"May I ask why?" demanded the lawyer, searchingly.
"Because I was not willing to aid Major Grafton in a scheme of fraud."
Mr. Codicil pricked up his ears.
"Proceed, young man," he said. "This is becoming interesting."
"You called me Philip Grafton, and this is the name Major Grafton wished me to assume, but it is not my real name."
"Go on, go on!"
"My real name is Ben Baker. Major Grafton met me in this city, and engaged me to travel with him as his private secretary. He gave me the name of Philip Grafton, because, he said, I looked like his only son, bearing that name, who died abroad."
"The old rascal!"
"I supposed this was true, and saw no objection to the plan."