he was sorry he’d done it.”
“So the chief purpose of the will was to alter the appointment of the policy to yourself?”
“One of the purposes.”
“Did you not know that your father had made the original appointment to Martha, partly to reimburse her for the money she had expended for you and for him?”
“I didn’t know anything about it.”
Mr. Tutt lowered his voice: “Didn’t you think it was a dastardly thing to take advantage of his condition to jockey her out of her inheritance and to deprive her of support in her old age?”
“I object to this!” cried Quinlan. “A man has a right to dispose of his property as he sees fit. My client is his own son; this woman is only——”
“His wife!” finished Mr. Tutt dramatically.
“His wife!” ejaculated judge and solicitor in chorus.
Mr. Tutt turned and beckoned to a messenger from the local post office, who had entered during the debate and was standing by the door with an envelope in his hand.
Tearing it open and removing a formal-looking document, the old lawyer said: “Justice sometimes triumphs in unexpected ways. John Mack and Martha MacDonald were married five days ago by the Reverend McCook, acting under a special license issued in accordance with the New Brunswick Marriage Act. Rather than call witnesses to the ceremony, I have taken the precaution of obtaining an official certificate thereof from the Vital Statistics Department for this province at Fredericton. It has just been delivered and I offer it in evidence. Since I was present at the wedding, I can testify that the John Mack mentioned therein is the same John Mack whose will is now being offered for probate.”
There was no sound in the courtroom. The witness and the solicitor both gaped helplessly at the judge.
“But, Your Honor,” finally protested the latter, “John Mack wasn’t competent to get married! He was practically non compos!”
“Non compos?” retorted the judge. “When you claim he was competent to make a will just a few days before that? You can’t have your cake and eat it, Mr. Quinlan!”
“I shall bring an action to have the marriage declared invalid!” threatened the solicitor.
“My learned friend overlooks the fact that, under the laws of Canada and of this province, a marriage in legal form is not subject to question save at the instance of one of the parties,” commented Mr. Tutt quietly. “I move that this application for the probate of the document submitted as the last will and testament of John Mack be denied.”
“Have you any reasons to advance why I should not grant the motion?” inquired the judge of the crestfallen solicitor.
Receiving no answer, he continued:
“Under the laws of the province of New Brunswick, a will not made in contemplation of marriage is revoked by the subsequent marriage of the testator. This document, while it may have been a valid will when executed, not being made in contemplation of marriage, was revoked by the testator’s subsequent marriage to Martha MacDonald. The situation regarding the assignment of his insurance policy remains as if that will had never been made. Hence, the appointment of the policy previously made in favor of Martha MacDonald, now Martha Mack, still stands. The application for probate of the document submitted as the will of John Mack will be refused, the applicant to pay the costs of the respondent, fixed at one hundred dollars. Since no valid will exists, I am prepared to consider an application by the widow for administration of the estate.... Have you the necessary inventories and affidavits, Mr. Montrose? If so, in view of the unusual facts which have come out at this trial, I shall be pleased also to entertain an application to dispense with a bond for the administratrix. If there is nothing else before me, this court stands adjourned.... Glad to have met you, Mr. Tutt!”
Once the excitement was over, the old man was beginning to feel very shaky. Doctor Blake and Mr. Montrose each took an arm as he dragged himself out of the courthouse.
“And now, old stravagler, you’ll go straight back to bed again!” ordered Blake.
“I don’t object,” he admitted, “so long as I’ve got two such good nurses to look after me.... I told you I always caught something when I went fishing, Minerva.”
“Yes, and I told you what it would be!” she returned.
“I’ll look after him,” said Martha Mack.... “Oh, Mr. Tutt, how can I ever thank you!”
“It’s fifty-fifty, my dear,” he answered. “I owe you my life! Come to think of it, I owe you a black salmon too.”
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