the
ground. Upon one of them, that was not far from his feet, he read the
outer endorsements written as such endorsements always are, in almost
illegible old English letters--

"Jonathan Ball, to John Ball, junior--Deed of Gift."

But, after all, there was nothing more than a coincidence in this.
Of course Mr Slow would have in his possession all the papers
appertaining to the transfer of Jonathan Ball's property to the
Mackenzies; or, at any rate, such as referred to Walter's share of
it. Indeed, Mr Slow, at the time of Jonathan Ball's death, acted for
the two brothers, and it was probable that all the papers would be
with him. John Ball had known that there had been some intention
on his uncle's part, before the quarrel between his father and his
uncle, to make over to him, on his coming of age, a certain property
in London, and he had been told that the money which the Mackenzies
had inherited had ultimately come from this very property. His uncle
had been an eccentric, quarrelsome man, prone to change his mind
often, and not regardful of money as far as he himself was concerned.
John Ball remembered to have heard that his uncle had intended him to
become possessed of certain property in his own right the day that
he became of age, and that this had all been changed because of the
quarrel which had taken place between his uncle and his father. His
father now never spoke of this, and for many years past had seldom
mentioned it. But from his mother he had often heard of the special
injury which he had undergone.

"His uncle," she had said, "had given it, and had taken it back
again,--had taken it back that he might waste it on those
Mackenzies."

All this he had heard very often, but he had never known anything of
a deed of gift. Was it not singular, he thought, that the draft of
such a deed should be lying at his foot at this moment.

He showed nothing of this in his face, and still sat there with his
chin resting on his umbrella. But certainly stronger ideas than usual
of the great wrongs which he had suffered did come into his head as
he looked upon the paper at his feet. He began to wonder whether he
would be justified in taking it up and inspecting it. But as he was
thinking of this the pale-faced man rose from his chair, and after
moving among the papers on the ground for an instant, selected this
very document, and carried it with him to his table. Mr Ball, as
his eyes followed the parchment, watched the