"In the first place he tries to evade the death duties as far as possible; and these fall upon him rather heavily, as he was related to the deceased only by marriage. Mr. Drake would naturally prefer to receive one thousand pounds for the vases rather than nine hundred. In the second place, he is anxious to discover how much we know about these vases. It is true they belong to him, but he is by no means certain of their value. If we make a fuss about the vases he will guess they are genuine; whereas, if we make no inquiry, he will evade the duty and at the same time be satisfied that you are not scheming to get hold of them." "I never thought of such a thing!" exclaimed Percy. "The best thing we can do is to send down an expert in china. I shall first write to Mr. Drake, informing him that he must produce the vases." "Send Crampy! You needn't write; I'll go and see him," cried Percy eagerly. "We could not get a better man than Mr. Crampy; but I'm afraid his fee will be rather high." "He'll do it for a guinea if I ask him. Crampy is a great friend of mine. He told me to keep an eye upon the vases." Mr. Hunter being perfectly agreeable, Percy snatched his hat and made off, muttering as he reached the street, "For poor old George's sake I must tell him not to value them too high." George in the meantime had nothing much to worry about, although somewhat disgusted at the low figure placed upon the furniture. He and Mr. Hunter wrote to each other every day like a couple of lovers; George always hoping that the lawyer enjoyed a continuance of perfect health; while Mr. Hunter trusted himself to anticipate a complete cure from the backache which had blighted Mr. Drake's existence for so long. Kezia and Bessie were moderately happy while taking stock of the goods which appeared to belong to them under the joint tenancy created by the scraps of paper; but there was obviously a certain amount of coldness arising between them at the prospect of a day of settlement. George was not much accounted of by either, although the interference of the valuer was bitterly resented, and George had much difficulty in making them understand that, whenever a person of quality departed this life, the Government required a perfect stranger from one of the State Departments to set a price upon the furniture, in order that statistics as to the national wealth might be obtained.