"Will you forgive me if I go over a little old ground with you--for the last time ?" The lawyer resumed his seat.
"I am in no hurry," he said, "if you think it worth while." "My father came to you when he was living at Stepney--a stranger to you." "A complete stranger," Mr.Ascough agreed.

"I had never seen him before in my life.

I did a little trifling business for him in connection with his property." "He told you nothing of his family or relatives ?" "He told me that he had not a relation in the world." "You knew him slightly, then ?" Brooks continued, "all the time he was in London?
And when he left for that voyage he came to you." "Yes." "He made over his small income then to my mother in trust for me.

Did it strike you as strange that he should do this instead of making a will ?" "Not particularly," Mr.Ascough declared.

"As you know, it is not an unusual course." "It did not suggest to you any determination on his part never to return to England ?" "Certainly not." "He left England on friendly terms with my mother ?" "Certainly.