have
charge of the estate--Anderson & Wallace, you know--seem to me to be
perfectly disinterested, and honest, but I am so hedged in on every
hand by a stifling feeling of deceit and treachery that I feel I can
trust no one save you and Mr. Hamilton--not even poor old Ellen, my
maid, who has been with me since I was born!"

"I quite understand, Miss Lawton, and I realize how difficult the
situation is for you, but I want you to trust no one--at least, to
the extent of giving them your confidence. Now about the will; it was
produced by your late father's attorneys?"

"No, by President Mallowe, of the Street Railways. It appears that
Father left it in his charge. Mr. Anderson drew it; his partner, Mr.
Wallace, witnessed it; and they both assure me that it is absolutely
authentic. Here it is."

She opened her bag and handed a long envelope to him, but at first his
attention was held by what she had said, and he frowned as he repeated
quickly:

"'Authentic?' I trust you did not show any suspicion that you doubted
for a moment that it was genuine?"

"Oh, by no means! It was Mr. Anderson himself who took especial pains
to assure me of its authenticity."

Blaine regarded the envelope reflectively for a moment before he
raised the flap. Why had the attorney considered it necessary to
assure his late client's daughter that the will which he had himself
drawn was genuine?

The will was short and to the point. In it Pennington Lawton left
everything of which he died possessed to his daughter, unconditionally
and without reservation.

"Of course, Miss Lawton, since you are only twenty, and your father
has named no guardian or trustee, the courts will at once appoint one,
and I have no hesitation in saying that I believe the guardian so
appointed will be one of your father's three associates, presumably
Mr. Mallowe. However, that will make little difference in our
investigation, and, since it is claimed that all your father's huge
fortune is lost, the matter of a guardian cannot tie our hands in any
way. Now, just a moment, please."

He drew from his pocket a small but powerful magnifying glass and the
slip of paper which Ramon Hamilton had sent him, on which was the
signature of the late Pennington Lawton. Through the microscope he
carefully compared it with that affixed to the will and then looked up
reassuringly.

"It is quite all right, Miss Lawton. In my estimation the will is
authentic and your father's signatu