Page:Nid and Nod (IA nidnod00barb).pdf/352

 sir, have never lost a beloved wife—but, no, no, of a certainty you have not!" Mr. Goupil laughed at himself heartily before he went on. "Very well. To pursue. In my sorrow I returned to the country of my birth for a visit, to France, to Moissac, where live many of my relations. But, sir, one does not elude Sorrow by crossing the ocean! No, no, it is here!" Mr. Goupil struck himself twice on the chest. "Soon I return, sir, yet in the brief period of my absence the harm has been done!" He paused with dramatic effect.

"Indeed," said Ned sympathetically, yet puzzled.

"Yes, sir, for although I am absent but five months, yet when I return a so horrible deed has been perpetrated in my name."

"Indeed." It was Laurie's turn this time. Mr. Goupil's large countenance depicted the utmost dejection, but only for a moment.

"In my absence," he went on, brightening, "my lawyer, in whose hands all my affairs of person were left, learned of the terms of the will of my late wife's mother. The will says that at the death of my late wife the property in this so