gs to
that unseen Power whose hand, I am firmly convinced, brought me thither
at so critical a moment, to frustrate the schemes and machinations of
the enemy.

Bundling up the papers, my knowledge of the vicinity enabled me to reach
a small tavern in the neighbourhood without the risk of being
recognised. Here I continued two or three days, examining the documents,
with the assistance of an honest limb of the law from W----. He
entertained considerable doubts as to the issue of a trial, feeling
convinced that a forged will would be prepared, if not already in
existence, and that my relative would not relinquish his fraudulent
claim should the law be openly appealed to. He strongly recommended that
proceedings of a different nature should be first tried, in hopes of
enclosing the villain in his own toils; and these, if successful, would
save the uncertain and expensive process of a suit. I felt unwilling to
adopt any mode of attack but that of open warfare, and urged that
possession of the real will would be sufficient to reinstate me as the
lawful heir. The man of law smiled. He inquired how I should be able to
prove that the forgery which my uncle would in all probability produce
was not the genuine testament; and as the date would inevitably be
subsequent to the one I held, it would annul any former bequest. As to
my tale about burning the will, that might or might not be treated as a
story trumped up for the occasion. I had no witnesses to prove the fact;
and though appearances were certainly in my favour, yet the case could
only be decided according to evidence. With great reluctance I consented
to take a part in the scheme he chalked out for my guidance; and, on the
third day from my arrival, I walked a few miles and returned to the
town, that it might appear as if I had only just arrived. On being set
down at my uncle's I had the satisfaction to find, as far as could be
gathered from his manner, that he had no idea of my recent sojourn in
the neighbourhood. Of course the conversation turned on the death of my
revered parents, and the way in which their property had been disposed
of.

"I can only repeat," continued he, "what I, as the only executor under
your father's will, was commissioned to inform you at his decease. The
property was heavily mortgaged before your departure; and its continued
depression in value, arising from causes that could not have been
foreseen, left the executor no other alternative but t