sum of $1,000 to be presented to him in person immediately after this
will is probated, and with the understanding that he shall make no
further demand upon my son and heir in the future.' That is all,"
concluded the lawyer, folding the document. "I have the check in my
pocket."

"Keep it," said I, rising. A hot flush of indignation swept over me.
I understood. It was his revenge. To have a man make sport of you
after he is dead and gone, leaving you impotent and with never a chance
to retaliate! "Keep it," I said again; "throw it away, or burn it. I
understand. He has satisfied a petty revenge. It is an insult not
only to me, but to my dead parents. You are, of course, acquainted
with the circumstances of my mother's marriage. She married the man
she loved, disregarding her brother's wishes."

"I knew your mother," said the lawyer, going to the window and looking
out and beyond all that met his gaze.

"To think," I went on, cooling none, "that my mother's brother should
die in this manner, nourishing so small and petty a spite! When he did
this he knew that I should understand his motive. In the first place,
I never dreamed that he would remember me in his will; never
entertained the least idea of it. I am independent; I am earning a
livelihood, small, but enough and to spare. I'll bid you good
morning." I took a step toward the door.

"Young man, sit down," said the old man, coming back to his chair. "I
want to talk to you for a few minutes. Your uncle was a peculiarly
vindictive man. What he considered a wrong he neither forgot nor
forgave. His son pleaded with him not to put in that final clause. He