unrestrainedly as the coffins passed by. Besides these, a large
number of people from Reigate and the surrounding villages were present,
attracted rather by the crime that had caused the death than by the
loss of the Squire himself. The church was crowded, and it was with
difficulty that Mr. Greg read the service. The Squire was laid by
the side of his father, Mr. Bastow in the spot where many of his
predecessors had slept before him.

Mark had been greatly affected, not only by his own loss, but by the
sight of the general grief among those for whom the Squire had done so
much. Even Mr. Prendergast, who had taken part in many such functions
over departed clients, was much moved by the scene.

"I have been at many funerals," he said to Mark as they walked back to
the Hall, "but I never have been at one that so affected me. No monument
ever raised, sir, did such credit to him who was laid beneath it as the
tears of those simple villagers."

Mark did not reply; his heart was altogether too full to speak. As they
entered the house he said, "The ladies will have their lunch upstairs,
Mr. Prendergast; we may as well have ours at once, and then you can call
them down if there is any business to be done."

"That will not take long," the lawyer said. "I have brought down the
wills of both your uncle the Colonel, and your father, and I think that
it would be as well for me to read them both. That of your father is
a very short and simple document, extending, indeed, only over a few
lines. Your uncle's is longer and more complicated, but as you are well
aware of the gist of it, it will take us but a short time to get through
it."

Mark took his meal in a perfunctory manner. For himself he would have
eaten nothing, but he made an effort to do so in order to keep his guest
company. When it was over he said:

"We may as well go into the library at once, and I will send up for the
ladies. It is as well to lose no time, for I know that you want to catch
the afternoon coach up to town."

Mrs. Cunningham and Millicent joined them in a minute or two, the girl
looking very pale in her deep mourning.

"I am about," Mr. Prendergast said quietly, "to read the wills of
Colonel Thorndyke and Mr. John Thorndyke, and I will ask you, if there
is any phrase that you do not understand, to stop me, and I will explain
to you its purport."

The three persons present were acquainted with the main provisions of
the Colonel's will. It began b