VOL. XIV.
TSTISW BLOOMFIISLD, 1JA.., TUKHDAY, MA.Y 4, 18BO.
NO. 11).
THE TIMES.
4a Independent Family Newspaper,
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elect Vocity.
IT MUST COME.
Into all Uvea lome rain must fall,
Into all eyes some toar dropt start,
Whether tbej fall as a gentle shower,
Or fall like fire from an achlhg heart.
Into all hearts some sorrow must creep,
Into all souls tome doubting come
Lathing the waves of Life's great deep
From dimpling waters to seething foam.
Over all paths tome clondt must lower,
Under all foot some sharp thorns spring,
Tearing the flesh to bitter wounds,
Or entering the heart with their bitter sting. '
Upon all brows rough winds must blow,
Over all shoulders a cross be lain,
Oowlng the form In Its lofty height
Down In the dust In the bitter pain.
Into all hands some duty thrust,
Unto all arms some burdens given,
Crushing the heart with Its dreary weight,
Or lifting the sonl from earth to heavon.
Into all hearts or homes and lives
God's dear sunlight comes streaming down,
Gliding the ruins of Lire's great plain
Weaving for all a golden crown.
'A WOMAN'S REVENGE.
A Doctor's Story.
CONCLUDED.
I RETURNED to Cottani saddened
and disappointed, but by no means
convinced. I had, however, no choice
but to leave theniystery to be solved by
time. In due course Ellen and I were
married. She received her two hundred
and fifty pounds ; and opportunity Just
then occurring, I bought a practice at
Kinton, to which place we removed.
We saw nothing of Charles, but heard
that he bad gone abroad. And so days
and months passed on ; I was happy In
the love of my wife, and we both tried
to forget "what might have been," or
that we had ever looked forward to the
possession of a fortune.
One evening about twelve months
after I had settled atKlnton,I Was called
into the surgery to attend a lady. Of
course I had no other thought than that
it was a patient ; nor was my opinion
changed when I saw her, for her cheeks
were hollow and her eyes sunken; but
what was my surprise on looking closer
to recognize in that wasted form the
once passable fair, if not brilliant, Miss
Leclerc.
She saw I recognized her, and without
waiting for me to speak, said : " You
are surprised to see me here, doctor ; but
I have something important to say to
you. Can we be alone V"
" We shall not be disturbed here," I
said ; and still not doubting that it was
medical advice she required, I added:
" Well, now, tell me your symptoms,
and I will prescribe for you."
"No, doctor; your medicines would
do no good In the purpose I have in
view. I require your help, not medi
cine; and let me say, in helping me,
you will help yourself In a way you
little expect." .
" Tell me how ; and If I can do it, I
will."
" You can do It, I am sure ; and
equally sure you will, after you have
heard my story."
" I am all attention."
" Well, then, listen. I must go back
to the time of Mr. Russel's death. You
were very much surprised and disap
pointed at the disposition of his proper
ty, were you not V"
I bowed assent.
"In fact, the will was a complete
mystery to you ?"
" It was, indeed, a deep mystery."
"I can explain It."
" You 1" I said, springing to my feet,
"you I Why, you had very little com
munlcatlon with Mr. RuiBel In his Inst
Illness."
" No ; and yet I tell you I can explain
the mystery; and on two conditions I
will."
" Name them. They miiRt be oner
ous, Indeed, if I fall to comply with
them.".
" Oh, they are not difficult ; they are
simply these : First, that In considera
tion of this my assistance In obtaining
your rights, you will not have me
punished fur the part I myself took in
the matter; and secondly, that you will
supply me with money to go tAmerlua,
where I have friends."
' But If a crime was committed, have
I the power to promise you . Immunity
from punishment V"
" Re content. You have, for the
crime and I will not deny there was a
crime Injured no one but you and
Miss Ellen ; and If I mako restitution
by enabling you to secure the real cul
prit, you can surely let the tool go
free."
" Well, I promise," I said, after a few
moments consideration. " Do what
you have said, and I pledge my word
that neither I nor any one on my behalf
shall bring you to Justice for your share
In the transaction. That being granted,
the other condition Is easily fulfilled."
" That Is enough. I will now proceed.
Rut first I muBt tell you why I do this.
It is not, as you might suppose, out of
consideration for you or even Miss
Ellen, although my conscience has often
troubled me for my ingratltnde towards
her. No," she said ; " I have a purpose
to serve, and that purpose is licvenge.
