Page:Old ninety-nine's cave.djvu/175

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CHAPTER IX

If Dr. Herschel's courage weakened as he looked into Hernando's face his expression did not show it. Duty, once plain, had but one road for him, and he had the happy faculty of doing a disagreeable one gracefully. Hernando's case was simply and truthfully stated to him. He then related his discovery of "Old Ninety-Nine's" will in the stove at Kingston. In the will, no mention was made of gold, money or jewels, but he bequeathed to his brothers a proven cure for leprosy; as, in his younger days, he had contracted the disease in the West Indies. "Extremely chronic as it is," said the doctor, "he was not aware of its true nature until in an advanced stage. He speaks of his body as contorted by dry rot, but painless. This is why he kept hidden from sight, believing the Great Spirit angry with him. In a dream his guardian spirit guided him to Shushan to