wore a slightly bored expression, and it was evident that he took little interest in the will of James T. Sedgwick. From far back in the recesses of memory he now recalled

a had had more charm for him than usual. It was of her that he was t

completely forgotten the exist

This letter from Mr. Jones comes like a message from the dead. Were it not that we have known Mr. Jones for a long time, handling affairs of considerable importance for him, I should feel inclined to doubt the whole story. It seems that your uncle turned up in Montana about fifteen years ago and th

puzzled. "But why do you say that I

rything. I think you were told, in our note of yesterday, that you are the sole heir. Well, it may surpr

, staring blankly at the old lawyer, who c

ars at the time. Within five years he was the owner of a huge ranch, and scarcely had another five years passed before he was part owner of three rich gold mines. Possessions accumulated rapidly; everything he touched turned to gold. He was shrewd, careful, and thrifty, and his money was handled

left everyt

a pr

A

New York who at present know its contents. You, I am sure, after hear

d his glasses and prepared to read. Then, as though struck by a sud

ew. He sets forth the dates of your mother's marriage, of your birth, of the death of Robert Brewster and of Mrs. Brewster. He also was aware of the fact that old Edwin Peter Brewster intended to bequeath a large fortune to you-and thereby hangs a tale. Sedgwick was proud. When he lived in New York, he was regarded as the kind of man who never forgave the person who touched roughly upon his pride. You know, of course, that your father married Miss Sedgwick in the face of the most bitter opposition on the part of Edwin Brewster. The latter refused to recognize h

r himself together from within the fog

extraor-the will, Mr. Grant," he said, w

ce he looked up to find his listener eager, and again to find

k, son of Robert and Louise Sedgwick Brewster. Supplementing this all-important clause there was a set of conditions governing the final disposition of the estate. T

he moneys, lands, bonds, and interests mentioned in the inventory which accompanied the will. In the event that Montgomery Brewster had not, in every particular, complied with the requirements of the will, to the full satisfaction of the said executor, Swearengen Jones, the estate was to be distributed among certain institutions of charity designated in the instrument. Underlying this imperative injunction of James Sedgwick was plainly discernible the motive that prompted it. In almost so many words he declared that his heir should not receive the

se; that he should come to his twenty-sixth anniversary with a fair name and a record free from anything worse than mild forms of dissipation; that his habits be temperate; that he possess nothing at the end of the year which might be regarded as a "visible or invisible asset"; that he make no endowments; that he give sparingly to charity; that he neither loan nor give aw

ked Mr. Grant, as he pas

ver it with the air of one who had hear

," he said, still groping wit

s that the will is to be filed for probate and that Mr. Sedgwick was many times a millionaire. This statement, which he calls an inventory, enumerates his holdin

said Montgomery, passing his hand over hi

one. What are you g

surprise. "Why, it

l next September," th

," said Brewster with a s

sessor of a million. Do you forget that you a

e a million for seven

you purpose doing it?"

? Great Scott, who wouldn't do it! All I have to do is to cut a few purse strings and there is but

your pl

possibility of mistake in the extent of this fortune and my undisputed claim, I'll take steps to get rid of

s intent, penetrating gaze served as a

t you are forgetting the conditions," he said, slowly. "Has it occurred to you that it will be no easy task to spend