n, my late brother chose to keep
the matter for the time being from the knowledge of his family; but the
will was executed in a perfectly proper and legal manner, as you
yourself must know, having seen the document with your own eyes."

"This division of the property would necessitate your sister-in-law and
her son leaving Coverthorne," said Mr. Denny.

"I don't necessarily admit that," returned the other. "But as I've
told you before, sir, other people have rights to be considered besides
my brother's family. He himself saw that I had been done out of mine
for many years; and though neither he nor I then thought that I should
ever benefit by this act of restitution, yet he considered it just and
necessary, if for nothing more than as an acknowledgment that I had not
been fairly dealt with, and that I had his sympathy. I have already
suggested to Mrs. Coverthorne that, as this house is much too large for
her and Miles, she should give it up and take a smaller one in town,
where they would see more people and make new friends."

"Still," said Mr. Denny, "it is very hard for the lad, as his father's
heir, to have to give up the old house, which has been in the family
for so many generations, containing, as it does, the rooms in which his
great-grandparents lived and died--ay, further back still. I repeat,
it would be hard for him to give up a home so rich in old traditions
and associations."

"Merely a matter of sentiment," answered Mr. Nicholas shortly. "If the
old place were mine, I'd sell it to-morrow if I were offered a good
enough price."

"There's that secret place about which so many legends have clustered,"
went on the solicitor musingly, "and which you once gave us to
understand was simply a hole in the chimney which had been built up in
your father's time. I suppose you heard how it was discovered?"

The visitor nodded.

Mr. Denny took another sip at his port, set down the glass, and sat up
straighter in his chair. There was something in his action suggestive
of a person who suddenly prepares to attack after having stood for some
time merely on the defensive.

"On the same day that the secret chamber was found," he began, "we made
another discovery, to which I should now like to call your attention.
In the underground chamber was an iron box, which on being opened was
found to contain a quantity of papers. Among them was your brother's
will, which since his death we had not been able to discover