"What are all these papers?" asked George.
"These be mine," said Kezia, taking one bundle. "Those belong to Bess. This one is vor Miss Sophy. And this one is vor Nellie."
"Wasn't there one vor Mr. Percy?" inquired Bessie.
"Here's something on the floor," said George. He picked up the scrap of paper and read, "I should like Percy to have something to remember me by. He can take the pair of silver candlesticks given me by his mother as a wedding present."
"He can't have them," said Bessie, looking across at Kezia.
"No, that he can't," said Kezia, staring rather uneasily at Bessie.
"What are all these papers?" George demanded, feeling in his pocket, to make sure that the will was safe.
"Will ye please to read 'em?" replied Kezia, extending her bundle.
George opened the first and read, "I want Kezia to have all the furniture in her bedroom, also six dining room chairs, my sofa, and the largest bookcase." The second paper included, for Kezia's benefit, much of the furniture in the parlour, together with "the pair of silver candlesticks given me by Louisa as a wedding present." The third paper mentioned most of the articles in Mrs. Drake's bedroom, with the grandfather clock, the Chinese vases, "and anything else Mr. George does not want." And so the lists ran on, until Kezia had been left everything in the house several times over.
Then Bessie proffered her bundle with a sorrowful smile. First of all she was to have the bed she had once slept on, then all the furniture in her bedroom, much of that in the parlour, half of that in the dining room, with "the pair of silver candlesticks given me by Louisa as a wedding present," most of the ornaments including the Chinese vases, the Egyptian mummy, and "any other little thing Mr. George does not care about."