"That is well, but it is only a drop in the bucket compared with the fortune you are entitled to." "Now held by Mr. Stephen Ray?" "Yes; he will be surprised to see you here in the East." "He has seen me," said Ernest, quickly. "What!" exclaimed the lawyer. "You have not called upon him?" "No. I met him on the train and afterwards at a Buffalo hotel. My cousin Clarence was with him." "Did you have any conference with them?" "I talked with Clarence, not with his father." "Did you think the father knew you?" "Yes, but he did not speak to me." "He told me when I called upon him some time ago that you were dead--that you had died in Georgia." "What could have been his object?" "He did not wish me to find you, for I had the proof that the estate was rightfully yours." "What led you to think I was alive?" "I cross-examined Clarence, who did not know his father's desire to keep us apart." "Is the estate a large one?" "Quarter of a million, at least." Ernest's eyes opened wide with amazement. "But I will introduce you to Mr. Norcross, my principal, and we will talk over our plan of operations. You must assert your rights, and demand that your grandfather's will be carried out. Are you content to place yourself in our hands?" "Entirely so. But I am sorry for Cousin Stephen. It will be a great blow to him." "Don't waste any pity upon him. He defrauded your father, and meant to defraud you." CHAPTER XXXVI. AN IMPORTANT INTERVIEW. "A gentleman to see you, sir." This was the message brought to Stephen Ray by the servant one morning. "Did he give his name?" "No, sir." "Very well; bring him up." Mr. Ray was sitting at the desk in his library. He was looking over some plans for the improvement of his already handsome residence. He proposed to enlarge a lower room by a bay-window, and to carry the piazza round on each side. It would cost something, but his income was ample--at least four times his expenditure. He looked up as a handsomely dressed gentleman entered the room. "What is your business, sir?" asked Stephen Ray, formally. The visitor smiled. "You don't recognize me, Stephen Ray?" he said. "Benjamin Bolton!" exclaimed the other, his countenance changing. "The same." "I judge from your appearance that your circumstances have improved," said Mr. Ray, coldly. "Fortunately, yes." "You have probably come to receive my congratulations. Well, I congratulate you." "Thank you. The money you kindly loaned me when I was last here did me a great deal of good." "I presume you have come to repay it," said Ray, with a sneer. "You are right," and Bolton drew from his pocket two fifty-dollar bills, which he tendered to his host. Stephen Ray was fond of money, and he received the notes with satisfaction. "You have acted honorably," he said more graciously. "Are you located in the neighborhood, Mr. Bolton?" "No, in New York City. I am in a law office there."