"We'll pass that. If you get this money, the estate is

worth sixty thousand dollars, plus the value of the land

out there at Annandale, and Glenarm House is worth-"

"There you have me!"

It was the first lightness he had shown, and it put me

on guard.

"I should like an idea of its value. Even an unfinished

house is worth something."

"Land out there is worth from one hundred to one

hundred and fifty dollars an acre. There's an even

Advertisement..

hundred acres. I'll be glad to have your appraisement

of the house when you get there."

"Humph! You flatter my judgment, Pickering. The

loose stuff there is worth how much?"

"It's all in the library. Your grandfather's weakness

was architecture-"

"So I remember!" I interposed, recalling my stormy

interviews with John Marshall Glenarm over my choice

of a profession.

"In his last years he turned more and more to his

books. He placed out there what is, I suppose, the

finest collection of books relating to architecture to be

found in this country. That was his chief hobby, after

church affairs, as you may remember, and he rode it

hard. But he derived a great deal of satisfaction from

his studies."

I laughed again; it was better to laugh than to cry

over the situation.

"I suppose he wanted me to sit down there, surrounded

by works on architecture, with the idea that

a study of the subject would be my only resource. The

scheme is eminently Glenarmian! And all I get is a

worthless house, a hundred acres of land, ten thousand

dollars, and a doubtful claim against a Protestant nun

who hoodwinked my grandfather into setting up a

school for her. Bless your heart, man, so far as my inheritance

is concerned it would have been money in my

pocket to have stayed in Africa."

"That's about the size of it."

"But the personal property is all mine,-anything

that's loose on the place. Perhaps my grandfather

planted old plate and government bonds just to pique

the curiosity of his heirs, successors and assigns. It

would be in keeping!"

I had walked to the window and looked out across

the city. As I turned suddenly I found Pickering's

eyes bent upon me with curious intentness. I had never

liked his eyes; they were too steady. When a man always

meets your gaze tranquilly and readily, it is just

as well to be wary of him.

"Yes; no doubt you will find the place literally

packed with treasure," he said, and laughed. "When

you find anything you might wire me."




Most Popular