r his hat. He picked it up and obeyed
his mother's summons, though with no great eagerness.

"How d'ye do, Caroline," he stammered, confusedly. "I--I--It's a deuce
of a surprise to see you down here. The mater and I didn't expect--that
is, we scarcely hoped to meet anyone but Sylvester. He sent for us, you
know."

He extended his hand. She did not take it.

"Did you get my letter?" she asked, quickly. Mrs. Dunn answered for him.

"Yes, dear, he got it," she said. "The poor fellow was almost crazy. I
began to fear for his sanity; I did, indeed. I did not dare trust him
out of my sight. Oh, if you could but know how we feel for you and pity
you!"

Pity was not what Caroline wanted just then. The word jarred upon her.
She avoided the lady's embrace and once more faced the embarrassed
Malcolm.

"You got my letter?" she cried. "You _did_?"

"Yes--er--yes, I got it, Caroline. I--by Jove, you know--"

He hesitated, stammered, and looked thoroughly uncomfortable. His mother
regarded him wrathfully.

"Well," she snapped, "why don't you go on? Caroline, dear, you really
must excuse him. The dear boy is quite overcome."

Captain Elisha stepped forward.

"Excuse me for interruptin', ma'am," he said, addressing the ruffled
matron; "but I know you're sort of surprised to see us all here and
maybe I'd better explain. Mr. Sylvester told me you and your son had an
appointment with him for this afternoon. Now there was something we--or
I, anyhow--wanted to talk with you about, so I thought we might as well
make one job of it. Sylvester's a pretty busy man, and I know he has
other things to attend to; so why not let him go ahead and tell you what
you come to hear, and then we can take up the other part by ourselves.
He's told me what you wanted to see him about, and it's somethin' we're
all interested in, bein' as we're one family--or goin' to be pretty
soon. So suppose he just tells you now. Ain't that a good idea?"

Mrs. Dunn looked at the speaker, and then at the lawyer, and seemed to
have caught some of her son's embarrassment.

"I--we did have an appointment with Mr. Sylvester," she admitted,
reluctantly; "but the business was not important. And," haughtily, "I do
not care to discuss it here."

The captain opened his eyes. "Hey?" he exclaimed. "Not important? You
surprise me, ma'am. I judged 'twas mighty important. 'Twas about the
real size of your father's estate, Caroline," turning to the girl. "I
thought Mrs. Dun