How Dalton replied that there was nothing he could do; reminding her that the elder Mrs. Van Bartan was a woman of iron will, of stern resolve, of relentless determination, and that neither he nor any other living man could affect her. And how like a woman she answered that he, Dalton, would be sent for to make the will, and that he must save her some way, she did not know how,--he would know, he was shrewd, he was a great lawyer, he could certainly find some way; this she knew, and he must do it. And how he labored to show her that there was nothing he could do--absolutely nothing; that the whole thing was hopeless, thoroughly, utterly hopeless; and then how she came to him and put her bare white arms around him and looked up into his face, the big tears shining in her glorious eyes, and said that if this were true, then she proposed to tell him all the truth, the truth that she loved him, him only in all the wide world, him always from her very childhood, and that for others she had made this sacrifice; and how great, how awful a sacrifice it had been, men could not understand. How he coldly loosed her arms, although to do it wrenched his very heart loose; although he would have given his life gladly to have taken her in his embrace if only for a moment, and told her how he understood and how he loved her for it, and how he would always love her to the very end of all things; but, instead, how he had sternly led her out to the carriage and forced her to leave him, and how he turned back into the library with his head swimming and his heart pounding like a hammer, and fought the whole thing out through the long October night, until the dawn crept in and the birds began to chirp in the Virginia creeper. Some weeks later, as was anticipated, the elder Mrs. Van Bartan summoned Robert Dalton to her residence in order to prepare her will. Upon his arrival he found Simon Harrison, President of the First National Bank, and David Pickney, a steel manufacturer, both prominent citizens of unquestioned integrity; also the late Milton South, a most estimable physician. At Mrs. Van Bartan's request, Robert Dalton prepared the will in the presence of these three persons. When he had finished he handed the paper to the testatrix, who thereupon read it aloud in the presence of all, declared it entirely correct, and affixed her signature. As is customary, Dalton requested the three gentlemen to converse with the testatrix and satisfy themselves that she was in proper mental condition. This they did at some length, and not unskilfully, all being men of good sense. Afterward Harrison and Pickney subscribed their names as witnesses in the manner prescribed by the statute. Mrs. Van Bartan then placed the will in an envelope, sealed it with her own hand in the presence of all, and gave it to Simon Harrison to retain until after her death.