Nay; start not. It is a desire for
revenge that nerves me to the confes
sion. You remember what I once was.
Look at me now. Bee my hollow cheek
and wasted form ; hear of my blighted
life, and then cease to wonder that I
crave for revenge on the cause, Rut
pardon me ; I must begin at the begin
ning. Soon after Mr. Russel's death,
and the affairs were all settled, Charles
left England for Paris. This you knew ;
but you did not know that I went with
him. As his wife, do you ask ? No 1
Poor silly fool that I was ; I trusted to
his promise, that we would be married
in Paris. Well, we lived gayly enough
for two or three months ; the marriage
put off on one pretext or another, until
one day he went out, and never return
ed, lie had left me left me almost
penniless to starve or die, not caring
which. It was some days before I
could realize the fact that I was indeed
deserted. ' I thought some accident had
befallen him, and made Inquiries in all
directions. I even v 1b I ted the dreadful
morgue, but without avail. At length
I heard he had gone to Lyons, on his
way to Venice ; and thither I determin
ed to follow him, but on the road was
struck down by illness. When I re
Covered, all trace of him was lost. How
I got back to England I hardly know ;
but I was buoyed up by the hope that
after all there might be some mistake,
and that I should find him there, glad
to receive me back. I did find him ; but
how? The Willows has now both
master and mistress. Yes ; he is married,
notwithstanding all his promises to me.
Another reigns in the house where I
ought to be supreme. Oh, but be shall
regret It. Little did he know my power,
or he would have sacrificed his right
hand ere he offended me. I did not tell
him, because I wanted his love, not his
fear; and when I would have told him
It was too late, for he had gone, gone,
and left me the wreck you see ; married
another, after the most sacred promises
tome. Rut I will be revenged. Yes;
revenged to the uttermost. He has
known my love ; now he shall learn my
hate, I will drag him down down,
even as he has dragged me."
It is impossible to convey the empha
sis with which all this, especially the
latter part, was said. I could see . that
the spirit of revenge was In her, Its fire
burning her very life out
" Still," I said, "you have not yet told
me anything about the will. I am
anxious to hear about that."
" I am coming to It now ; but I cannot
talk any more to-night. See here ; in
this packet I have written a full history
of the transaction. Take it and read it,
and I will come again to-morrow at this
time to complete the evidence. Now
let me go, for I am very weak."
In truth she appeared weak and almost
ready to faint; so I gave her a cordial,
and sending for a conveyance, handed
her In, and bade her good-night.
Need I say that I hastened to my
room lo peruse the packet. I was fur
too anxious to delay. I found It ad
dressed to myself, and inside headed:
'The History of the Will of Mr. Chas.
RusBel, as related by Jeaunette Lecleru."
Miss Ledum's history of the will ran
ns follows:
" In order that you inny comprehend
all the circumstances of the cuse, I must
go back nearly seven years, to the time
when I first entered the fumlly of Mr.
RusHel.as governess to his niece Ellen.
I was then only seven teeu years of age,
ami my pupil fourteen. The family
consisted of Mr. R., Ellen, and a
nephew Charles. This nephew was
about a year younger than myself, and
a fine handsome lad. There were wills
pers that young as he was his hublts
were very Irregular ; and it may have
have been so. I had no means of Judg
ing. I only know that to my girlish
mind he seemed all that a young man
ought to be, and so when he began to
take notice of me and make love to me I
lent a very willing ear. This went on
with more and more warmth, until, for
some reason or other, he was compelled
to leave his uncle's roof, but even after
this we managed to meet at frequent
intervals, although, of course, all un
known to Mr. Russel or Ellen, Indeed,
neither of them had the slightest Idea of
there being anything between us. At
length Charles left his uncle's office
altogether, and decided to go to London'.
I well remember the last night before he
went away. People said he was wild
and wicked ; but I only knew that I
loved him, and he declared that he also
loved me. He said when he got a situa
tion In London he would send for me ;
in the meantime, he wished me to
remain in Mr. Russel's service, and keep
him informed of all that occurred. I
faithfully promised ; and when on the
completion of Ellen's education I was
asked to remain as her companion, I
gladly agreed, for Charles' sak Well,
time passed on, and nothing particular
occurred. Mr. Russel retired from busi
ness, and we removed to Cottam ; then
came his IllneBs, and your introduction
to the fumlly. I was ever on the watch
for any scrap of information that might
be interesting to Charles, and I did not
full to tell him of the growing intimacy
between you and Ellen, as well as Mr.
