"Look here, grandfather," I said, "I didn't want any of
this. All I wanted was a loan of, say, two hundred
pounds. I can take care of myself; I have prospects
and opportunities, good friends in the States----"
The old man waved me down. "It's me that speaks here,"
he said curtly; and we waited the coming of the lawyer
in a triple silence. He appeared at last, the maid
ushering him in--a spectacled, dry, but not ungenial-
looking man.
"Here, Gregg," cried my grandfather, "just a question:
What has Aadam got to do with my will?"
"I'm afraid I don't quite understand," said the lawyer,
staring.
"What has he got to do with it?" repeated the old man,
smiting with his fist upon the arm of his chair. "Is
my money mine's, or is it Aadam's? Can Aadam
interfere?"
"O, I see," said Mr. Gregg. "Certainly not. On the
marriage of both of your children a certain sum was
paid down and accepted in full of legitim. You have
surely not forgotten the circumstance, Mr. Loudon?"
"So that, if I like," concluded my grandfather,
hammering out his words, "I can leave every doit I die
possessed of to the Great Magunn?"--meaning probably
the Great Mogul.
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