The International Monthly, Volume 4, No. 1, August, 1851Various
History
The International Monthly, Volume 4, No. 1, August, 1851
Various
Art, Modern -- 19th century -- Periodicals; Literature, Modern -- 19th century -- Periodicals; Science -- History -- Periodicals
Great, it may be supposed, was the jubilation of Caleb Jennings at
this discovery; and all Watley, by his agency, was in a marvelously
short space of time in a very similar state of excitement. It was very
late that night when he reached his bed; and how he got there at all,
and what precisely had happened, except, indeed, that he had somewhere
picked up a splitting headache, was, for some time after he awoke the
next morn, very confusedly remembered.
Mr. Flint, upon reflection, was by no means so exultant as the worthy
shoemender. The odd mode of packing away a deed of such importance,
with no assignable motive for doing so, except the needless awe with
which Sowerby was said to have inspired his feeble-spirited client,
together with what Caleb had said of the shattered state of the
deceased's mind after the interview with Mrs. Warner's daughter,
suggested fears that Sowerby might dispute, and perhaps successfully,
the validity of this last will. My excellent partner, however,
determined, as was his wont, to put a bold face on the matter; and
first clearly settling in his own mind what he should and what he
should _not_ say, he waited upon Mr. Sowerby. The news had preceded
him, and he was at once surprised and delighted to find that the
nervous, crestfallen attorney was quite unaware of the advantages of
his position. On condition of not being called to account for the
moneys he had received and expended, about £1200, he destroyed the
former will in Mr. Flint's presence, and gave up at once all the
deceased's papers. From these we learned that Mr. Lisle had written a
letter to Mrs. Warner, stating what he had done, where the will would
be found, and that only herself and Jennings would know the secret.
From infirmity of purpose, or from having subsequently determined on a
personal interview, the letter was not posted; and Sowerby
subsequently discovered it, together with a memorandum of the numbers
of the bank-notes found by Caleb in the secret drawer--the eccentric
gentleman appears to have had quite a mania for such hiding-places--of
a writing-desk.
The affair was thus happily terminated: Mrs. Warner, her children, and
sister, were enriched, and Caleb Jennings was set up in a good way of
business in his native place, where he still flourishes. Over the
centre of his shop there is a large nondescript sign, surmounted by a
golden boot, which, upon close inspection, is found to bear some
resemblance to a huge bureau chest of drawers, all the circumstances
connected with which may be heard, for the asking, and in much fuller
detail than I have given, from the lips of the owner of the
establishment, by any lady or gentleman who will take the trouble of a
journey to Watley for that purpose.
MY NOVEL:
OR, VARIETIES IN ENGLISH LIFE,[8]
BY PISISTRATUS CAXTON.
BOOK VI.--INITIAL CHAPTER.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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