the paper, and realized that it referred to a large and
well-appointed farm, though it occurred to him that the crop was a good
deal smaller than it should have been. He noticed this as it were
instinctively, for his brain was otherwise very busy.

"Colonel Barrington seems somewhat anxious to get rid of me," he said.
"You see, this land is mine by right."

"Yes," said the lawyer. "Colonel Barrington does not dispute it,
though I am of opinion that he might have done so under one clause of
the will. I do not think we need discuss his motives."

Winston moistened his lips with his tongue, and his lips quivered a
little. He had hitherto been an honest man, and now it was impossible
for him to take the money. It, however, appeared equally impossible to
reveal his identity and escape the halter, and he felt that the dead
man had wronged him horribly. He was entitled at least to safety by
way of compensation, for by passing as Courthorne he would avoid
recognition as Winston.

"Still I do not know how I have offended Colonel Barrington," he said.

"I would sooner," said the lawyer, "not go into that. It is, I fancy,
fifteen years since Colonel Barrington saw you, but he desired me to
find means of tracing your Canadian record, and did not seem pleased
with it. Nor, at the risk of offending you, could I deem him unduly
prejudiced."

"In fact," said Winston dryly, "this man who has not seen me for
fifteen years is desirous of withholding what is mine from me at almost
any cost."

The lawyer nodded. "There is nothing to be gained by endeavoring to
controvert it. Colonel Barrington is also, as you know, a somewhat
determined gentleman."

Winston laughed, for he was essentially a stubborn man, and felt little
kindliness towards any one connected with Courthorne, as the Colonel
evidently was.

"I fancy I am not entirely unlike him in that respect," he said. "What
you have told me makes me the more determined to follow my own
inclination. Is there any one else at Silverdale prejudiced against
me?"

The lawyer fell into the trap. "Miss Barrington, of course, takes her
brother's view, and her niece would scarcely go counter to them. She
must have been a very young girl when she last saw you, but from what I
know of her character I should expect her to support the Colonel."

"Well," said Winston, "I want to think over the thing. We will talk
again to-morrow. You would require me to establish my identity,