"Well, that Plaisted is a regular scamp!" said the lawyer. "I will take
this letter with me, and with the knowledge I have now of him and his
doings I fancy he will not care to face a judge and jury to enforce his
claims, as he so boldly announces his intention. If I had known of this, or
had taken this bundle of papers with me before, it would have saved me much
time and annoyance. However, this time I will leave nothing but what you
can claim as your father's gift, Miss Sherwood. The desk and its contents
are now yours."
"Now, Miss Sherwood," said he, later, "I am ready to see your mother and
have a talk with her; and if you will bring along the bills, which I
daresay are rather heavy, I will see to their settlement."
"There are no bills to settle, Mr. Hackett--none, at least, that I know of;
everything was paid for as it was ordered. I must confess we are about
penniless, though," she smilingly said, "and if you had delayed coming for
many more days we would have been like Mother Hubbard, with a bare
cupboard."
"Why, you do not mean it, surely! Well, well! I never thought of such a
possibility! But, then, I never thought you would try to settle the bills
out of the money left for other purposes.
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