"My boy, I'd tell you at once, if I knew it. I don't recollect it the least in the world." "Not recollect it!" exclaimed Frank. "Not in the least." It was a check for Frank. His good-natured face looked rather blank. Charley, who seemed interested, sat nursing his knee and listening. "Could you not recollect if you tried, uncle?" "I am trying," said the major. "My thoughts are back in the matter now. Let me see--what were the terms of the will? I know I had Eagles' Nest; and--yes--I think I am right--I was also named residuary legatee. Yes, I was. That much I do remember." Frank's face broke into a smile. "It would be strange if you forgot _that_, uncle. Try and remember some more." "Let me see," repeated the major, passing his unoccupied hand over his bald head. "There were several legacies, I know; and I think--yes, I do think, Frank--your name stood first on the list. But, dash me if I can recollect for how much." "Was it for pounds, hundreds, or thousands?" questioned Frank. "That's what I can't tell. Hang it all my memory's not worth a rush now. When folks grow old, Frank, their memory fails them." "I remember your words to me at the time, Uncle Francis: they were that I came in for a good slice." "Did I? When?" "When you came back from London, and were telling my aunt about the will. I was present: it was in this very room. 'You come in for a good slice, Frank,' you said, turning to me." "Didn't I say how much?" "No. And I did not like to ask you. Of course you knew how much it was?" "Of course I did. I read the will." "I wish you could remember." "I wish I could, Frank. I ought to. I'll sleep upon it, and perhaps it will come to me in the morning." "Where is the will?" asked Charles, speaking for the first time. "Don't you hold it, papa?" Major Raynor took his long pipe from his mouth, and turned the stem towards an old-fashioned walnut bureau that stood by the side of the fireplace. The upper part of it was his own, and was always kept locked; the lower part consisted of three drawers, which were used indiscriminately by Mrs. Raynor and the children. "It's there," said the major. "I put it there when I brought it home, and I've never looked at it since." As if the thought suddenly came to him to look at it then, he put his pipe in the fender, took a bunch of keys from his pocket, and unlocked the bureau. It disclosed some pigeon-holes above, some small, shallow drawers beneath them, three on each side, and one deeper drawer in the middle. Selecting another key, he unlocked this last, pulled the drawer right out, and put it on the table. Two sealed parchments lay within it.