RuBBel's partiality for you. These last
Items seeined to give him considerable
annoyance, and he requested me to re
double my vigilance.
" One day I heard a servant tell you
that Mr. Russel wished to see you in his
bed room. You remember how these
rooms were arranged ; that opening out
of the bed room was a small dressing
room, which itself communicated with
the servants' staircase, to afford facilities
for lighting the fire, bring water, Ac.
Now, as you went up the main stairs, I
very quietly slipped into the dressing
room by the others as I thought It
possible that something might be said
touching the Interest of my dear Charles.
I thus managed to overhear enough of
the conversation to gather its Import ;
especially did I take note of the direc
tions for opening the secret place in the
desk ; and when I got to my own room
I wrote them down, lest I should forget.
Well,-1 Immediately wrote off to Charles
and the news must have troubled him
considerably, for in a very short time
I had a letter saying that he would
arrive at Kinton the next day, and
appointed a time and place for me to
meet him. I did so ; and after making
me repeat as well as I could all I had
heard, he boldly proposed that I should
get possession of the will and bring it to
him. He proposed (to facilitate matters)
that as he was quite unknown In Cot
tam, he would go there and engage
rooms at an obscure Inn called the Red
Lion, and that I should find him there
any evening. I confess this proposal
startled me, partly because of its diffi
culty, and partly because It was my first
step In crime. However, he overcame
my scruples, and I promised to do what
I could ; at any rate I would visit him
at the Red Lion at seven the next even
ing. Fortune favored me. The next
day, Just at dusk it was the latter end
of February Ellen asked me to sit by
the bedside a few minutes until the
night nurse arrived ; of course I agreed,
secretly delighted, for Mr. Russel being
asleep I had Utile difficulty In securing
the will. I remembered perfectly the
directions i 'Top middle drawer, and a
pen-holder through the top right-hand
corner, then look at the back.' In fact
I had opened the secret panel more than
once, to see if I had heard aright. Boon
after, the nurse arriving, I wus at
liberty and hastened to meet Charles. I
found him alone In the upper room of
the Red Lion, and the table strewn with
papers.
Have you got it V he eagerly in
quired the Instant the door closed behind
me.
" My only reply was to hand It to
him. Without a word he broke the
seal, and having reud the contents, suld :
'You are quite right. It Is as you
supposed. He has left the whole of his
property to Ellen, except a few paltry
legacies. Now, you shall see what I
will do.'
" Do. Why, I suppose you will burn
It, and then come In for an equal
share with Ellen. Rut mind there Is
something left to me In that will, and
It Is only because we are to be married
that I agree to Its being destroyed.
"'Fear not; you shall be made all
right. Rut I think I can do belter than
what you suggest. I was not five years
in my uncle's office for nothing.'
' "He then searched amongst the
papers until he fonnd a blank sheet as
near like the one the wilt was written
on as possible. ' You see,' be continued,
' the old fellow was so methodical in his
ways, that I was pretty sure he would
make his will on a certain sort of paper
and in a certain way. I provided
myself accordingly; obtained similar
paper, wax, dec, to that which he
always used, and had a copy of hlB seal
made I had plenty of Impressions by
me you know you can get anything in
London. Now see me write."
" He then began to copy the will word
for word, and I was astonished at the
similitude. Five years' practice under
his uncle's eye, and with his uncle's
writing constantly before him, Joined to
a natural aptitude for imitation, enabled
him to copy every stroke and turn
exactly. ' There,' he said, when he had
finished. 'A fair exchange is no rob
bery. I have written everything as it
was before, except that Ellen's name
now occupies my place, while I have
taken hers. Not a very great change,
but one that will make considerable
difference to us both, I reckon. Now
for the most difficult part, and that Is to
copy the. signatures of the witnesses, I
have praotloed uncle's often enough;
but of course I did not know theirs;
however, I must try. '
" He did try, and succeeded so well
that I could see no difference.
"'There now, said he,' 'Just you com
pare these two, while I go and get a
glass of brandy.'
" He left the room ; and I, placing the
two side by side, could only distinguish
the one from the other by the change of
names.
" ' Well,' he said, as he re-entered
'Will itdoV
"'Excellently well,' I replied. 'I
cannot tell which was written by you
and which by your uncle.'
