“There is no objection to the appointment, I understand?” pursued the Judge. “The widow is satisfied?”
“Very much so,” declared the lawyer.
“She is not here present?”
“Ill health, your honor,” said Maxwell, briskly! “But Mr. Downes, who is her brother-in-law, has been her man of business for years. Mr. Hounsditch, lately deceased, although appointed under the will, was merely a figure-head in the affairs of the estate.”
“And this minor child—how old is he?”
“Seventeen.”
“Ah. He has no choice, then? He does not object to his uncle as a trustee?”
“The boy has run away from home, your honor. He is a little wild——” began Mr. Maxwell.
I was so enraged that I could not keep my seat; but Ham pulled me back. “Take it easy, Clint,” he whispered.
“In that case,” the judge mooned along, rustling the papers, “there being no objection, and Mr. Chester Downes’ bond being entirely satisfactory——”