s if to bring his resolution to the point, thus began:

"I shall pass over all minor affairs of my life, and come at once to the
period and event, which changed me from a happy youth, blessed with home
and friends, to a wanderer--I know not but an outlaw--on the face of the
earth. I was born in the state of Connecticut, A.D. 1759; and my father
being a man of property, and one determined on giving his children (of
whom there were two, one older than myself) a liberal education, I was
at an early age sent to a neighboring school, where I remained until
turned of eighteen, and then returned to my parents.

"About this period, an old, eccentric lady--a maiden aunt of my
father--died, bequeathing to me--or rather to the second born of her
nephew, Albert Reynolds, which chanced to be myself--the bulk of her
property--in value some fifty thousand dollars, on condition, that,
between the ages of eighteen and twenty-two, I should marry a certain
Elvira Longworth--a lady some three years my junior, for whom my great
aunt had formed a strong attachment. And the will further provided, That
in case the said second born of Albert Reynolds, either through the
intervention of Providence, in removing him from off the face of the
earth, (so it was worded) and from among the living, or through a mutual
dislike of the parties seemed, did not between the specified ages,
celebrate, with due rejoicing, the said nuptials with the said Elvira
Longworth, the sum of twenty thousand dollars should be paid over to the
said Elvira, if living, and the remainder of the property (or in case
she was deceased the whole) should revert to the regular heirs at law.

"Such was the will--one of the most singular perhaps on record--which,
whatever the design of its author, was destined, by a train of
circumstances no one could foresee, to result in the most terrible
consequences to those it should have benefited. On the reading thereof,
no little dissatisfaction was expressed in regard to it, by numerous
relatives of the deceased; each of whom, as a matter of course, was
expecting a considerable share of the old lady's property; and all of
whom, with but few exceptions, were nearer akin than myself; and
therefore, in that respect, more properly entitled to it. As a
consequence of the will, I, though innocent of its construction--for
none could be more surprised at it than myself--became a regular target
for the ridicule, envy, and hate of those who chanced t