"How do you mean, Captain?" asked Bladen.

"I mean it's a pity he has no one except Yancy to look after
him," said Murrell, but Bladen showed no interest and Murrell
went on. "Don't you reckon he must have touched General
Quintard's life mighty close at some point?"

"Well, if so, it eluded me," said Bladen. "I went through
General Quintard's papers and they contained no clue to the boy's
identity that I could discover. Fact is, the general didn't
leave much beyond an old account-book or two; I imagine that
before his death he destroyed the bulk of his private papers; it
looked as if he'd wished to break with the past. His mind must
have been affected."

"Has Yancy any legal claim on the boy?" inquired Murrell.

"No, certainly not; the boy was merely left with Yancy because
Crenshaw didn't know what else to do with him."

"Get possession of him, and if I don't buy land here I'll take
him West with me," said Murrell quietly. Bladen gave him a
swift, shrewd glance, but Murrell, smiling and easy, met it
frankly. "Come," he said, "it's a pity he should grow up wild in
the pine woods--get him away from Yancy--I am' willing to spend
five hundred dollars on this if necessary."

"As a matter of sentiment?"

"As a matter of sentiment."