"It is very foolish to do so, Mr. Byrne. But it is what many people do, for all that." "Then you think that I should be doing a wise thing if I were to make my will--eh?" "Certainly--a very wise thing--if you have any property to dispose of." "If I have any property to dispose of! Ech! ech! ech! If I have any property to dispose of--he says!" He laughed till another fit of coughing nearly choked him, and after that was over he had to gather breath before he could speak again. "Yes, Mr. Van Duren," he gasped out, "I have a little property to leave behind me--just a little. And I want you, as a business man, to recommend to me some good sound lawyer, to whom I could give the requisite instructions for drawing up my last will and testament." "Oh, if that's all, I can recommend to you my own lawyer, Mr. Billing, who is a thorough business man, and would do you justice in every way." "That's kind of you--very kind. There will be nothing complicated about the affair, There's only two of 'em to leave it to--my boy and my girl. I shall divide it equally between them." Mr. Van Duren was beginning to feel interested. After all, it was quite possible that this pottering, deaf old fellow might be far better off than he--Van Duren--had any idea of. "House property, or land, chiefly, I suppose?" he said, in a casual, off-hand kind of way. "Not a bit of it," said the old man. "I don't own a single house, nor an acre of land. No, sir, my property is all in scrip and shares--in good sound investments, every penny of it. And the beauty of it is--ech! ech!--that not even my own boy has any idea what I'm worth--what he and his sister will drop in for when the old man's under the turf. I've always kept 'em both in the dark about my money matters--and the best way too. They might want me out of the way, they might wish me dead, if they knew everything. No, no! I've kept my own counsel. I've speculated and speculated, and nobody but my broker and myself has been a bit the wiser." Mr. Van Duren began to feel quite an affectionate regard for his lodger--leaving out of the question his lodger's daughter. "Then Miss Byrne is an heiress without knowing it?" he said. "Mum's the word," chuckled the old man, as he clutched Van Duren by the sleeve. "I'm telling you what I've always kept a secret from them; but there'll be thirty thousand between 'em when I go. Thirty thousand--not a single penny less!" Van Duren's colour came and went. Miriam, then, would have a fortune of fifteen thousand pounds, respecting which, at present, she knew nothing! Would not the wisest thing he could do be to propose to her and win her consent to become his wife before she became aware of the golden future in store for her? Afterwards it might be too late--she might regard him with altogether different eyes when she knew that her dowry would be fifteen thousand pounds.