mrs. brackett knew very little of the way in which her brother had passed the last eight years. she knew nothing of his lawless life and conviction of crime, and supposed that his record was as creditable as the average. she was, therefore, quite ready to give him a cordial welcome, and to consult him upon family matters. through her influence, also mr. brackett received his brother-in-law with a friendly welcome, acknowledging his claims as a relative.
as for george white, his object in seeking out his sister after so long an absence may be easily told. in fact, it was twofold. he was hard up, and hoped that he might borrow a sum of money from lucinda, and also was glad to betake himself to a quiet place so far from new york, being quite too well known to the police authorities of the metropolitan district.
he at was present a fugitive from justice, having recently made an attempt to enter a{227} house in brooklyn, and failed, through the wakefulness of a member of the household.
mr. and mrs. brackett and george white sat in a conclave together one evening soon after his arrival. they were discussing the obstinacy of simon dodge in deferring to make a will in favor of his disinterested son-in-law.
“can’t you persuade him to do it, mr. brackett?” asked white.
“i’ve tried my best, and failed,” said brackett. “you see the old man’s dreadfully obstinate when he sets about it. it’s my opinion he’s afraid to make a will for fear it will hasten his death.”
“maybe it would, if he made a will in your favor,” said white, with a knowing wink at his brother-in-law.
“george, i am shocked at you!” said his sister. “you shouldn’t say such things. suppose father should hear you?”
“it might make him nervous, i dare say,” said white, coolly. “seems to me you act like a couple of children, you two. if i were in your place i’d see that a proper will was made.”
“how would you manage it?” asked brackett.
“how would i manage it? it’s the simplest thing in the world. is the old man’s signature hard to imitate?”
“you don’t mean——” ejaculated brackett, looking about him nervously.
“yes, i do.”
“but it would be forgery, and that is a serious offense.”{228}
“nothing venture, nothing have!” said white, boldly. “the property ought to come to you and my sister. you agree to that, don’t you?”
“of course it ought,” said mr. brackett. “haven’t we done everything for father, and slaved for his comfort?”
“just so! and you ought to be rewarded. it’s a very simple thing, as i have already said,” continued white, shaking the ashes from his pipe.
mr. brackett was a little startled, but was not shocked. his morality was not of a high order, and he shrank from forgery only because it was a penal offense. he felt a little curious to inquire into the details of his brother-in-law’s plan.
“supposing i agreed to it,” he said, cautiously, “i haven’t any skill in imitating writing. i couldn’t write a will that would look like father’s.”
“only the signature would need to resemble his handwriting,” said white. “i’m pretty good at imitating signatures myself,” he added, carelessly. “have you got any of the old man’s writing?”
“yes; i’ve got a letter here,” said brackett, going to his desk and producing one from a drawer.
“that could be imitated easily,” said white, after a casual examination.
“i’ll leave you two to talk business at your leisure,” said mrs. brackett. “i must go upstairs and look after the children.”{229}
her brother looked after her with a mocking smile.
“lucinda’s sharp and cautious,” he remarked. “she thinks it best not to know anything about it, though she’ll be ready enough to profit by it. come, now, brackett, i’ve a proposal to make.”
“what is it?”
“i’ll draw up such a will as you think best, and sign and witness it.”
“that’s very kind of you, george——”
“hold on a minute! you don’t suppose i’m so benevolent as to do all this without pay, do you?”
“i didn’t know,” answered brackett, his jaw dropping.
“i’m not such an idiot, thank you! i must have a hundred dollars down, and a thousand dollars when you come into the property.”
“that’s rather steep!” said brackett, disturbed.
“it isn’t enough; but you are my sister’s husband, and i’ll work for you cheaper than for anyone else. i’d charge anybody else at least twice as much. well, brackett, what do you say?”
“it seems a great deal of money to pay for an hour’s work. it won’t take you more than an hour.”
“you seem to forget there’s some risk about it. such work as that you can’t measure by the time it takes.”
“lucindy would never agree to such terms as that.”{230}
“the more fool she! didn’t you tell me the old man was good for over ten thousand dollars?”
“yes; he must have at least as much as that.”
“and i ask only a thousand dollars to give it to you.”
“father might make a will himself, leaving it to us,” suggested brackett. “in that case, the money would be thrown away.”
“you oughtn’t to begrudge it to your wife’s brother, even then,” said white. “still, i’ll tell you what i’ll do. if you get the money by any other will, you needn’t pay me the thousand dollars. isn’t that fair?”
this proposal struck mr. brackett favorably, and this was the compact ultimately formed.
mrs. brackett opposed it strenuously at first, being unwilling to relinquish so much money, even in favor of her own brother; but she was at last persuaded that it would be better to have nine-tenths of the property than none at all, and consented.
several conferences were held, and the date of the forged will was carefully discussed. at length it was decided to fix upon a time six months earlier, and to affix the names, as witnesses, of two men who then lived in the village, but had now gone west, and were not likely to return. indeed, it was reported that one of them was dead, which, of course, would make it impossible for him to deny his signature.
one evening it chanced that andy, who had{231} gone to the village, returned sooner than he intended on account of a sudden headache. in passing the window of the room where the conspirators were seated, he heard a chance word which arrested his attention.
the window, without the knowledge of mr. and mrs. brackett, was slightly open, but this was hidden from view by the curtain, and through the aperture our hero had no difficulty in overhearing enough to satisfy him what was going on.
of course his duty was clear. he must inform mr. dodge. the next morning an opportunity came. he not only told uncle simon what his son-in-law was doing, but for the first time made him acquainted with the real character of mrs. brackett’s brother.
simon dodge was silent for a time from amazement.
“i didn’t think it possible,” he said, “that jeremiah brackett would stoop to such a crime.”
“i believe it is mr. white who has put him up to it,” said andy.
“perhaps you are right. at any rate, this confirms me in my resolution to go away. next week, henry, we will leave the old farm, where i have spent so many years, and in your mother’s house i will spend the short time that remains to me.”
“i am glad to hear you say so, uncle simon. i shall be very glad to get away myself.”
“it is no longer safe for me to stay here,” said the old man. “once this will is forged,{232} they will be impatient for me to die. as for their wicked scheming, it will avail them nothing. my true will is made, and in the hands of my lawyer, and is later than the date they have selected for the pretended one.”
it was well that mr. dodge could not foresee the trying experience that awaited him before he could sunder the bonds that bound him to the old farm.
