“I’m mighty glad to hear it. Mighty glad. Is there anything else you can tell me?”
“No. Our next move, provided you decide to accept the trust, the executorship, and the rest, is to get together—you and Graves, if he is well enough; you and I if he is not—and begin a careful examination of the stocks, bonds, assets, and debts of the estate. This must be done first of all.”
“Graves hinted there wa’n’t any debts, to amount to anything.”
“So far as we can see, there are none, except a few trifling bills.”
“Yes, yes. Hum!” Captain Elisha put down his coffee spoon and seemed to be thinking. He shook his head.
“You appear to be puzzled about something,” observed the lawyer, who was watching him intently.
“I am. I was puzzled afore I left home, and I’m just as puzzled now.”
“What puzzles you? if I may ask.”
“Everything. And, if you’ll excuse my sayin’ so, Mr. Sylvester, I guess it puzzles you, too.”
He returned his host’s look. The latter pushed back his chair, preparatory to rising.