Later in the day, while the nearest relatives were still together in
the little house at Landisville, the lawyer arrived and read the will.
The Millers, who were so eager for their legacies, were impatient with
all the legal phrasing, "Being of sound mind" and so forth. They sat up
more attentively when the lawyer read, "do hereby bequeath."
First came the wish that all real estate be sold, that personal
property be given to her sister, the sum of five hundred dollars be
given to the Mennonite Church at Landisville for the upkeep of the
burial ground. Then the announcement of the sum of five thousand
dollars to be equally divided among the heirs of Jonas Miller,
deceased, the sum of five thousand dollars to her brother Amos Rohrer,
a like amount to her sister, Mrs. Reist, the sum of ten thousand
dollars to Martin Landis, husband of Elizabeth Anders, and the
remainder, if any, to be divided equally between said brother Amos and
sister Mary.
"Martin Landis!" exploded one of the Miller women, "who under the sun
is he? To get ten thousand dollars of Rebecca's money!"
"I'll tell you," spoke up Uncle Amos, "he's an old beau of hers."
"Well, who ever heard of such a thing! And here we are, her own blood,
you might say, close relations of poor Jonas, and we get only five
thousand to be divided into about twenty shares! It's an outrage! Such
a will ought to be broken!"
"I guess not," came Uncle Amos's firm reply. "It was all Rebecca's
money and hers to do with what suited her. She's made me think a whole
lot more of her by this here will. I'm glad to know she didn't forget
her old beau. She was a little prickly on the outside sometimes, but I
guess her heart was soft after all. It's all right, it's all right,
that will is! It ain't for us to fuss about. She could have give the
whole lot of it to some cat home or spent it while she lived. It was
_hers_! If that's all, lawyer, I guess we'll go. Mary and I are
satisfied and the rest got to be. I bet Rebecca got a lot o' good
thinkin' how Martin Landis would get the surprise of his life when she
was in her grave."
In a short time the news spread over the rural community that Rebecca
Miller willed Martin Landis ten thousand dollars! Some said facetiously
that it might be a posthumous thank-offering for what she missed when
she refused to marry him. Others, keen for romance, repeated a
sentimental story about a broken heart and a lifelong sorrow because of
her foolish inability to see what was best for her and how at the close
of her life she conceived the beautiful thought of leaving him the
money so that he might know she had never forgotten him and so that he
might remember his old sweetheart. But in whatever form the incident
was presented it never failed to evoke interest. "Ten thousand dollars
from an old girl! What luck!" exclaimed many.