"Uncle has written to Baltimore to-day," continued the letter, "and he says you will hear from the authorities there without delay. The inclosed clipping is from a Little Rock paper. Oh! Checkers, darling, is n't it lovely?" The slovenly waiter shuffled to the counter with his cup of muddy coffee and a soggy roll. Checkers tossed him half a dollar, and stalked majestically out. "I think the joint where I ate last night is just about my size this morning," he chuckled. "Gee, but I 'd like to yell just once. The judges can't call all bets off this time." All during breakfast his mind was busy with a thousand different speculations, and he finally decided that in so momentous a matter he ought to consult a lawyer. "I 'll find one in some big office building," he mentally resolved, "and get his advice." +---------------------+ | MURRAY JAMESON, | | Attorney-at-Law. | +---------------------+ This, in modest gold letters upon an office window, was the first thing he saw upon reaching the street. "Everything 's coming my way to-day," he thought. "Well, I 'll go in and see the old joker." He was much taken aback upon entering, however, to find the "old joker" a man of about thirty. "Is Mr. Jameson in?" he asked. "I am Mr. Jameson," was the reply. "Well, I wanted to get a little advice, but--" "Certainly; come into my private office." Checkers was trapped. "I do n't believe," he began desperately, "that you 'll be able to help me. It's a very important case, and--well, I--I want some one with a lot of experience." "As you like," said Mr. Jameson, who, by the way, was none other than my old friend Murray, "but I 've been practicing law for more than five years." "Well, that's enough practice to learn any game;" and, seating himself, Checkers told him the facts as succinctly as possible from the beginning. Of his uncle's circumstances he really knew nothing; but he remembered hearing his mother speak of him, just before her death, as being "well off," and "Uncle Giles was n't the kind, once he had a dollar, ever to let it get away." If Checkers' chronology was correct, it was clear that he was the only heir, and "whether his Uncle left much or little, it was that much better than nothing at all." But Murray somewhat damped his enthusiasm by the statement that there might be bills and claims of various sorts against the estate, which, in the end, would show it to be insolvent. However, he agreed to take the matter up at once, and be content to receive his fee when the final settlement was made. Checkers spent the rest of the day in writing the long-delayed letter to Pert, telegraphing her in the mean time that he had received her letter, and expressing his thanks.