ped into oblivion
and had been forgotten by the public at least. He began to count back.
Yes, it must have been nearly five years ago; two years before she,
as the Tocsin, and he, as the Gray Seal, had formed their amazing and
singular partnership, that--he started suddenly, as she spoke.

"I want to tell you in as few words as I can," she said abruptly,
breaking the silence. "Listen, then, Jimmie. My mother died ten years
ago. I was little more than a child then. Shortly after her death,
father made a business trip to New York, and, on the advice of some
supposed friends, he had a new will drawn up by a lawyer whom they
recommended, and to whom they introduced him. I do not know who those
men were. The lawyer's name was Travers, Hilton Travers." She glanced
curiously at Jimmie Dale, and added quickly: "He was the chauffeur--the
man who was killed last night."

"You mean," Jimmie Dale burst out, "you mean that he was--but, first,
the will! What was in the will?"

"It was a very simple will," she answered. "And from the nature of it,
it was not at all strange that my father should have been willing to
have had it drawn by a comparative stranger, if that is what you are
thinking. Summarised in a few words, the will left everything to me,
and appointed my Uncle Henry as my guardian and the sole executor of the
estate until I should have reached my twenty-fifth birthday. It provided
for a certain sum each year to be paid to my uncle for his services as
executor; and at the expiration of the trust period--that is, when I was
twenty-five--bequeathed to him the sum of one hundred thousand dollars."

Jimmie Dale nodded. "Go on!" he prompted.

"It is hard to tell it in logical sequence," she said, hesitating a
moment. "So many things seem to overlap each other. You must understand
a little more about Hilton Travers. During the five years following the
signing of the will father came frequently to New York, and became,
not only intimate with Travers, but so much impressed with the other's
cleverness and ability that he kept putting more and more of his
business into Travers' hands. At the end of that five years, we moved
to New York, and father, who was then quite an old man, retired from all
active business, and turned over a great many of his personal affairs
to Travers to look after for him, giving Travers power of attorney in a
number of instances. So much for Travers. Now about my uncle. He was my
father's only brother;