"Oh, how lovely she is," Hannah said, showing the picture to her father.
"This must be his sister, the Elizabeth he was so fond of. He said once
she was many year's younger than himself, and very beautiful. I do not
wonder he loved her."
The bundle of papers was next examined, and found to contain a few
receipts for moneys paid in England and America, and the will of the
deceased, executed some months before, and in which he gave everything
he possessed to his beloved and only sister, Elizabeth, her heirs and
assigns forever.
"Father!" Hannah said, with a trembling voice, as she finished reading
aloud this will, "I am sure that this is his sister's picture, and we
have a duty to do. We must find Elizabeth Rogers, and put her in
possession of her own, this gold in the box, and whatever else he may
have owned in Wales. He spoke of shares in some mines or quarries. These
all belong to his sister, and we must not defraud her; those blue eyes
would haunt me forever. What shall we do?"
She was looking earnestly at her father, over whose face there came a
sudden pallor, and a hard, bitter expression, as he answered her:
"Find her! Of course! Advertise! go to Wales, if necessary, in search of
her, or get a lawyer to do it! Break your vow; tell the whole truth, as
you would have to, in order to establish his death; and get me hanged!
That would be the result of restitution.
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