“Indeed?”
“Dear old fellow! He and aunt quite took my old people’s place; and their boy, my cousin, always seemed like my brother.”
The listener made a quick movement.
“What is it? Hear anything?”
“No; go on.”
“They were such happy times. I never knew what trouble was, till one day poor uncle was brought home on a gate. His horse had thrown him.”
There was a pause, and then the speaker continued in an almost inaudible whisper:
“He was dead.”
The listener uttered a strange ejaculation.
“Yes, it was horrible, wasn’t it? And there was worse to come. It nearly killed poor dear old aunt, and when she recovered a bit it was to hear the news from the lawyers. I don’t quite understand how it was even now—something about a great commercial smash—but all uncle’s money was gone, and aunt was left penniless.”