew nothing about Mrs. Dunkirk’s will, never dreamed of the possibility of its existence —no, no, that’s a little too radical, in view of this letter; well, then, that you had no definite knowledge of its existence until this contest came up in court.” He paused here and idly sketched squares and angles and perfectly meaningless characters in his note-book while his thoughts ran on rapidly: “At last I have found the missing link and my chain of evidence is being fast welded together. Jenner—surely there can be no mistake about it; these three are the conspirators—Jenner, Mrs. Maynard and Noll! Why, it just occurs to me Jenner is that missing witness "Whose mysterious disappearance occa-

sioned so much delay and speculation, as well as recrimination, each side accusing the other of having spirited her off in order to prevent her testimony from being taken. In view of her confidential relations to her mistress for -so many years it was believed that she -could give important testimony in reference to Mrs. Dunkirk’s will; but when the papers were issued summoning her as a witness it was ascertained that she had suddenly disappeared from New York, and no trace of her could be discovered. Now, to what conclusion -does this flight of hers point? Clearly and indisputably to her complicity m this forgery! She is beyond all doubt as deeply concerned in it as Mrs. Maynard or Noll; indeed, without her aid they could not have carried out their at aIL I presume it was a part of their plan for her to disappear in •case the will were contested. Yes, yes, there can be no doubt now about this conspiracy. I comprehend it from beginning to end. The evidence is accumulating, and each suspicious circumstance fits perfectly into its appropriate place. The motive that actuated Jenner is apparent enough; the generous legacy from her old mistress was the stake for which she played. In order to secure for herself these glittering thousands, after that genuine document had been -destroyed, it was necessary that a will in favor of some available and not improbable heir should be produced and probated. Annie Dupont, the sole heir- • at-law, was among the missing; or rather, she was in that still more hopeless category of persons whose existence has never been satisfactorily established. Clearly, then, Annie Dupont was not to be considered in this connection. No more available person than Mrs. Maynard could be found; therefore she was the one selected. Now, his line o f argument would lead to the conclusion that the conspiracy originated with Jenner; but on the other hand, with the same facts a little differently configured, it coula be' as clearly shown that Mrs. Maynard and Noll originated the scheme, selected Jenner as an indispensable accomplice, and by allowing her legacy Jo be doubled drew her, a willipg instrutoent, into the conspiracy, 'this Is undoubtedly the true state of the case. ll was Jenner, beyond all question, who placed the will in Mrs. Dunkirk’s desk and subsequently led up to the dis-

covery of it by the lawyers. It was Jenner alone who could have gained access to Mrs. Dunkirk's private seal. It was Jenner who recollected that Mr. Kernan drew that first will; Jenner who furnished the specimens of handwriting by the aid of which the forgery was effected; but they made their first fatal mistake in dating this forged will after Norristown’s death and Kernan’s departure for Europe. Well, well, I am slowly solving all the mysteries of this case; and yet thus far, notwithstanding my reckless attempts to do so, I have been unable to put my hand on a single direct and indisputable proof of Mrs. Maynard’s share in the conspiracy. Can 1 hope yet to obtain this evidence?” He raised his eyes to her as this question entered his mind. She was apparently lost in reverie as profound as his had been; she seemed even to have lost all consciousness of his presence, and when he spoke abruptly after a long interval of silence she started as if the whole current of her thoughts had been changed. “Jenner was quite an old family servant, was she not, Mrs. Maynard?” The question was so strangely irrelevant to her own reflections that Mrs. Maynard smiled a little as she answered it “Yes, she came from England with Dr. and Mrs. Dunkirk when they were married, forty years ago. She was their housekeeper, and in this capacity she lived with Mrs. Dunkirk all these years.” “A clever person, is she not?” “She is a woman of more than ordinary intelligence, and Mrs. Dunkirk always treated her as a friend, rather than a servant Jenner’s family in England were very respectable middleclass people, and she received a fair education, which, added to her native shrewdness, made her appear quite the average of her class. A very sensible, clever woman.”

