“What is the matter?” cried Nan, startled by the gravity of her father and the exaltation upon her mother's face. “What's happened?”
“A very great thing, Nan, honey,” said Momsey, drawing her daughter to her side. “Tell her, Papa Sherwood.”
He sighed deeply and put away the letter they had been reading. “It's from Mr. Blake, of Edinburgh,” he said. “I can no longer doubt the existence of the fortune, my dears. But I fear we shall have to strive for it in the Scotch courts.”
“Oh!” cried Nan, under her breath.
“Mr. Blake tells us here that it is absolutely necessary for us to come to Scotland, and for your mother to appear in person before the court there. The sum of money and other property willed to Momsey by her great uncle is so large that the greatest care will be exercised by the Scotch judges to see that it goes to the right person.”
“As your mother once said, we must throw a sprat to catch a herring. In this case we shall be throwing a sprat to catch a whale! For the amount of money we may have to spend to secure the fifty thousand dollars left by Mr. Hugh Blake, of Emberon, is small, in comparison to the fortune itself.
“We must go to Scotland,” finished Mr. Sherwood firmly. “And we must start as soon as possible.”
Chapter IX. ON THE WAY TO THE WILDERNESS
It seemed to Nan Sherwood that night as though she never could get to sleep. Her mind and imagination worked furiously.