ed others until my
money was gone, then came to you with a speculative proposal. Let me
assure you such is not the case. Incompetent hands, I grant you, but
the hands were my own. For the past six months I have lived
practically as my uncle lived. I have rummaged that library from floor
to ceiling. It was left in a frightful state, littered with old
newspapers, accounts, and what-not. Then, of course, there were the
books remaining in the library, still a formidable collection.'

'Was your uncle a religious man?'

'I could not say. I surmise not. You see, I was unacquainted with him,
and never saw him until after his death. I fancy he was not religious,
otherwise he could not have acted as he did. Still, he proved himself
a man of such twisted mentality that anything is possible.'

'I knew a case once where an heir who expected a large sum of money
was bequeathed a family Bible, which he threw into the fire, learning
afterwards, to his dismay, that it contained many thousands of pounds
in Bank of England notes, the object of the devisor being to induce
the legatee to read the good Book or suffer through the neglect of
it.'

'I have searched the Scriptures,' said the youthful Earl with a laugh,
'but the benefit has been moral rather than material.'

'Is there any chance that your uncle has deposited his wealth in a
bank, and has written a cheque for the amount, leaving it between two
leaves of a book?'

'Anything is possible, monsieur, but I think that highly improbable. I
have gone through every tome, page by page, and I suspect very few of
the volumes have been opened for the last twenty years.'

'How much money do you estimate he accumulated?'

'He must have cleared more than a hundred thousand pounds, but
speaking of banking it, I would like to say that my uncle evinced a
deep distrust of banks, and never drew a cheque in his life so far as
I am aware. All accounts were paid in gold by this old steward, who
first brought the receipted bill in to my uncle, and then received the
exact amount, after having left the room, and waited until he was rung
for, so that he might not learn the repository from which my uncle
drew his store. I believe if the money is ever found it will be in
gold, and I am very sure that this will was written, if we may call it
a will, to put us on the wrong scent.'

'Have you had the library cleared out?'

'Oh, no, it is practically as my uncle left it. I realised that if I
were to c