“Was she friendly to you?” “From the very first I was secure in her good graces. It always seemed a little odd to me, for she was not at all disposed to show any friendliness to strangers.” North nodded slightly. He making his own shrewd mental comments on all these statements. “And now, Mrs. Maynard,” he said, “to pass abruptly to another point, as nearly as you can recollect, when was this will of Mrs. Dunkirk’s—the genuine one, you understand—when was it drawn?” “As nearly as I can recollect, and I am convinced that my memory is not at fault, it was made two years before my marriage; just six years ago.” “Then you have been married four years,” was North’s instantaneous comment, which, however, he kept to himself, merely saying aloud: “And it was destroyed some, ten months previous to her death—no, no, ten months previous to the present time, these dates are so very confusing—four months previous to her death. -Then all this time from the day on which it was drawn to the day on which it was destroyed—we can only approximate these dates, I presume?” abruptly. “I think so. I certainly have no definite knowledge of them.” “Well, then, during all this time—a period extending over about six years, not more and only a trifle less —that will was in Mrs. Dunkirk’s possession, and, so far as we can divine our sentiments in regard to it, she was entirely satisfied with the document, and was willing that it should stand as her last will and testament. Now, the next point that I propose to take up this morning, if I can do so without consuming too much time, is in reference to Hamilton Dupont. I consider it important for me to have his history, so far as it is known to you, clearly in my mind. His estrangement from Mrs. Dunkirk, and the uncertainty in which, to this day, that unhappy affair has involved the fate of his daughter, are matters of vital importance to us. Will you, therefore, please tell me briefly what you know of the history of Hamilton Dupont?” And with pencil poised over his note book, North waited for the recital. Mrs. Maynard began at once.

CHAPTER XIIL King—Let us from point to point this story know. —All’s Well That Ends Well. “Hamilton Dupont was the youngest of a large family, of which, by the time he reached the ago of twenty-one, he and Mrs. Dunkirk were the only survivors. The eldest of the children, Mrs. Dunkirk, was more than twenty years older than Hamilton; a disparity in age that prevented them from having any common interests or pleasures. All the other children died in infancy, and Mrs. Dupont died when Hamilton was in his tenth year. He was wild and ungovernable in his boyhood, and as he grew older he became so incorrigible that his father, who was a very hard, stern man, disinherited him.” “And—pardon the interruption, but one question, please—how soon after this did Mr. Dupont’s death occur?” “I really do not know, positively, but it could not have been many months after. Hamilton was only twenty-one when his father died.” “And after this sad event Mrs. Dun kirk and Hamilton were the only sur viving members of the family. Do you mean by this their immediate family, their father’s family, or, in a broader sense,, that there were no collateral branches, no cousins of any degree?” “I used the expression as Mrs. Dunkirk herself did, in its broader sense. She frequently spoke of the fact that her family was so nearly . extinct. She had not a relative in the world, she said, of whose existence she had any knowledge.” i . ... •’ “She was a widow, was she not, for many years?” “She was. Dr. Dunkirk was lost at sea on his way to Europe, a few years after their marriage Of course, though, Mr. North, you kqpw all this,” she added, checking herself with a weary little aihfie.*’ '*'* ’* North also smiled. “Well,” he said, “my one question has grown to several. I beg your par*

don for this long interruption. Will you please proceed, Mrs. Maynard?” “Where was I? Indeed, I have forgotten.” “You spoke last," observed North, referring by a glance to his notes, “of Hamilton Dupont’s reckless course, which resulted in his being disinherited; and my first question elicited the fact that within a comparatively short time after this event his father died.” “Oh, to be sure! Now don’t expect a detailed history, Mr. North, for my information is extremely fragmentary; but it is certain that there had always existed between Mrs. Dunkirk 'and her young brother a barrier of cold reserve, which time and his wayward conduct only increased. Mr. Dunkirk was not a woman possessed of warm affections. Her regard for people was purely a matter of intellectual esteem. If her stern judgment approved them, that was sufficient; if not, there was no tender voice in her heart to plead their cause. There was little in Hamilton’s wayward life of which she could approve; hence her total estrangement from him. “After the death of their father, however, she seemed to feel the loneliness of her position, and for the first time she turned to her brother Hamilton for sympathy and companionship. He was in trouble of every sort, drifting about in the world without aim or purpose, friends or prospects. She offered him everything—a home, wealth, social advantages, asking only that he renounce his youthful follies and strive for the future to devote his talents and energies to some useful and honorable pursuit. She finally induced him to accept this offer; and, having established him beneath her roof, she made every effort, faithfully, if not always wisely, to reclaim him from the error of his ways. His education was fair, although he had never completed any regular course of study, having been three times expelled from college. Mrs. Dunkirk urged him to enter one of the learned professions, and, though he had no inclination for such a career, he finally yielded to her importunities, choosing the study of medicine; and while he was pursuing the course at the university, she settled upon him a handsome allowance for his own personal expenses. “He was not long in attracting a large and brilliant circle of acquaintances, for his dashing manner and reckless style of expenditure made him universally popular. All this, however, interfered with more important matters; he could not respond to the constant demands of society and at the same time attend faithfully to his duties at the university, and the consequence was that his studies were neglected, his absence from lectures and clinics became the occasion of frequent reproofs from the faculty, and in time the report of his delinquencies reached Mrs. Dunkirk’s ears. “Of course she remonstrated with Hamilton, and he generally answered her reproaches with angry defiance. These scenes, however, always ended in a reconciliation, with promises of future good behavior on his part, and a resolution on hers to give him oue more trial. Thus affairs ran on until at last, without any warning, the catastrophe came. “Mrs. Dunkirk had at the very beginning of her compact with Hamilton exacted from him a solemn promise that he would not marry until he had obtained his diploma and established himself in practice. Unfortunately for this promise, chance threw him into the society of a young lady who was neither wealthy nor highly connected, but whose wonderful beauty, combined with her sweetness and intelligence, took his heart by storm.

