LITERATURE.

Star (Christchurch), Issue 5049, 9 July 1884, Page 3

LITERATURE.

A FIGHT FOR A FORTUNE.

(Tinsley's Magazine.) (Concluded.)

Chapter IV,

WINNING THE BTJB,

Here is set a scene which will perhaps make the result of the fight for a fortune less mysterious to the reader.

Conrad's chambers. The hour is midnight. Enter Conrad. On the table of the inner room, which serves him for snuggery and sleeping, is a note which he reads. It is from dear Eliza, to inform him that she had called to inquire about * their dear uncle, and to have a chat with Conrad dear, before leaving town for a very, very long time. Conrad looked at his iron .safe, smiled, and muttered that the fawning eat knew not what was in. there, and if she had known could not have got at it. Yet he took his bunch of keys from his pocket, opened the safe, took out the sealed envelope endorsed, "To be opened after my funeral— Cuthbert Clacy," put it back again, and locked the safe. Then lie put a tablespoonful of Scotch whiskey into a glass of milk that was standing on the table and drank the mixture. Conrad was precise in his habits, and every night he drank a glass of mUk fortified with a little Scotch whiskey. The heir to a hundred thousand-pounder is disposed to take care of his health. He undressed, turned down the gas, got into bed, and was soon sleeping profoundly. From the clerks' office emerges Miss Rispin, and entex-s the room wherein Conrad is sleeping. There is a scared look about her face ; even her lips are pallid, but she does not tremble. She searched the pockets of the sleeper, and looked more scared and also enraged. She came to the bed, put her bony hand and arm under the bolster, and found the bunch of keys. Conrad dear was sleejring so soundly, and the movements of dear Eliza were so ! gentle, that he was not disturbed. She | turned up the gas, opened the safe, took out the sealed envelope and thrust it in her pocket, and put into the safe another sealed enveloped of precisely the same size, and similarly indorsed. She locked the safe, unlocked the do~or3 of the Chambers and left them ajar, rinsed the glass out of which Conrad had drank his nightly mixture, replaced the bunch of keys under the bolster, turned down the gas, and departed. The shutting of the heavy outer door did not disturb Conrad dear who continued to sleep profoundly until nearly 9 o'clock in the morning. Within two months the long-looked-for event took place, and Conrad inserted a pathetic obituary notice in the daily newspapers : " At his residence, near Regent's Park, Cuthbert Clacy, Esq., in the 7oth year of his age, beloved and venerated by all who knew him, and deeply lamented by his sorrowing relations." After the funeral there was a cold collation. Miss Rispin, a moving mass of crape, was attended by Mr Talons, her solicitor. Mr Coni'ad Claey was accompanied by Mr Duckein, his solicitor. Mr Skinner, the solicitor of the deceased, was also present. Dear Eliza and Conrad dear were effusively affectionate, and tried to look very sorrowful. When the meal was over, and the servant had left the room, Mr Skinner said : " After the decease of my venerable client, I communicated with Miss Rispin, and . her professional adviser, Mr Talonß, assisted me in looking through the papersof the deceased, but we have not found a will. Yet I have reason to believe that my departed client did not purpose to die intestate." " I apprehend he did not," Baid Mr Duckem. "I produce a sealed envelope, indorsed, I think, in tho handwriting of the deceased, 'to be opened after my funeral.' This envelope was given by the deceased to my client, his nephew, with instructions to tnke special euro of it. Mr Skinner, yon are the professional representative of the decensed, and 1 hand you the said sealed envelope." " A curious proceeding, ciitainly," said

