"Yet I shall insist, madam."
"Are you wealthy?" asked Marion curiously.
"Yes, Miss Ruthven—or I will be as soon as I have proven my identity. As yet I have been able to do but little. Let me add, Mackey is not my real name."
"What is your real name?" questioned Mrs. Ruthven.
"I will reveal that later, when I have taken the proper steps in law to obtain the vast property which is rightfully coming to me. You see, when I disappeared, so to speak, nearly eleven years ago, my property went into the hands of distant relatives, and they hate to give it up, and are just as anxious to prove me an impostor as you seem to be."
"I am not anxious to prove you an impostor, Dr. Mackey; my heart is wrapped up in Jack, that is all. If he is your son, I will rejoice that he will be well off."
"I don't want to be rich; I would rather stay with you," put in our hero quickly, and he meant what he said.
"Your affection for your foster mother does you credit, Jack," said the doctor smoothly.
"She has been the best of mothers to me; so why shouldn't I love her?"
"True, my son, true. But it is strange that you have no warm feeling for me—such as I have for you."