“We shall be obliged to imagine all the details of this little romance, since only the merest outlines of it are on record. His wooing prospered, and within a few months the lady became his bride. He contrived to conceal the fact of his marriage from his sister for several weeks, continuing to reside under her roof and devoting himself to the university with a zeal that he bad never before exhibited; and Mrs. Dunkirk, delighted at what she considered the first real evidence of reformation, looked on with kind approval and encouragement. It was in the full tide of her satisfaction with his course that some one brought her the astounding intelligence of his marriage. • “You can, perhaps imagine the sequel. I think she might in time have pardoned him if he had not deceived her so unscrupulously; but that was an offense beyond all forgiveness. After a stormy scene, with biting reproaches on her part and scornful defiance on his, they parted forever. He took his wife away from New York within a week; and Mrs. Dunkirk never looked upon his face again.” “A sad story,” commented North, as Mrs. Maynard paused here. “It seems strange that he should have passed so entirely from the knowledge of all his friends. How long did he live after he left New York?” “It was just two years later, I believe, that the papers contained meager accounts of his tragical death in Baltimore.” North gravely assented. The brief outline of this history that he had received from Hunter and Ketchum had hot embraced any particulars of Hamilton Dupont’s tragical death; but he deemed it best not to pursue his inquiries on that point. After a little musing silence Mrs. Maynard volunteered some additional information. “His wife, poor girl, died soon after, broken-hearted. I have been told that the papers made quite a pathetic romance out of the materials thus furnished, and there was a great deal of sentimental pity expressed for the pqor little Annie, who was thus, cast upon the cold charities of the : world. But the interest in the matter soon died but; it was only the sensation of a few days, and it gave place to later and more exciting events. Thus the fate of Annie Dupoht became shrouded in mystery. The ehances are, however, that the poor child died long ago—perhaps in d a . “And was this mere newspaper story the only intimation Mrs. Dunkirk ever received that she hod such a relative as Annie Dupont?”

“It was positively the only foundation for that belief; yet she was willing and eager to credit it. The fancy used to recur to her mind continually, without anything at all to justify it. She was almost childish in the way she alternated between the doubt and the belief.” “A very mysterious case,” commented North, with a perplexed frown. “And now let me inquire, Mrs. 'Maynard, had Dr. Dunkirk any near relatives?” “Not in this country. His family, you know, were English.” “Had he any property?" “None whatever." “Then all this great wealth of Mrs. Dunkirk's was inherited from her father?” “Entirely from him.” “The heirs, if any there be, must all be on the Dupont side?” “So I imagine.” “There are no heirs on that side?" “None.” “Unless Annie Dupont is discovered?” “Oh, certainly! That is always granted, Mr. North.” “How soon after Hamilton Dupont’s death did Mrs. Dunkirk commence her search for Annie?” “It must have been at least ten years before she made any effort to trace the child.” “She did not advertise nor resort to any very public measures?” “The search was conducted in a very quiet way, though she spent a great deal of money and employed the most skillful detectives.” “And all to no purpose?" “No trace of the child was ever discovered.” “Finally, Mrs. Dunkirk herself became convinced that there was no such person in existence?” “As I said, Mr. North, her mind wavered between the two opinions. She told me shortly, before my marriage,, that she had quite lost faith in that old rumor about her niece; and yet it returned to her afterward and led to the destruction of her will four months before her death.” “Well, Mrs. Maynard,” said North, with an air of firm conviction, “one of two things is certain. Either there is not and never has been any such person as Annie Dupont in existence, which is to my notion far the more plausible theory, or there are persons who are interested in keeping from the world all knowledge of her whereabouts. In either case, we need not apprehend the final defeat of our plans, through her.” “Do you think so?” The question was uttered listlessly without any appearance of interest or elation. She did not even glance at him as she spoke. “1 am convinced of it," he reiterated, looking at her in mild surprise. “It is my firm belief that if Annie Dupont is living to-day, she is as profoundly ignorant of her own true identity and of her right to this fortune as we ourselves are of her present whereabouts. Now it appears, Mrs. Maynard,” he went on with another abrupt change of subject and manner, “that you had no claim upon Mrs. Dunkirk except, indeed, that of friendship, which she acknowledges here?” [to be continued.]

IDLY SKETCHED MEANINGLESS CHARACTERS.