It was a time for confidences, and the wily Mrs.
Dunn realized that fact.

She soothed, comforted, and within half an hour, had learned the whole story.

Caroline told her all, the strange will, the disclosure concerning the country uncle, and the inexplicable clauses begging the latter to accept the executorship, the trust, and the charge of her brother and herself.

Incidentally she mentioned that a possible five hundred thousand was the extreme limit of the family's pecuniary resources.
"Now you know everything," sobbed Caroline.

"Oh, Mrs.Dunn, _you_ won't desert us, will you ?" The widow's reply was a triumph, of its kind.