“The ladies are Miss India Wayne and her niece, Miss Holly Wayne, sister and daughter respectively of my very dear and much lamented friend Captain Lamar Wayne, whose home this was for many years. At his death I found myself the executor of his will, sir. He left this estate and very little else but debts. I did the best I could, Mr. Winthrop, but Waynewood had to go. It was sold to a Judge Linderman of Georgia, a very estimable gentleman and a shining light of the State Bar. As he had no intention of living here I made an arrangement with him whereby Miss India and her niece might remain here in their home, sir, paying a――a nominal rent for the place.” “A very convenient arrangement, Major.” “I am glad to hear you say so,” replied the Major, almost eagerly. “Judge Linderman, however, was a consarned fool, sir, and couldn’t let speculation alone. He was caught in a cotton panic and absolutely ruined. Waynewood then passed to your late partner, Mr. Potter. The arrangement in force before was extended with his consent, and the ladies have continued to reside here. They are paying”――(the Major paused and spat voluminously into the fire)――“they are paying, Mr. Winthrop, the sum of five dollars a month rent.” “A fair figure, I presume, as rents go hereabouts,” observed Winthrop, subduing a smile. The Major cleared his throat. Then he leaned across and laid a large hand on Winthrop’s knee. “A small price, Mr. Winthrop, and that’s the truth. And I don’t deny that after the property fell into Mr. Potter’s hands I was troubled right smart by my conscience. As long as it was Judge Linderman it was all right; he was a Southerner, one of us, and could understand. No offense intended, Mr. Winthrop. But afterwards when I wrote Mr. Potter of the arrangement in force and――ah――suggested its continuance, I felt that maybe I was taking advantage of his absence from the scene. To be sure the amount was all that the ladies could afford to pay, and it isn’t likely that Mr. Potter could have found more satisfactory tenants. Still, I dare say it was my place to tell him that the figure was pretty cheap, and let him try and do better with the property. I reckon I allowed my interest in my clients to sway my judgment, Mr. Winthrop. But I made up my mind when I got your letter and learned you were coming here that I’d explain things to you, sir, and let you do as you thought best.” “In regard to――――?” “In regard to re-renting, sir.” “But I had intended occupying the house myself, Major.” “So I gathered, sir, so I gathered. But of course you couldn’t know what the circumstances were, Mr. Winthrop. It isn’t as though the place was family property, sir, with you; not as though it was your birthplace and home. It’s just a house and a few acres of ground to you, sir; it has no――ah――sentimental value. You follow me, sir?” “Yes, and you are beginning to make me feel like an interloper, Major Cass.”