“Many a fortune has been made from a much smaller start; but it is useless to waste words further.  You understand my position, and that is enough.  Mr. Whitney,” he continued, addressing the attorney, “according to the terms of Hugh Mainwaring’s will, I, and not my father, am heir to the property, and therefore the one to contest the claim of Harold Mainwaring if it is contested at all.  I wish to state to you here and now, distinctly, that I will not contest the case, nor will I authorize any one to do so for me; and now, gentlemen, I bid you both good-evening!” and he quietly left the room.

“Zounds!” exclaimed the elder man, as the door closed upon his son, “I didn’t suppose the boy had so much spirit!  I’ve often wished he and Isabel could change places, because she was so much more like myself and what I would like a son to be.”

“He has the Mainwaring blood all right,” replied the attorney, with more inward admiration for the young man than he dared to express.

“Not if he will throw away a fortune in this manner; it is probably some boyish whim, however and the young fool will look at it in a different light to-morrow.”

“I think not, Mr. Mainwaring,” said the attorney, quietly; “he is enough like Hugh Mainwaring, and like yourself, that when he decides upon a certain line of action, he will not be easily turned aside.  You may rest assured that he will have nothing whatever to do with this contest, and that if you wish to carry on the fight, you will have to do so under your own colors.”

“I’ll do it, too,” he replied, fiercely; “I’ll enter proceedings in my own name, as the nearest heir after Hugh Mainwaring.”

“In that case, your brother must be notified, as he will be entitled to share the estate with you; that may cause us some little delay, but -”

“Curse it all!” the other interrupted, angrily; “I had not thought of that; he will have to come in for a share; confound that boy’s foolishness!  I’ll get hold of him tomorrow morning and see if I cannot talk some reason into him,” and Ralph Mainwaring relapsed into sullen silence.  It was a new experience for him to meet with opposition in his own family, least of all from his son, and he felt the first step must be to quell it, though decidedly at loss just how to proceed.

A little later, Mr. Whitney, finding his client disinclined to further conversation, after making an appointment for the next morning, excused himself and took his departure for his own apartments at the club.

As he passed down the stairway into the spacious hall, what was his surprise to see Mr. Merrick comfortably ensconced in a large leather chair, reading the evening papers.

The two men shook hands warmly, and together passed out into the cool, starlit night.

“When did you arrive, Merrick? and from what point of the compass?” inquired the attorney.

“Got in on the 9.30 train,” the detective replied, seeming not to have heard the second question; “learned you were at Mainwaring’s, so I stopped in, but told the butler not to disturb you, as I was in no hurry.”