Andrew Vanstone died--intestate. With this
difference, however, in the two cases, that the younger brother left an
informal will, and the elder brother left no will at all. The hardest
men have their weaknesses; and Mr. Michael Vanstone's weakness seems to
have been an insurmountable horror of contemplating the event of his
own death. His son, his housekeeper, and his lawyer, had all three tried
over and over again to get him to make a will; and had never shaken his
obstinate resolution to put off performing the only business duty he
was ever known to neglect. Two doctors attended him in his last illness;
warned him that he was too old a man to hope to get over it; and warned
him in vain. He announced his own positive determination not to die. His
last words in this world (as I succeeded in discovering from the nurse
who assisted Mrs. Lecount) were: "I'm getting better every minute; send
for the fly directly and take me out for a drive." The same night Death
proved to be the more obstinate of the two; and left his son (and only
child) to take the property in due course of law. Nobody doubts that the
result would have been the same if a will had been made.
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