re must be any amount of it. I'm afraid some wrong has
been done."

Mrs. Panyoki said nothing, only looked suspiciously at her two
brothers.

CHAPTER IV.

THE AVARICIOUS GREGORICS.

The contents of the will soon became known in the town, and caused quite
a little storm in the various patriarchal drawing-rooms, with their
old-fashioned cherry-wood pianos, over which hung the well-known
picture, the "March of Miklos Zrinyi," and their white embroidered
table-cloths on small tables, in the centre of which stands a silver
candlestick, or a glass brought from some watering-place with the name
engraved on it, and a bunch of lilac in it. Yes, in those dear little
drawing-rooms, there was any amount of gossip going on. It was really
disgraceful of Gregorics, but he was always tactless. The idea of
compromising honest old ladies, mothers and grandmothers!

The nine ladies were the talk of the town, their names were in every
mouth, and though there were many who blamed Gregorics, there were also
some who took his part.

"After all," they said, "who knows what ties there were between them?
Gregorics must have been a lively fellow in his youth."

And even those who defended Gregorics decided that after all there must
have been some friendship between him and the nine ladies at some time
or other, or why should he have remembered them in his will; but his
behavior was not gentlemanly in any case, even if they were to believe
the worst. In fact, in that case it was even more tactless.

"For such behavior he ought to be turned out of the club, I mean he
ought to have been turned out; in fact, I mean, if he were alive he
might be turned out. I assure you, if they write on his gravestone that
he was an honorable man, I'll strike it out with my own pencil."

These were the words of the notary.

The captain of the fire-brigade looked at it from a different point of
view.

"It is a cowardly trick," he declared. "Women only reckon until they are
thirty-five years of age, and these are all old women. A little
indiscretion of this kind cannot hurt them. If you breathe on a rusty
bit of steel it leaves no mark. We only remove caterpillars from those
trees which have flowers or leaves, or which will bear fruit, but on
old, dried-up trees we leave them alone. But it is the husbands
Gregorics has offended, for it is cowardly to affront people who cannot
demand satisfaction from you. And I think I may affirm with safety that