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 above their heads the two men looked at the place.

"Elvin, you're crazy to have come in here. It gives me a creepy feeling.—It's like uncovering some old tomb.—If these old books could talk what a story they could tell."

"They do tell stories," Elvin commented drily. "And I've come here to learn one of them.—Let's see. We'll trace the Lauriston family first.—We'll have to start with my father's father." Here he reached for one of the volumes. His hands blackened with the dust and the air filled, causing both men to cough distressingly. When relieved they continued.

"How're we going to begin looking?—We won't know where to start for we don't know just what we're looking for?" Marley questioned.

"I'm looking to see where the black blood, Aunt Sally Gorton mentioned, comes into the family," asserted Elvin. "And I'm going to find it, if it's here."

"Guess you'll have to trace the marriages then. I think they went by families from generation to generation, according to this book," Marley suggested. "My! they gave a lot of time to penmanship in the old days. How faded and yellow the ink is.—Look at this. Here's the Middleton family.—That's right. See they kept the family name running from one set to the other."

"Look for Lauriston, then.—See if you can find that book," suggested Elvin.

"Lauriston—Lauriston—L—L—L—. Here's Livingston," Marley called as he studied the pages. "Here's Lucas," he continued, andcontinued, "and [sic] Lomax—and Lesters—and