the place down
if you don't mind what you're about."

"Oh, all right!" answered Guy, preparing to drag the chest out into the
middle of the floor. "I don't think it's much heavier than usual. I do
wonder what's inside."

"Well, be quick and open it!" cried his sister, taking the candle and
holding it so that its light would fall into the chest when its lid was
raised. "Let's see for ourselves, and then we shall know for certain."

There was a moment's delay while Guy found the proper keys. First one
and then the other padlock fell with a clank on to the bricks, the iron
hasps were raised, and, with a "Here goes!" Guy flung back the lid.

Once more the children leant forward and peered down into this wonderful
box. Elsie was the first to speak, and all she said was "Oh!" But the
tone of her voice was enough to proclaim another disappointment.

Jewellery? Bank-notes? Bags of money? What was it they beheld? None of
these things, but only a bundle of papers, tied together with a piece of
faded red tape.

"Well!" cried Ida, flushing with vexation, "I'll never hope for anything
again!"

Guy picked up the bundle, and examined it more closely. The documents
were all neatly folded, and were mostly docketed on the outside in
heavy black writing. Some were of parchment; and one, he noticed, had
in one corner three small red seals on a narrow strip of green ribbon.

"I wonder what these are!" said the boy. "Bah!" he added, holding the
packet to his nose; "they smell musty enough. Let's take them in and
show them to father."

Mr. Ormond had sat down to his tea, and seemed to have already dismissed
Uncle Roger's box from his mind; the sight, however, of the children
entering the room brought it back to his remembrance.

"Well," he said, jokingly, "have you found anything?"

"Nothing particular," answered Guy. "Only this old bundle of papers."

Mr. Ormond was in the act of raising his cup of tea to his lips; he
paused, then lowered it without drinking.

"Papers!" he repeated, gazing at the packet with a puzzled look on his
face. "What papers are they? Let me see."

"Oh, never mind about it now," said Mrs. Ormond. "Drink your tea while
it's hot."

"One moment, mother," answered her husband. He untied the tape, and
glanced first at one then at another of the clearly-written inscriptions
on the folded documents. As he did so, the expression on his face became
one of unbounded astonishment; and the children, quick to obs