are your father's son,
and that he was brother of the late Earl."

"I think there can be no difficulty about that," Gregory said. "I have
letters from both my parents, a copy of their marriage certificate, and
of the registers of my birth and baptism. There are some persons in
Cairo who knew my father, and a good many who knew my mother."

"Then I should say that it would be quite safe sailing.

"I don't know, Lewis, whether you are not entitled to that five hundred
pounds."

"I am afraid not," the other laughed. "Mr. Hartley; or rather, I should
say, the Earl; would have discovered it, himself. I only recognized the
name, which plenty of people would have done, as soon as they saw it in
despatches."

"It will be a great disappointment to someone," Gregory said; "if they
have been, for fourteen years, expecting to come in for this."

"You need not fret about that," another officer said. "The next heir is
a distant cousin. He has been trying, over and over again, to get
himself acknowledged; but the courts would not hear of it, and told him
that it was no use applying, until they had proof of the death of your
father. I know all about it, because there was a howling young ass in
the regiment from which I exchanged. He was always giving himself airs,
on the strength of the title he expected to get; and if he is still in
the regiment, there will be general rejoicings at his downfall."

"Then I have met him," Gregory said. "On the way up, he made himself
very unpleasant, and I heard from the other officers that he was
extremely unpopular. The Major spoke very sharply to him, for the
offensive tone in which he addressed me; and an officer sitting next to
me said that he was terribly puffed, by his expectations of obtaining a
title shortly, owing to the disappearance of those who stood before him
in succession. Some of the officers chaffed him about it, then. I
remember now that his name was Hartley; but as I had no idea, at that
time, that that was also mine, I never thought anything more about it,
until now. As he was the only officer who has been in any way offensive
to me, since I left Cairo nearly three years ago, certainly I would
rather that he should be the sufferer, if I succeed in proving my right
to the title, than anyone else."

"I don't think he will suffer, except in pride," the officer said. "His
father, who was a very distant cousin of the Earl's, had gone into
trade and made a considerable fortune; s