TRSBapin. " Suppose Cousin Conrad did not seal up the right document! Conrad was about to speak, when Mr Duckem said : „ "Eeally, MrClacy, I cannot allow you to notice such an observation." "But I must speak," exclaimed Conrad ; "it ia a most cruel imputation of my cousin. I seal the envelope ? I received it from my beloved uncle as it is, and I do not know the contents. If it contains a will, it may be a will in favour of my cousin Eliza. That is the envelope I received from the deceased, and aa I received it." " I can't think how my uncle could forget me, for he ha 3 often sworn that I should be hia Keir." " Perhaps you are his heir," said Conrad. •' There ia the envelope ns I received it ; our uncle wa3 not in any •■> ay influenced, and when he gave me tlntt envelope, about two months ago, and even unto the la9t, ne was of most perfect testamentary capacity, his shrewd intellect being crystal clear." " Had I not better break the seal and read the contenta ?" asked Mr Skinner. The professional gentlemen and the cousins assented, and there was an awful half-minute. Miss Uispin dropped her «rape veil. Conrad looked at the floor. Mr Skinner seemed so slow. Such silence that the cracking of the bit of wax could be heard. The envelope was opened, and out came a single sheet of paper. " Teß, it i 3 a will," said Mr Skinner, " made in a form of which I supplied a draft to the deceased. It ia duly witnessed." What need for that tantalising speech ? Mr Skinner was dreadfully tedious and aggravating. He positively breathed on his spectacles, and deliberately wiped them before he read the document. The will bequeathed the whole of the property to the testator's dear niece, Eliza Dear Eliza put up her veil, fell on her knees, and exclaimed : " Gh, my more than father J oh, my darling uncle ! oh, how you loved me, and how I loved you.!" Conrad and Mr Duckem had glanced at the will. "I swear there ia some trick and some fraud," cried Conrad, "for it was my uncle's latest intention to make me his heir." " I protest," said Mr Talons, " against such an unseemly remark. The will was in the charge of and has been produced by JSIr Clacy. He has told us that the document ia that which was given to his custody by the deceased, that the deceased was of perfect testamentary capacity, and that for all he knew the will might be in favour of my client who for 20 years was the right hand and companion of the deceased. Now he is disappointed and dares to «se the worda ' trick ' and 'fraud.' That ia foolish as well as unseemly." " The cat has beaten U3," whispered Mr Duckem to Convad. "You have lost the fortune, and my post obit bonds are waste paper." As Conrad walked away with Mr Duckem lie said -i " Can we not dispute the will ? I swear my uncle intended me to be his heir." " How can we dispute the will, Clacy ? After what you stated about the envelope, _your ignorance of the contents, and the testamentary capacity of your uncle, the other side would call you as a witness to prove their case. Tou have lost abouiTa hundred thousand pounds and I-five thousand pounda/' An hour later one of the servants at the house of the late Mr Clacy pushed open the dining-room door and was astonished at seeing the prof utsely craped Miss Rispin dancing a sort of high jinks breakdown and shouting : "Hurrah! hurrah.! it was game against game, but though the cards were dead against me in the conquering game I have won the rub. Hurrah ! hurrah V" 1 Those who are imbued with the ethical - views of the moral story-tellers who profess to write not to amuse but to improve, whose tales are sermons dished aB fiction, will expect to hear that Miss Rispin's fraud did not bring her the wealth she expected, or that ahe became too ill to enjoy it, or that her conscience made her miserable. Conrad ia indeed miserable. He has never quite recovered from an attack of brain fever. He has felt the cruel gnawing of hunger, and dear Eliza refused to give him a shilling. He is now employed by the proprietor of a patent hair-dye to compose advertisements, write letters and address parcels, at a salary of 30a per week. Woe unto the trickster who fails'! But Mie3 Rispin, the successful trickster, basks in brilliant sunshine. The property proved to be worth .£120,000. She enjoys excellent health,- she is not in the least troubled about her fraudulent conduct; she flourishes like the greenest of bay trees, courted by society, honoured for her philanthropy, and venerated as -a model of piety. ■

stlb stlb Black Diamond ... 7 2 Grace Darling ... 6 7 Buckingham ... 7 6 Little Sister ... 8 0 . Hrown and Rose... 7 6 Liverpool 6 9 Caller Ou 6 8 Lord Wilton ... 6 _ Ebony 6 7 Lavington 6 10 . Gohanna (late Mo- Muscat , 7 10 ___«_) 6 7 Norfolk 6 13