" ' Well, then ; now to fold them ; and
from a heap of various sorts of envelopes
choosing two, he took up the original
will, sealed and endorsed as before, but
putting a small almost imperceptible
mark In the corner. He then took the
new will and did the same, but without
the mark.
" Now,' said he, 'listen carefully to
my instructions. When yon get borne
replace the original will in the desk
You will know what it is by this mark;'
pointing to the corner. ' It la extremely
unlikely that Mr. Russel has been out of
bed and missed it during the two hours
you have been absent, so that will be all
right. This other envelope you must
keep by you until he is actually dead,
and then take the very first opportunity
of changing them. The old will you
may bring to me, and I will destroy
It.'
" ' Rut why not make the change at
once 1 I could as easily put one in the
desk as the other.'
" ' No ; no. We must not risk it.
There is Just a chance that my uncle
may get about again and take it Into
his head to open the will, and then
where would we be V No J make the
change when that Is Impossible, and we
are all right.'
"'I see, I see,' said I, half-sicken Ing
at the dreadful deception, and yet too far
committed to draw back, 'as I shall gain
equally with yourself, I promise to do
all you wish.'
"When I arrived at home, all was
quiet, so I presently went Into the sick
room. 1 Nurse,' I said, 'supper is ready.
If you would like to go down, I will sit
here half an hour for you.'
"She gladly accepted my offer, and as
Mr. Russel was dozing with the curtains
drawn and the lamp turned down,. I'
silently and quickly replaced the old
gentleman's will.
" Well, time went on. Mr. Russel, as-
you know, got gradually worse, and
toward the end was more than half his
time unconscious. One day you gave It
as your opinion that he could- not
possibly live till the next, and It. was.
that last night that I stealthily made
the change. In the morning he was
dead and so far our plot had succeeded
completely. The result I need say
nothing about, as you are so well ac
quainted with It.
" Rut now I must tell you of a little
scheme of my own. I loved Charles,
and would have done anything for htm
and had no compunction in helping
him, as I thought doing so was a means
to love, marriage and fortune. Sllll, he
had taught me to be almost as wily as
himself, and to take every precaution ;
so I determined to have a hold on him
in case he should endeavor to play me
false. To this end, when I got posses
sion of the original will, I went Into my
bed room, and with a sharp pen-knife,
cut carefully the end of the envelope,
drew out the contents, which I carefully
transferred to my pocket, and then
replaced them with blank, paper the
same size and thickness, gumming the
edges with pale gum. I daresay It was
not very skillfully done, but it answered
my purpose very welu Afterwards,
when I gave It to Charles, he glanced at
It and saw the seal was unbroken, and
suspecting nothing, committed It to the
flames. We both watched it until it .
was consumed. Charles exclaiming:.
' Now I am really master of the Wil
lows.' " 'And I soon shall be mistress, I ad,
ded.'
" 'Oh, that of course,' he replied.
" I have told you how be kept his
promise, villain that be is 1"
Thus finished this remarkable confes
siona confession which to me was as
acceptable as unexpected. Of course
there was now no mystery, and I am
only surprised that something of the
kind had not occurred to me before ; but
it must be remembered that I knew
very little about Charles, and no one
had even hinted even if they knew of
any connection between him and MIsa
Leclerc. I read the confession all over
to Ellen, and we both reJoUed at the
turn events had taken. Miss Leclero
came fa for a certain amount of pity;
yet we could not but remember that bad
It not been for her coanlvancs and
assistance, Charles would have been
unable to carry out his nefarious scheme.
" Still," said Ellen, " I am not sorry
that you promised to allow her to escape
punishment. If we get our own again,
we can well afford to let her go."
In the morning I called upon Mr.
Sparks, my legal friend, and somewhat
triumphantly laid the matter before
blm. He was muoh pleased, and at once
offered to assist aw all he could. We
both agreed that after my promise to
Miss Leclero, it would be better to try
to settle the matter amicably with
Charles too. We therefore decided to
wait upon blm and tell blm that all was
discovered ; and if he confessed and gave
up the property, we would then arrange
without publicity, or exposure. If,
however, he resisted, we determined at
once to proceed to law. It was Ellen's
wish that, for the sake of the relation
ship between them we should be as
lenient as possible In case ha yielded.
- Miss Leclero duly kept her appoint
ment, and brought the oft-mentioned
will with her. The conditions were
again insisted oar, and again agreed to ;
In fact I gave her fifty pounds on the
spot and promised another fifty pounds
when all was settled. She then gave