ief
interview I had with them, it was plain that they were far from being
satisfied that all was right. Their manner was that of men utterly
confounded. If the property in question had been held by them as really
their own, they could hardly have exhibited more feeling.

After the will was entered at the proper office, and thus made public,
the following paragraph appeared in our "Weekly Star"--

"_Remarkable Discovery of a Will._--A singular circumstance happened in
our town last week, no less than the discovery of a new and more recent
will of the late Captain Allen, by which all of his large property is
devised to his sister and her heirs. It was found in a secret drawer,
contained in an antiquated French Secretary, which Dr.----bought when
the furniture of the Allen House was sold, previous to a renovation
of the old mansion for the residence of Mr. Ralph Dewey. The late Mrs.
Montgomery, who resided for a time at the Allen House, was sister to
Captain Allen, and her daughter is now the wife of our townsman, Henry
Wallingford, Esq. We congratulate the parties on the good fortune which
has come to their door."

The marriage of Mr. Dewey took place within a month after the discovery
of this will, and he brought his new wife to S----, installing her as
mistress of the Allen House. She was a showy woman, past thirty, with
a pair of brilliant black eyes, and a dark, rich complexion. Her long,
thin nose, and delicate, but proudly arching lips, showed her to possess
will and determination. It was the rumor in S----, that she brought her
husband a considerable fortune. But she was not well received among us.
The families of Judge Bigelow, and Joshua Kling, Cashier of the Clinton
Bank, called immediately. Something later called the wives of two
Directors in the Bank, and afterwards the wives of one or two citizens
who had embarked some capital in the cotton mills. Beyond this, no
advances were made towards an acquaintance with the new Mrs. Dewey.

It shocked my sensibilities to see this woman dashing about through
S----in the elegant equipage once the pride of the now humbled daughter
of Squire Floyd, who, since the divorce granted on her application, had
lived in strict retirement in her father's house. The only time when she
was seen abroad, was on the Sabbath, at church, with her two children.
The oldest, a daughter, in her thirteenth year; and the youngest, a boy,
ten years of age. The terrible ordeal passed through by