"Yes, sir. I met him, only a short time since, on Vine street."

 

"How did you know him?"

 

"By the scar on his cheek. But I think I would have known him at any rate. I have a good memory for faces."

 

"How did he receive you?" asked Mr. Ferguson, with curiosity.

 

"He didn't seem very glad to see me," answered Gilbert, smiling. "He insisted that his nephew is dead, and called me an impostor."

 

"He must have seen the resemblance between you and his brother. You will make just such a looking man as your father."

 

"I hope I sha'n't look like my uncle."

 

"Your father and your uncle did not resemble each other. There might have been a slight family likeness¹, but it was very slight."

 

"So much the better."

 

"You don't think you shall like your uncle?"

 

"I am sure I shall not. First, he cheated me out of my property, and now, because I claim it, he calls me an impostor."

 

"So that was the way the interview terminated, was it?"

 

"Not exactly. When I told him I had old Jacob's confession², and threatened to put it into the hands of a lawyer, he said he would like to see it, and asked me to call with it at the Burnet House this afternoon."

 

"Humph!" said Mr. Ferguson, thoughtfully. "Did you promise to do it?"

 

"Yes, sir."

 

"Then I will give you a piece of advice."

 

"What is it, sir?"

 

"Don't carry the original paper with you."

 

"Why not, sir?"

 

"It is best to be on the safe side. Your uncle is an unscrupulous man. This paper is of the utmost importance to you, since it proves your identity, and lays bare the conspiracy³ against you. Just in proportion as it is valuable to you, it is also valuable to your uncle."

 

"I understand," said Gilbert, nodding. "You think he has laid a trap for me, in order to get hold of the paper."

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