"So far as I can see, the boy is left wholly dependent upon you."

"He shall not regret it!" said Mr. Manning, fervently. "I consecrate my
life to this sacred trust."

"You acquiesce in the arrangement, then, Mr. Manning?"

"I cannot do otherwise, can I?"

"There is nothing to prevent your settling the property, or any part of
it, on the natural heir, Mr. Manning. You must pardon me for saying that
it would have been wiser had your wife so stipulated by will."

"I cannot consent to reverse, or in any way annul, the last wishes of my
dear wife," said Mr. Manning, hastily. "It was her arrangement solely,
and I hold it sacred. She has put upon me a serious responsibility, from
which I shrink, indeed, but which I cannot decline. I will do all in my
power to carry out the wishes of my late wife."

Mr. Ferret shrugged his shoulders.

"I am not surprised at your decision, sir," he said, coldly. "Few men
would resist the temptation. My duty is discharged with the reading of
the will, and I will bid you good-afternoon!"

Mr. Manning was a crafty man. He knew that the strange will would be
discussed, and he thought it best that the discussion should come at
once, that it might be the sooner finished.

Deborah, faithful old servant, was in a blaze of indignation.

She went up quickly to Frank, and said:

"It's a shame, Mr. Frank, so it is!"

"If my mother made that will, it is all right," said Frank, gravely.

"But she didn't, Mr. Frank! I know she would never do such a thing. She
loved you as the apple of her eye, and she would not cheat you out of
your rightful inheritance."

"No more she would, Mr. Frank," said the coachman, chiming in.

"I don't know what to think," said Frank. "It has surprised me very
much."

"Surprised you!" exclaimed Deborah. "You may well say that. You might
have knocked me down with a feather when I heard the property left away
from you. Depend upon it, that man knows all about it."

"You mean Mr. Manning?"

"To be sure I mean him! Oh, he's managed artfully! I say that for him.
He's got it all into his own hands, and you haven't a cent."

"If it was my mother's will I wouldn't complain of that, Deborah. It was
hers to do with as she liked, and I know, at any rate, that she loved
me."

"There's one thing surprises me," said Richard Green. "If so be as the
will isn't genuine, how does it happen that you and I come in for a
legacy, Deborah?"

"It's meant for a blind," answered Deb