To his brother Titus he gave twenty-five thousand dollars, including the mortgage note he held against him, half the balance in cash, and half in stocks and bonds. To his brother Noah, in trust for the two children of his brother Cyrus, deceased, twenty-five thousand dollars, to be paid over to them when they were of age. Colonel Cosgrove said the deceased had apportioned the stocks as they were to be given to the legatees, and the money was in the county bank. He would come to Barcreek in about a week to pay over the cash, and deliver the stocks to Titus. The lawyer was appointed executor of the estate, and he would hold the property given to Noah Lyon until he came to receive it, or made other arrangements in regard to it. Then he showed a letter, with a great seal upon it, which he had been directed to deliver to Noah in person. Titus wanted to know what the letter was about; but if the lawyer knew its contents, he avoided making any revelation. It was evident to Colonel Cosgrove that Titus was dissatisfied with the will, for a heavy frown had rested on his brow since the reading of the first item of the instrument; but he said nothing, and very abruptly left the legal gentleman. CHAPTER III A NORTHERN FAMILY IN KENTUCKY Titus's eldest daughter, Mildred, had written to her Uncle Noah in New Hampshire the particulars of the death of his brother after the fact had been telegraphed to him by Colonel Cosgrove. The letter was hardly more than an announcement of the decease of her Kentucky uncle, and the date of the funeral. It was not possible for Noah to reach Barcreek in season to be present at the last rites; but he wrote to Titus without delay. A few days after the telegram a letter from Colonel Cosgrove, the executor, came to Noah Lyon, containing a copy of the will of his brother. The lawyer, who had been the intimate friend and confidant of Colonel Lyon, wrote with entire freedom to the distant brother. He stated that his deceased friend had little confidence in Titus, and in Barcreek he was not considered as an entirely reliable man. The most important item in the letter was that Colonel Lyon had passed a whole day with him only a week before his death, talking most of the time about his estate. He had lived at Riverlawn twenty-five years, had developed the place from a wilderness, and was very much attached to it. In his will he had left it to Noah, and he desired that he should move to Kentucky and take possession of the estate.