“He was not my relation at all.”
“Why, you have always called him uncle.”
“I supposed him to be my uncle, but yesterday he told me that he was only a servant in my father’s family, and that on my father’s death he was placed in charge of me.”
“I reckon that’s so. You didn’t favor the old man at all. You look as if you came from better stock.”
“All the same I shall miss him,” said Ernest sadly. “He was a good friend to me.”
“Did he tell you whether you had any kin?”
“Yes; I have a cousin of my father’s living in New York State. He is a rich man. He inherited the property that ought to have gone to my father.”
“How did that happen?”
“He prejudiced my grandfather against my father, and so the estate was willed to him.”
“The mean scoundrel!” exclaimed Luke indignantly. “I’d like to have him in my hands for a few minutes; I’d give him a lesson.”