The story was that he had been
caught trying to sell some plans to the enemy. He was sentenced to be
shot. It was very clear against him, my mother told me on one of the
rare occasions when his name was mentioned. But he escaped during a
sudden, overwhelming attack by the Yanks. They never caught him. My
grandfather, who had been a colonel in the war with Mexico and had
lost an arm, disowned him as a son. He disinherited him, leaving
everything to my father. When my father was killed I became the heir
to Jenison Hall and all that went with it,--a vast estate.
"A year ago my uncle Frank turned up. He came to Richmond with proof
that cleared him of the charge of treason in the minds of his old
comrades. Three men on their deathbeds had signed affidavits, showing
that they were guilty of the very thing of which he was accused, he
being an innocent dupe in the transaction. I don't know just how it
all came about, but he was exonerated completely. With this to back
him up, he came to the Hall to plead for my grandfather's forgiveness.
He came many times, and finally it seems that grandfather believed his
story.
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