"And you take it greatly to heart, eh?" said the invalid, regarding the girl's flushed face and appealing eyes. "Wouldn't any one?" she asked. "A confounded nuisance to have such a circumstance mar your vacation." "Oh, think of the boy's side of it, Cousin Herbert!" "You want my opinion? I think the law could take a hand there." "Yes; but the law is so slow!" Diana swallowed. "So near a relative as an uncle, own brother to the boy's father, can put up a hypocritical fight and establish a very strong claim." Herbert Loring shook his head. "My dear child, in your position, if you begin on this Quixotic business, there will be no end to it, believe me. You can't right all the wrongs in the world, and you will have the pack in full cry after you if it is known that you have let down the bars. You can state this case to a lawyer, and put it in his hands with the understanding that you will pay the bills, but your identity must be kept secret. Then let them fight it out. You can't do any more than that. A pity I didn't know you were here this morning. My lawyer was with me." The speaker's tired eyes smiled and the corners of his mustache lifted slightly. "I have celebrated my return by destroying my will and the new business was to have been finished this morning, but I was uncertain about some matters that the lawyer is looking up to-day. He will come to-morrow morning to draw up the new will, and before he goes I will send for you and you shall tell him about your boy and his ogre of an uncle." Diana's heart was beating fast now. She summoned all her courage. "What is so exciting to me, Cousin Herbert," she began,--and he wondered to hear the wavering in her voice,--"is that lately I have learned that this lad is related to some one rich and powerful who could rescue him at once." A puzzled frown came in Loring's forehead. "Any one I know?" he asked. "Surely, or I should not trouble you at a time when you are not feeling strong. Cousin Herbert, this neglected boy belongs to you. He is your grandson." Diana unconsciously stretched her clasped hands toward him. A strange white change came over her listener's face and the expression that awoke in the eyes that met hers was terrible to her. "This is the explanation of your desire to make my acquaintance," he said in a changed voice. She was so frightened that she seemed to hear her own heartbeats. "The boy's name is Gayne. Herbert Loring Gayne," she went on, desperately. "Miss Wilbur, you have ventured in where angels would fear to tread," said the sick man sternly, "but you awake no memory. That room where you intrude is bare and empty. You--" "He is talented," pleaded Diana. "Very talented as an artist. Any family might be proud to own him and bring him out of a cellar into the sunshine. Think of the interest in life it would give you. Think it over, Cousin Herbert. Just be willing to see him once--"