"But then," she continued after a moment's pause, "he was very sick and feeble. Perhaps he did not think. I am sure I shall be very sorry if it is not a good will, for if I do not have the farm and the stock, I don't know what I shall do with my poor children."
Mary Erskine had a vague idea that if the will should prove invalid, she and her children would lose the property, in some way or other, entirely,—though she did not know precisely how. After musing upon this melancholy prospect a moment she asked,
"Should not I have any of the property, if the will proves not to be good?"
"Oh yes," said Mrs. Bell, "you will have a considerable part of it, at any rate."
"How much?" asked Mary Erskine.
"Why about half, I believe," replied Mrs. Bell.
"Oh," said Mary Erskine, apparently very much relieved. "That will do very well. Half will be enough. There is a great deal of property. Albert told me that the farm and the new house are worth five hundred dollars, and the stock is worth full three hundred more. And Albert does not owe any thing at all."
"Well," said Mrs. Bell. "You will have half. Either half or a third, I forget exactly which."
"And what becomes of the rest?" asked Mary Erskine.
"Why the rest goes to the children," said Mrs. Bell.