the probate judge who had charge of
the estate when my uncle died. He made the trust company my guardian
then. I went to see him yesterday, and had a long talk with him about it
all. I want you to see him, too;--can't you go to his house with me this
morning?"

"Why should I see the judge?" the mason demanded.

"He can make you understand better than I can the reasons why all the
titles can't be disturbed. And there may be a way, another way of doing
what we want," Adelle added hesitantly, with some confusion.

The mason looked at her closely, but he seemed to have no more suspicion
than Adelle herself had had at first of what this way was. He said,--

"Well, I've got no particular objection to seeing the judge. There's
plenty of time--ain't much else for me to do in these parts, now I'm
here."

With another sardonic laugh for his dashed hopes, he rose jerkily, as if
he was ready to go anywhere at once.

"It's rather early yet," Adelle remarked, consulting her watch. "We had
better wait a little while before going to the judge."

The young man reseated himself and looked about idly at the rich
ornamentation of the hotel room.

"Some class this," he observed, concerning the Eclair Hotel, which was
precisely what the hotel management wanted its patrons to feel.

"Did you see your sister in Philadelphia?" Adelle asked.

"Yep," he replied non-committally. Evidently his tour of the family had
not begun favorably, and Adelle refrained from pressing the questions
she had in mind.

"You have some first cousins, too, haven't you?" Adelle asked,
remembering the judge's inquiry.

"A whole bunch of 'em!" the mason laughed. "Father had two brothers and
one sister, and all of 'em had big families, and my mother had a lot of
nephews and nieces, but they don't count for the inheritance."

In contrast with the Alton Clarks, of whom Adelle was the sole survivor,
the California branch of the family had been prolific. Adelle realized
that as the judge had pointed out to her, it was not simply a question
of endowing one intelligent, interesting young man with a half of
Clark's Field, but of parceling it out in small lots to a numerous
family connection--a much less pleasant deed.

"Do you know these Clark cousins?" she asked.

"Some of 'em," the mason said. "They don't amount to much, the lot of
'em. There's only one made any stir in the world, that's Stan Clark, my
uncle Samuel's son. He's in the California Legislature,"