when he
spoke his voice trembled with rage. He was the first to break the
silence, as, with an oath, he flung the papers upon the floor,
exclaiming,--

"It is a lie from beginning to end! The most preposterous
fabrication of falsehood that could be devised! The 'will,' as it
is called, is nothing but a rank forgery, and the man who dares
assert any claim to the estate is a damned impostor, and I'll tell
him so to his face!"

"I examined the document very carefully, Mr. Mainwaring," said the
attorney, "and I shall have to admit that it certainly had every
appearance of genuineness; if it is a forgery, it is an exceedingly
clever one."

"Do you mean to tell me that you believe, for one moment, in this
balderdash?" demanded Ralph Mainwaring, at the same time rising and
striding about the room in his wrath. "The utter absurdity of the
thing, that such a will ever existed, in the first place, and then
that it would be secreted all these years only to be 'discovered'
just at this critical moment! It is the most transparent invention
I ever heard of, and it is a disgrace to your American courts that
the thing was not quashed at once!"

"That could not very well be done," said Mr. Whitney, with a quiet
smile; "and as the matter now stands, the only course left open for
us is to prepare ourselves for a thorough investigation of the case."

"Investigation be damned!" interrupted the other, but, before he
could proceed further, he was in turn interrupted by young
Mainwaring.

"I say, governor, you'd best cool down a bit and listen to what Mr.
Whitney has to say; if this thing is a forgery, we surely can prove
it so; and if it isn't, why, all the bluster in the world won't help
it, you know."

His father faced him with a look of withering contempt. "'If' it
is a forgery! I tell you there are no 'ifs' about it. I suppose,
though, you are just fool enough that, if any man made a pretence
of a claim to the estate, you would simply hand it over to him,
and thank him for taking it off your hands!"

"That's just where you are wrong, governor. I would fight him, fair
and square, and he would have to prove a better claim than mine
before he could win. But the point is this, don't you know, you can
fight better with your head cool and your plans well laid beforehand."

"The young man is right," said Mr. Whitney, quickly; "there is every
indication that our opponent, whoever or whatever he may be, is well
prepared for