Mrs. Tree's Will

Boston Dana Estes & Company Publishers
Copyright, 1905 By Dana Estes & Company
All rights reserved
MRS. TREE'S WILL
COLONIAL PRESS Electrotyped and Printed by C. H. Simonds & Co. Boston, U.S.A.
TO MY DAUGHTER Alice

Suppose you tell me all about it, Mr. Hollopeter! said Mr. Bliss.
Mr. Homer Hollopeter sighed deeply; wiped his brow with a sky-blue article, evidently under the impression that it was a pocket-handkerchief; sighed again yet more deeply on perceiving that it was a necktie; put it back in his pocket, and looked plaintively at the minister.
I should be pleased to do so, Mr. Bliss, he said. It would be—a relief; a—an unburdening; an—outlet to imprisoned nature.
You see, the little minister went on soothingly, our dear old friend's death occurring while I was away, and I returning only just in time for the funeral, I have not really heard the particulars yet. I might—that is—Mrs. Weight kindly called on me last evening, probably with a view to giving me some information, but I was unable to see her, and I should prefer to hear from you how it all happened.
Yes—a—yes! said Mr. Homer, nervously. Mrs. Weight is a—a person—a—in short, she is a person not connected with the family. Well, Mr. Bliss, the end came very suddenly; very suddenly indeed. It was a great shock; a great—blow; a great—unsettling of the equilibrium of daily life. The village has never known such a sensation, sir, never.