“Yes, yes, yes,” said the doctor, nodding pleasantly at Gertrude; who felt at the moment as if she would have given anything to have had with her an elderly woman friend.
“All very satisfactory, Mr George Harrington,” said the old lawyer gravely; “but, unpleasant as it may seem, we must go a little further, please.”
“Come,” said the young man, smiling, “you acknowledge me as George Harrington, then?”
“A lapsus lingua—a mere slip of the tongue. Now, sir, can you give us any other proof. Have you brought any letters of introduction from well-known people in the States?”
“I have brought you a letter of introduction from my grandfather, gentlemen—several.”
“Yes, yes. Quite right. But any others?”
“Good Heavens, gentlemen, I have been for months hunting in the wildest parts of the North West, fighting bears; always on the watch to save myself from Indians; and when at last I got your letter at Laramie City, I came home. Letters from people in the States! Why, I never thought of such a thing.”
“No, he would not,” said the doctor quietly.
“By the way, gentlemen, as I am to come into some property now, I ought to make a will.”
“A most wise proceeding, sir,” assented the old lawyer.