Aunt Jane's Nieces
Then Mr. Watson brought into the drawing room the tin box containing
the important Elmhurst papers in his possession, and having requested
all present to be seated he said:
"In order to clear up the uncertainty that at present exists
concerning Miss Merrick's last will and testament, I will now proceed
to read to you the document, which will afterward be properly probated
according to law."
There was no need to request their attention. An intense stillness
pervaded the room.
The lawyer calmly unlocked the tin box and drew out the sealed yellow
envelope which Miss Merrick had recently given him. Patsy's heart was
beating with eager expectancy. She watched the lawyer break the seal,
draw out the paper and then turn red and angry. He hesitated a moment,
and then thrust the useless document into its enclosure and cast it
aside.
"Is anything wrong?" asked the girl in a low whisper, which was yet
distinctly heard by all.
Mr. Watson seemed amazed. Jane Merrick's deceitful trickery,
discovered so soon after her death, was almost horrible for him to
contemplate. He had borne much from this erratic woman, but had never
believed her capable of such an act.
So he said, in irritable tones:
"Miss Merrick gave me this document a few days ago, leading me to
believe it was her last will. I had prepared it under her instruction
and understood that it was properly signed. But she has herself torn
off and destroyed the signature and marked the paper 'void,' so that
the will previously made is the only one that is valid."
"What do you mean?" cried Patsy, in amazement. "Isn't Kenneth to
inherit Elmhurst, after all?"
"Me! Me inherit?" exclaimed the boy.
"That is what she promised me," declared Patsy, while tears of
indignation stood in her eyes, "I saw her sign it, myself, and if she
has fooled me and destroyed the signature she's nothing but an old
fraud--and I'm glad she's dead!"
With this she threw herself, sobbing, upon a sofa, and Louise and
Beth, shocked to learn that after all their cousin had conspired
against them, forebore any attempt to comfort her.
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In a village there lived two men who had the self-same name. Both were named Claus. But one of them owned four horses, and the other owned only one horse; so to distinguish between them people called the man who had four horses Big Claus, and the man who had only one horse Little Claus. Now I'll tell you what happened to these two, for this is a true story.
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