rom him), but she was large-hearted enough to like it all the
better for that. I was still speaking to her when Mrs. Markson's lawyer
announced that he would read the last will and testament of the
deceased; so, when she sat down on a sofa, I took a seat beside her.

The document was very brief. He left Helen the interest of twenty
thousand dollars a year, the same to cease if she married; all the rest
of the property he left to his wife. As the lawyer concluded, Helen's
face put on an expression of wonder and grief, succeeded by one of utter
loneliness; while from Mrs. Markson's eyes there flashed an exultant
look that had so much of malignity in it that it made me understand the
nature of Satan a great deal more clearly than any sermon ever made me
do. Poor Helen tried to meet it with fearlessness and dignity, but she
seemed to feel as if even her father had abandoned her, and she dropped
her head and burst into tears.

I know it wasn't the thing to do before company, but I took her hand and
called her a poor girl, and begged her to keep a good heart, and trust
that her father loved her truly, and that her wrongs would be righted at
the proper time.

Being kind to my fellow-creatures is the biggest part of my religion,
for it's the part of religion I understand best; but even if I had been
a heathen, I couldn't have helped wishing well to a noble, handsome
woman like Helen Markson. I tried to speak in a very low tone, but Mrs.
Markson seemed to understand what I said, for she favored me with a look
more malevolent than any I had ever received from my most impecunious
debtor; the natural effect was to wake up all the old Adam there was in
me, and to make me long for what was coming.

"May I ask the date of that will?" asked Judge Bardlow.

"Certainly, sir," replied Mrs. Markson's lawyer, handing the document to
the judge. The judge looked at the date, handed the will back to the
lawyer, and drew from his pocket an envelope.

"Here is a will made by Mr. Markson," said the judge, "and dated three
months later."

Mrs. Markson started; her eyes flashed with a sort of fire which I hope
I may never see again, and she caught her lower lip up between her
teeth. The judge read the document as calmly as if it had been a mere
supervisor's notice, whereas it was different to the first will in every
respect, for it gave to Helen all of his property, of every description,
on condition that she paid to Mrs. Markson yearly the