ath of her father that
with much difficulty she restrained a flood of tears. The scene in the
office, and the disfavor with which she had lately regarded him, were
forgotten in his eloquence.

After this courtesy to the daughter of his former patron, Maxwell again
seated himself, and after briefly and formally stating the reasons of
their meeting, to which he added a short but apparently very feeling
eulogy of the deceased, he took the packet from the safe, and proceeded
to break the seals.

In his full and musical tones the attorney read the preliminary parts of
the instrument, and then commenced upon the principal items of the will.
First came several legacies to charitable institutions and to personal
friends; after which was a legacy of ten thousand dollars to Emily
Dumont, to be paid in Cincinnati by his brother. The testator further
declared _that the said Emily was manumitted_, and should proceed under
the guidance of his brother to the place designated for the payment of
the legacy.

Emily, who had scarcely heeded the provisions of the will until the
mention of her name attracted her attention, was, as may be supposed,
somewhat astonished to hear her own name in connection with a legacy.
She raised her sad eyes from the floor, and heard the other stipulations
in regard to her. So utterly unexpected, so terribly revolting, was the
clause which pronounced her a slave, that for a time she did not realize
its awful import. But the blank dismay of her friends, the
well-counterfeited surprise of Jaspar and Maxwell, brought her to a
painful sense of her position. She attempted to rise, but in the act the
color forsook her face, and she sunk back insensible. In this condition
she was conveyed to her room.

The attorney completed the reading of the will, though, after the
extraordinary incident which had just occurred, but little attention was
given him. The witnesses at once recognized the strange character, and
acknowledged the signatures to be genuine. Here, then, thought they, was
the reason why the provisions of the will had been concealed from them.
So impressed were they with the apparent purpose of Colonel Dumont in
throwing the veil of secrecy over the contents of his will, that the
very strangeness of it seemed to confirm its genuineness; and they did
not scrutinize it so closely as under other circumstances they probably
would have done.

How often may a good motive be tortured, by the appearance of evil