An Unexpected Witness

I had never seen my little client. He was off to boarding school when his mother died, and they buried her the next day without sending for little Charley, who was too young, perhaps they thought, to appreciate her loss.

This was the way little Charley came to be my client: After his mother’s death, a will was produced, leaving all her handsome fortune to Mr. Bryson, her second “beloved husband,” little Charley’s stepfather.

When the will was offered for probate, it became necessary to appoint some one to protect the rights of little Charley; and to this post,—that of guardian ad litem, the lawyers call it,—too often regarded as one of mere form, I was duly assigned.

It would have afforded me great pleasure to break that will; for I had much less confidence in the austere Mr. Bryson than his confiding little wife had, who had trusted him with everything, her little boy’s future included. For myself, I thought there was far too much goodness in his face to leave any for his heart.

But what could I do? The will was in legal form. Dr. Dolus, who had attended the lady on her death-bed, had drawn it up and witnessed it, and was ready to swear to everything necessary to make it valid. The other witness, Sandy McBride, an old Scotch domestic, staunchly loyal to his mistress, died and was buried the very day before the case was to come on. The weather was warm, and Dr. Dolus advised a speedy interment.

With Sandy died all my hopes. He was a truthful, honest fellow, and whatever facts he knew I was certain he would… Read More