"Yes; I heard you holler, and I thought p'raps you was callin' me."

"Hey? No, I don't want you, Abbie.... Holler! I shouldn't wonder! If
all I did was holler, I'm surprised at myself. No, no! Run along out and
shut the door. Yes, shut it.... Now, Mr. Graves, say that over again and
say it slow."

"I say that your brother has left his two children in your care until
the youngest shall become of age--twenty-one. I have a copy of his will
here, and--"

"Wait, wait! let me think. Left his children to me!... to ME. Mr.
Graves, had 'Bije lost all his money?"

"No. He was not the millionaire that many thought him. Miss Warren and
her brother will be obliged to economize somewhat in their manner
of living. But, with care AND economy, their income should be quite
sufficient, without touching the principal, to--"

"Hold on again; the income, you say. What is that income?"

"Roughly speaking, a mere estimate, about twenty to twenty-five thousand
yearly."

Captain Elisha had stooped to pick up the pipe he had dropped. His
fingers touched it, but they did not close. Instead he straightened up
in his chair as if suffering from an electric shock.

"Mr. Graves," he began; "Mr. Graves, are you cra--. No, I asked you that