Ralph looked up with brightening eyes.

“Did she say that?” he exclaimed, “an’ will she do it?”

“I have no doubt of it, none whatever.”

“Then let’s get at it right away,” said the boy, impatiently, “it won’t take very long, will it?”

“Oh! some little time; several months, may be; may be longer.”

Ralph’s face fell again.

“I can’t wait that long!” he exclaimed; “I’ll go to her myself; I’ll tell her ev’rything; I’ll beg her to take me.  Do you think she would? do you?”

“Oh, Ralph! now be reasonable.  That would never do.  In the first place, it would be useless.  She has seen you, she knows you; she says you are not her son; you can’t prove it to her.  Besides that, she has no legal right to take you as her son until the courts have passed upon the question of your identity.  If she should attempt to do so, the other heirs of Robert Burnham would come in and contest your claim, and you would be in a far worse position to maintain your rights than you are now,—­oh! far worse.  No, you must not go to Mrs. Burnham, you must not go to her at all, until your sonship is fully established.  You must keep cool, and wait patiently, or you will destroy every chance you have.”

“Well, then, I’ll try to; I’ll try to wait an’ do what you tell me to; what shall I do first?”

“The first thing to be done, Ralph, is to have the court appoint a guardian for you.  You can’t do anything for yourself, legally, you know, till you are twenty-one years old; and whatever action is taken in your behalf, must be taken by a guardian.  It will be his place to establish your identity, to restore you to your mother, and to take care of your property.  Now, who would you prefer to have act in that capacity?”

“Well, I don’t know; there’s Uncle Billy, he’s the best friend I’ve got; wouldn’t he do?”

“Do you mean William Buckley, with whom you are living?”

“Yes, sir.”

“Why, he would do if he were rich, or had rich friends who would go on his bond.  You see, the guardian would have to give a bond to the extent of a great many thousand dollars for the faithful performance of his duties.  Could Buckley do that?”

“I’m afraid not, sir.  He ain’t rich, himself, an’ I never heard of his havin’ any rich friends.”

“Whom else can you think of?”

“Won’t Mrs. Burnham do?”

“Oh, no! it might be necessary for the guardian to bring suit against her.”

“There ain’t anybody else that I can think of,” said Ralph, despairingly, after a moment’s pause.

“Well, then, I don’t know what we shall do.  If you can’t find some one who is able to qualify for this trust, we may as well stop right here.  I guess we’ve done all we can for the boy, Mr. Craft?”

Craft nodded and smiled.  He was enjoying the lawyer’s diplomacy with Ralph, exceedingly.

The lad was again in the depths of anxiety.  He looked from one to the other of the men with appealing eyes.