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Bates, Arlo, 1850-1918

"The Puritans"

So I set to poking the fire
ostentatiously until she lost her temper and ordered me out of the
house. Then she burned up the will in my favor and made a new one,
giving all her money to the church."
"How unjust," commented Mrs. Morison, "and how human. Did you never
make peace with her?"
"Yes, but of course I was careful that she should understand that I
didn't do it for the sake of her money. She told my mother that she had
made a new will in my favor, but it never turned up. My aunt's death
was very singular. She was found dead in her bed, and the woman who
lived with her, an old nurse of mine, had disappeared. Of course there
was at once suspicion of foul play, but the doctors pronounced the
death natural, and there was no evidence of theft."
"Did you never discover the nurse?"
"Never. We tried, for we thought she might give a clue to the missing
will. She'd been in the family so long that she was a sort of
confidential servant, and knew all Aunt Morse's affairs. She was
devoted to me."
"The romance may not be ended yet," Mrs. Morison suggested smilingly.
"Who knows but the missing nurse will some day turn up with the missing
will.


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