sements.

"I see here," he said, "the advertisement of a vessel to sail to-morrow
for Australia."

"What of that?"

"What of that! Why, everything of that. Can't you see through a
barn-door, when the door is open for you?"

"You mean, send the boys to Australia?"

The lawyer nodded.

"Could you want anything better? They would be gone a long time. You can
take them to New York to-morrow and ship them off in the afternoon. Put
them before the mast. Make sailors out of them."

"Nobody would take them for sailors," remarked Mr. Ellis, doubtfully.

"What of that? Go to the captain and tell him that you have two boys who
are wild. Tell him you don't want to send them to the reform school, but
would like to have them put under the discipline of a big ship. Pay him
to take them, and he will jump at the chance, and break them in for you,
I'll warrant."

Clyde's cheeks burned with resentment. His heart was going like a
trip-hammer. Could it be possible that his uncle would lend himself to
such a villainous scheme? He could scarcely refrain from jumping through
the window and denouncing the plotters to their very faces.

He did not have to wait long to discover his uncle's sentiments.

"Sharp," said Mr. Ellis, "you have a great head. I do admire you, upon
my word! If I had one-half of your ability for villainy, I would have
been rich long ago."

"Thank you," retorted the lawyer, coolly. "But you can bet that I never
used other people's money to speculate with."

"The less said about that the better," replied the other. "I shall pull
out of this all right if I am given time. But now to business. How am I
going to get those boys aboard? They may suspect something."

"Oh, well, if you haven't got any inventive faculty at all, you had
better quit, go down on your knees, ask your nephews' pardon, and live
happily ever after. To tell you plainly, that is just what I would do.
But if you are dead set on getting rid of them, why, I am paid to give
you advice, and here it is. You have promised to show them the will
to-morrow. Tell them that it is necessary to go to New York to see it.
There you can take them to some office for a blind, and, while you are
there, you can have a letter sent to you, or pretend to have, from an
old friend who is going to Australia and wants you to see him off. It
will be the easiest thing in the world to ask the boys to accompany you,
and, once aboard, you can lock them up, and there they are.