rink from the absolutely criminal offense of destroying the will. I
do not say that now they have entered upon the path they have that
they would not destroy the will if they thought there was a chance of
its being discovered. I only say that, thinking it to be absolutely
safe, they are unlikely to perform an act which, if discovered, would
bring them under the power of the law.

"They may consider themselves free to believe, or if not actually to
believe, to try and convince themselves, that for aught they know
their brother may have destroyed the will, and that it is not for them
to prove whether he did so or not. Upon these grounds, therefore, it
seems to me probable that the will is still in existence; but I
acknowledge that so far as its utility is concerned it might as well
have been destroyed by Mr. Penfold himself or by his sisters."

"Well, Mr. Tallboys, no doubt you are thinking that you might as well
have expressed this opinion to me on paper, and that I have troubled
myself very unnecessarily in making this journey to have it from your
own lips."

"Well, yes, Mrs. Conway, I do not deny that this was in my mind."

"It would have been useless for me to make the journey had this been
all, Mr. Tallboys. I am very glad to have heard your opinion, which
agrees exactly with that which I myself have formed, but it was
scarcely with the object of eliciting it that I have made this
journey. We will now proceed to that part of the subject. We agree
that the will is probably still in existence, and that it is hidden
somewhere about the Hall. The next question is, how is it to be
found?"

"Ah! that is a very difficult question indeed, Mrs. Conway."

"Yes, it is difficult, but not, I think, impossible. You have done
your best, Mr. Tallboys, and have failed. You have no further
suggestion to offer, no plan that occurs to you by which you might
discover it?"

"None whatever," Mr. Tallboys said decidedly. "I have done all that I
could do; and have, in fact, dismissed the question altogether from my
mind. I had the authority of the court to search, and I have searched
very fully, and have reported my failure to the court. The power to
search would certainly not be renewed unless upon some very strong
grounds indeed."

"I suppose not, Mr. Tallboys; that is what I expected. Well, it seems
to me that you having done all in your power for us, your clients, and
having now relinquished your search, it is time for us, or s