"Not less than fifty or sixty thousand dollars. The whole fortune is worth over a hundred thousand dollars."
It must be confessed that our hero was staggered for a moment. The sum was certainly a large one—a good deal more than the Ruthven plantation was worth.
"It's a lot of money," he said, at last.
"Indeed it is, my boy. We can be happy on that amount for the rest of our lives."
"But you haven't proved to me that you are my father," went on Jack abruptly.
The crafty face of the surgeon fell, and he bit his lip.
"What more proof do you require?" he said coldly. "Do you suppose I would wish to divide that fortune with a stranger?"
"I presume not, nor would I wish to divide any fortune that was coming to me with a stranger."
"Ha! what do you mean?" gasped the medical man.
"I mean just this: That fortune may be coming to me, and you may be trying to gain possession of it by palming yourself off as my father."