"

"Oh, that would never do, John!" Mrs. Trott exclaimed. "Neither Joel nor
Tilly would accept it. That is out of the question."

John's face fell. "I was afraid you'd say that," he sighed. Then, with a
start and an eager searching of her face, he said: "Will you answer me a
direct question? If you, yourself, were to come into some money, at your
death would you want them to have it?"

"Why, of course!" she answered. "That is all I'd want money for now."

"Then the way is clear," John beamed, and his voice throbbed with
excitement. "You are my mother. You can't keep me from making you
comfortable out of my useless means. I have some absolutely safe
securities that bring in good dividends. Before I return to New York
they will be in your name at one of the banks in town, with a cash
deposit to your credit. The income on the stocks amounts to about three
thousand a year. Remember, I am in no way suggesting to you what you
should do with the principal or the interest, but legally to be on the
safe side, you ought at once to make a will."

"Why, John-- John, you astound me!" his mother cried. "Mr. Cavanaugh
intimated that you were not particularly well off, and here you say--you
say that I am to have three thousand dollars a year from you.
Why--why--"

"It is nothing," he said, smiling. "I want to do it, and you must help
me. If you should decide to do so, you can convert some of the stocks
into money and buy Joel a farm on which he could make a good living.
After I am gone they won't refuse it from you, for you owe it to them,
considering all they have done for you."

Without knowing it, Mrs. Trott was weeping. Great crystal tears were on
her cheeks. Her still beautiful lips were quivering; her slender hands
were clasped in her lap.

"Oh, John, John, can it be possible to do this for them?" she half
whimpered. "I want to do it. I want to help them, but poor Joel is so
sensitive and proud that--that--"

"You owe it to him, and I, as your son, who left you unprotected, owe it
to him also. When I am gone he will see that it had to be. Let him know
about the will in his children's favor, but give him to understand that
the money is from _you_, not from _me_, and tell him, too, if you can do
so adroitly, that I shall never come this way again. This is his home,
not mine. As for Til--as for his wife, I shall not meet her while I am
here. You are going to help them substantially--that is the main thing.
_You_, no one e