"He says, 'Send the gentleman up.'"
I waited till the clumsy steps of William sounded as from on the second
flight, when I quietly followed, increasing my pace as I neared him; so
that I was near upon him when the door opened.
"Halloo, Wilson! Here all right! Well, I'm more than glad to see you!"
exclaimed the inmate, as Wilson entered, and the door closed.
Tripping to the door, I listened, and heard William quite distinctly,
his cups having added emphasis to his somewhat gruff voice.
"Well, Mr. Roberts, my very legs tremble, for I feared it might not be
you here after all. I'd most forgot the name we'd agreed on for the
register, but I knew your handwriting. _Was_ it Hyde? I thought it was
Hood we'd fixed on. But no matter now. Here you are, and that's enough."
Instantly that I heard the name Roberts, I knew it must be the
attorney's chief clerk, for he had spoken of this clerk as having been
longest in his employ, and you can well understand how I became at once
all ears.
"But you have that important paper all secure?"
"Of course I have, or I wouldn't have advertised. I feared you might
have left New York, and wouldn't get the notice in time."
"But how did you get it--and when? Tell me the story, my brave boy,"
said William, with the patronizing voice of a new-made millionnaire.
"Never mind now--tell you some other time. It's enough, isn't it, that
it's here?"
"All right, then. Let's take up the 'business in order,' as they say in
Congress. How much shall I give you for that precious will?"
"It _is_ a 'precious' document, I assure you, Mr. Wilson," said the
scheming Roberts. "Do you know its provisions?"
"Yes, I know all about it; or all that's important; for luckily I
overheard most of it read. My blessed father left everything of
consequence to my cousin Nellie; but, ah! ha! that will's got to be
probated, and who's to do it? That fireplace" (pointing to the grate in
the room) "will tell no tale, and here's matches. But fix your
terms--what shall I give you for the document?"
"One hundred dollars down, for I am about visiting my old home in
Canada, and want a little more ready cash; and say, if you don't think
it's too much, your promissory note, made negotiable, but with a
private agreement back from me that you shall not be pressed to pay it
till you get in full possession of your estate, for ten thousand
dollars."
[Illustration: RESCUE OF THE WILL.]
"A _little_ 'steep'--aren't you, Roberts? But you are a brave fellow,
and it shall be done! Here's ink, I see, and here's paper," said
William, fumbling his pocket evidently for an old scrap, for he seemed
to meet delays. "There, there's the note--now your agreement."
Papers rustled lightly on the table, and "All right," said Roberts;
"there's the document, read it at your leisure, and do what you like
with it."
At this point, in my eagerness, I had bent lower down by the door, and
discovered a small, old keyhole, for the door had been evidently newly
trimmed with locks, through which I could see with some distinctness.
William read over the will; and with many oaths, and in his delirium of
success, losing sense of caution, half shouted, as he swung the
document in the air at the tip of his fingers, and half danced about
the room:--
"There, now! my blessed, sweet little child, cousin Nellie, you're
outwitted--and--you--are--in--my power! Love me, and tell me so, or you
shall beg. No! I vow I'll buy your graces. I'll bring you to my feet,
but I will never marry you! Confound you! Roberts, give me a match."
Roberts plunged his hand into his vest pocket, and drew out a portable
safe, took a match therefrom, and struck it, handing it to William,
whose hand trembled in the flush of victory, as he touched it to the
paper.
The unwise fellows had neglected to bolt the door,--probably from the
fact of being on the highest flight,--so I had not the obstacle of a
lock to overcome, as I quickly turned the knob, and rushed in upon the
astonished pair, and snatched the paper from William's hand while only
a corner of it was burned.
"Ah, you scamps!" I exclaimed, "I am in the nick of time, it seems. You
are caught in the last and important act. Do you think there's no God
in heaven to watch over innocents like your cousin Nellie?"
The look of stupid horror which the countenances of Roberts and William
Wilson revealed, remains as fresh on my mind as if it were only
yesterday that I surprised them.
I lost no time in getting the will safely into my pocket, and bade them
defiance. Roberts rushed out of the room, as if he had been shot, and
from that hour the strictest search in Philadelphia couldn't discover
him. Nobody knows where he went. As for William, he was too much
overcome to stir, and I left the room with him in it; and I didn't
sleep that night till I had relieved myself of the possession of the
will, placing it in the attorney's hands.
Of course Miss Nellie had no trouble in getting possession of her
property, but she would not allow her now penitent and subdued cousin
to be pursued at the law for his nefarious conspiracy. Indeed, she gave
him nearly double the amount his father had provided in annuity.
However, it didn't serve him long; for in less than six months from
that time, while partially intoxicated, and driving a fractious horse,
he was thrown from the carriage, and so injured on the head that his
broken constitution could not recover from the shock, and he died in a
few days.
And now comes what to me is the most cheerful part of the story. One
day, a couple of years after that eventful night, being here, and
meeting by chance a handsome cousin of mine, Dr. Charles R., of St.
Louis, who had just returned from Europe, where he had pursued his
medical studies, in Vienna, and having only a short time to spend with
him, for I was obliged to be off early next morning, I ventured to ask
him to accompany me to the home of Nellie, for she had bidden me to
always call on her when in Philadelphia. We went. She _is_ very
handsome, and so is cousin Charles, and I reckon both discovered this
fact of the other instantly, and appreciated it, for Nellie, though
very kind and courteous to me, managed to occupy herself mostly in
entertaining "the stranger."
To cut the story short, we left the house duly.
"Why, John,"--for that is my name,--"why didn't you tell me beforehand
what a glorious creature you were going to see? I'd been a little more
particular about my dress, or probably refused to accompany you," said
cousin Charles, half complainingly, as we got well out of doors.
"Ah! ah! Charley,--aren't you glad, on the whole, though?" said I,
touching him under the chin, "that I _didn't_ tell you, my boy?"
"Indeed--no--yes--well, I don't know as I care, after all; but _isn't_
she elegant. And if I'm any reader of human nature she's as good as she
is beautiful."
I saw that he was thoroughly "smitten;" and as we went on to my hotel,
narrated to him the story of the will. The romance of the thing served
to engage him the more. Well, I needn't repeat all. They loved, and
were married, and are the happiest couple out of heaven, I reckon.
Such was my room-mate's tale, for which I thanked him, and we both then
managed to sleep thereafter. But perhaps the reader will have curiosity
to know what was the peculiar advertisement which had drawn me to
Philadelphia at that time.