said she, 'and I remember that I
felt ashamed of its shabby mattress and the poor sheets. But we had no
better,' she moaned, 'and he did not seem to mind.' I tell you this that
you may understand what must have taken place in her heart when, a few
minutes later, he seized her hand in his and said that he had a great
secret to communicate to her. Though he had seemed the indifferent
brother for years, his heart had always been with his home and his
people, and he was going to prove it to her now; he had made money,
and this money was to be hers and Charity's. He had saved it for them,
brought it to them from the far West; a pile of money all honestly
earned, which he hoped would buy back their old house and make them
happy again in the old way. He said nothing of his nephew. They had not
mentioned him, and possibly he did not even know of his existence. All
was to be for them and the old house, this old house. This was perhaps
why he was content to lie in the midst of its desolation. He foresaw
better days for those he loved, and warmed his heart at his precious
secret.

"But his sister sat aghast. Money! and so little done for his comfort!
That was her first thought. The next, oh, the wonder and the hope of it!
Now the boy could be saved; now he could have his luxuries. If only it
might be enough! Five thousand, ten thousand. But no, it could not be
so much. Her brother was daft to think she could restore the old home on
what he had been able to save. She said something to show her doubt, at
which he laughed; and, peering slowly and painfully about him, drew
her hands toward his left side. 'Feel,' said he, 'I have it all here. I
would trust nobody. Fifty, thousand dollars.'

"Fifty thousand dollars! Miss Thankful sprang to her feet, then sat
again, overcome by her delight. Placing her hand on the wallet he held
tied about his body, she whispered, 'Here?'

"He nodded and bade her look. She told me she did so; that she opened
the wallet under his eye and took out five bonds each for ten thousand
dollars. She remembers them well; there was no mistake in the figures.
She held fifty thousand dollars in her hands for the space of half a
minute; then he bade her put them back, with an injunction to watch
over him well and not to let that woman nurse come near him till she had
taken away the wallet immediately after his death. He could not bear to
part with it while alive.

"She promised. She was in a delirium of joy. In on