"No, sir, only an aunt and cousin."
"Are they well off?"
"Not very, sir. They got along very comfortably till lately, but now something has happened which makes me feel anxious. But I won't trouble you with it, sir."
"Tell me about it; I would like to hear it."
"For five years my aunt has occupied a small house, rent free. It belonged to her uncle. She has just got a letter saying that her uncle is dead, and demanding payment of rent for the last five years."
"What are you going to do about it?"
"I have written to the lawyer, telling him on what terms my aunt occupied her house—that is, rent free, on condition that she paid the taxes regularly."
"What was the uncle's name? I am a little acquainted in Montreal. Perhaps I may have heard it."
"His name was Matthew Baldwin."
"I have heard of him. He was a miserly old man."