"Grandma," asked Flaxie, as soon as their visitor had gone, "please tell me what's a will, and why is it 'a wise and proper thing'?"
"Perhaps, little Mary, I cannot make you understand. But Mr. Prim has a great deal of money, and so has Mrs. Prim; and if either of them should die, perhaps it would not be known what was best to do with the money that was left. So Mr. Prim is going to write his wishes about his money on a sheet of paper. He is going to say, 'I wish to give so many thousand dollars to my wife, and so many thousand dollars to somebody else,' etc. And Mrs. Prim will do the same about her money. She will say, 'I wish to give so many thousand dollars to Mr. Prim, and so many thousand dollars to somebody else,' etc."
"Well, if she wishes to give it, why doesn't she do it, and not write about it?"
"Oh, she only means that she wishes it to be given away after she is dead! Not now, Mary!"
"Oh, yes'm, I understand, I understand now. Why, grandmamma, I've heard ever so often about people's making wills, but I never knew before what it meant."
In the afternoon, when Madam Gray had quite forgotten this conversation, she was startled by hearing Flaxie say plaintively,—
"Grandma, do little girls ever make wills?"
"Not that I ever heard of, my dear; but they certainly have a right to do so, if they like."
"Well, if they haven't a great deal of money, can they give away something besides money? I mean, have they a right to make a will and give away their books and toys and pretty things?"