h a shrewd look; "but you will mind that the name is the same
writing as the will itself, and he wrote that and signed his name
to it, for I saw him."

"And you have neither seen that will, nor heard it read until this
morning?"

"No, sir."

"You have remembered it all these years?"

"Maybe not word for word, sir, but I have kept the sense of it in
my mind."

"Are you positive that this is the will drawn up on the night of
which you speak?"

"That I am, sir."

"Did you ever speak to any one of this will?"

"To none but my son, sir. Mr. Hugh Mainwaring was that sort of a
man, I could not speak to him about it, or ask about his brother.
I asked to be allowed to stay about the old place in hopes that some
day Mr. Harold would come back to have a look at his old home, and
I could tell him of it, for I thought things had not gone right
altogether. Then we heard of his death, and I thought it was too
late; I could do no good by speaking, and I held my tongue until
the young gentleman came."

Wilson was then dismissed and Hobson was next called to the stand.
More even than the reading of the old will, the truth which had
dawned upon Hobson's mind as he met the piercing gaze of the
secretary, had convinced him that the position which he had intended
to assume, adverse to the new claimant and as an ally of Ralph
Mainwaring's, was neither politic nor safe. His views on that
subject had undergone a decided change, and, with his usual
weathervane proclivities, he was now preparing to take a totally
different stand and strive to ingratiate himself into the favor of
the new heir, at the same time leaving, if possible, a few loop-holes
through which he could retreat, should some veering wind change his
course in another direction.

"Mr. Hobson," said the attorney, somewhat abruptly, when the
necessary preliminaries were over, "did you on the night of November
17, 18-, act as attorney for Ralph Maxwell Mainwaring, in the drawing
up, at his request, of his last will and testament?"

"I believe so, sir," was the guarded answer.

"Did you or did you not?" Mr. Sutherland persisted.

"I did, sir."

"Have you, during all these years, had any knowledge that the will
you drew under the circumstances already mentioned was still in
existence?"

After a slight pause, the witness replied, "I had no positive
knowledge to that effect."

"Did you believe the will to be in existence?"

Hobson reflected a moment, then repli