l make it clear. Then she said
tranquilly, "Yes, that is the way I supposed it was."

Mr. Orson by no means shared her calm. He did not lift his voice, but
on the level it had taken it became agitated. "Mrs. Lander gave me the
address of her lawyer in Boston when she sent me the will, and I made a
point of calling on him when I went East, to sail. I don't know why she
wished me to come out to her, but being sick, I presume she naturally
wished to see some of her own family."

He looked at Clementina as if he thought she might dispute this, but she
consented at her sweetest, "Oh, yes, indeed," and he went on:

"I found her affairs in a very different condition from what she
seemed to think. The estate was mostly in securities which had not been
properly looked after, and they had depreciated until they were some of
them not worth the paper they were printed on. The house in Boston is
mortgaged up to its full value, I should say; and I should say that Mrs.
Lander did not know where she stood. She seemed to think that she was a
very rich woman, but she lived high, and her lawyer said he never could
make her understand how the money was going. Mr. Lander seemed to
lose his grip, the year he died, and engaged in some very unfortunate
speculations; I don't know whether he told her. I might enter into
details--"

"Oh, that is not necessary," said Clementina, politely, witless of the
disastrous quality of the facts which Mr. Orson was imparting.

"But the sum and substance of it all is that there will not be more than
enough to pay the bequests to her own family, if there is that."

Clementina looked with smiling innocence at the vice-consul.

"That is to say," he explained, "there won't be anything at all for you,
Miss Claxon."

"Well, that's what I always told Mrs. Lander I ratha, when she brought
it up. I told her she ought to give it to his family," said Clementina,
with a satisfaction in the event which the vice-consul seemed unable to
share, for he remained gloomily silent. "There is that last money I drew
on the letter of credit, you can give that to Mr. Orson."

"I have told him about that money," said the vice-consul, dryly. "It
will be handed over to him when the estate is settled, if there isn't
enough to pay the bequests without it."

"And the money which Mrs. Landa gave me before that," she pursued,
eagerly. Mr. Orson had the effect of pricking up his ears, though it was
in fact merely a gleam of light t