into the house, eagerly calling for his uncle, and the next instant

plunged into the room, waving in the air the evening paper.

It was indeed with great news that he came charged. The demise was

announced of Lieutenant-General Sir Glasgow Biggar, KCSI, KCMG, etc.,

and the prize of the tontine now lay between the Finsbury brothers. Here

was Morris's opportunity at last. The brothers had never, it is true,

been cordial. When word came that Joseph was in Asia Minor, Masterman

had expressed himself with irritation. 'I call it simply indecent,' he

had said. 'Mark my words--we shall hear of him next at the North Pole.'

And these bitter expressions had been reported to the traveller on his

return. What was worse, Masterman had refused to attend the lecture on

'Education: Its Aims, Objects, Purposes, and Desirability', although

invited to the platform. Since then the brothers had not met. On the

other hand, they never had openly quarrelled; Joseph (by Morris's

orders) was prepared to waive the advantage of his juniority; Masterman

had enjoyed all through life the reputation of a man neither greedy nor

unfair. Here, then, were all the elements of compromise assembled;

and Morris, suddenly beholding his seven thousand eight hundred pounds

restored to him, and himself dismissed from the vicissitudes of the

leather trade, hastened the next morning to the office of his cousin

Michael.

Michael was something of a public character. Launched upon the law at a

very early age, and quite without protectors, he had become a trafficker

in shady affairs. He was known to be the man for a lost cause; it was

The Wrong Box