"You can call it luck, if you like," the judge mused.
"That's what most folks would call it, I guess."
"I suppose that is what she feels, because she was anxious when she came to see me yesterday to divide her fortune with you other Clarks."
It was a daring move, and as he spoke the judge looked keenly into the young man's face.
"Did she?" Tom Clark inquired unconcernedly. "I know she's always on the square—there aren't many like her!"
"You may not know that if she should carry out her intention, she would strip herself of almost every dollar she possesses."
"What do you mean by that?"
"Her husband, I understand, conducted her affairs so badly that very nearly if not quite half the great fortune she received five years ago from her guardians has wasted away. I don't know what ultimately may be recovered from these California investments, but judging from what Mrs. Clark tells me I should say almost nothing. So that there can be left of the original estate only a little over two millions of dollars."
"Well, that's enough for any woman to worry along on," the mason grinned lightly.
"But not enough for her to pay out of it two and a half millions, which would have been the share of your grandfather's heirs."