“This is a legal will, as sure as I am alive!” he exclaimed. “It was drawn up at Rio by an American lawyer—a Mr. Bromley. Properly signed and witnessed.”
“Well, you’ll look out for it, won’t you?” said Caleb, who was eager to hear the other paper—the letter from Anson Tarr to his brother—read.
“Of course. But let me tell you its contents,” replied the merchant. “It is short and to the point, Caleb. You are given the Silver Swan, in fee simple, and everything else goes to Brandon, here.”
He read the paragraph which secured all the property of which Captain Tarr had been possessed, excepting the brig, to Brandon, including “certain uncut diamonds, roughly estimated at two hundred thousand dollars.”
“Two hundred thousand!” repeated Brandon, in bewilderment.
“Quite a pile, my boy,” said Caleb. “That is, if we get ’em.”
“And you and I, Caleb,” concluded Mr. Pepper, “are joint guardians of Don.”
“All right, all right,” cried the impatient sailor. “But let’s hear the other letter, my lad. Read it out.”
Thus urged, Brandon unfolded the third paper, and read its contents aloud:
“Kimberley, South Africa,
“November the 27th, 1891.