been. Then,
putting his hand to his bosom, he drew thence an old roll of parchment
which, indeed, proved to be the Will of one Martha Grub. This he handed
to the president, who read aloud therefrom the following clause, which
had been underlined:--

'And I do bequeath unto my good sister's son, the shapely Reginald
Bendbrisket, inasmuch as he has shown some kindness unto my black
cat, now dead alas! twenty jars of the good plum preserve I did make
last fall as well as five yards of the good garden hose wherewith I
did heretowhile water my cabbages in the droughty seasons, the rest
to be cut up and divided equally amongst my other nephews and nieces
to be used by them as they may see fit whatsoever.

'At their demise the said pieces shall be delivered up to the said
Reginald, who will once more unite the fragments and pass the
completed hose on to his heirs for ever.

'For his goodness in undertaking thus to carry out my wishes I do
also bequeath unto the before-mentioned Reginald the Island of Wight
situate at the south coast of England.

'On reading this the president turned very pale and every one trembled,
never having dreamt of the strength of the invader's position. But being
a bit of a lawyer, the president very soon rallied and replied to the
filibuster, in as courtly a manner as he could assume, that he was bound
to admit that his aunt Martha had, without doubt, left the island to
him, and that he would be the last man to dispute the fact--here the
rogue, vainly imagining that he was about to realise his greatest hopes,
could not conceal his satisfaction, and helped himself to a
sandwich--"But hold!" cried the president in a terrible voice, "I do
dispute that it was hers to leave."

[Illustration: 'BUT HOLD!' CRIED THE PRESIDENT]

[Illustration: Reginald completely lost his temper]

'At this the irascible Reginald completely lost his temper and hurled
the sandwich with such fury to the ground that it broke one of the
gorgeous tiles that ornamented the floor. "Have you," said he, "the
audacity to doubt the word of my aunt Martha? Have you the face to stand
there and dispute the will of that excellent woman, written when dying
of a broken heart at the death of her black cat, and whose only solace
was the company of her dutiful nephew? Then your fate be upon your
own head." And he strode out of the hall gnashing and grinding his teeth
in the most terrible