The emotions, so long suppressed, welled up as they had been wont to do years ago in the sordid London home.
With a throb of confidence and anticipation he inserted his finger under the flap of the envelope and tore it open.

With lightning speed his eyes skimmed the oddly written lines.

Then a short, inarticulate sound escaped him, and the blood suddenly receded from his face.
"MY DEAR NEPHEW," he read.--"In acknowledgment of your services during the past seven years--and also because I have no wish to pass into the Unseen with the stain of vindictiveness on my Soul--I have obliterated from my mind the remembrance of my brother's ingratitude to our father, and have placed the sum of L500 to your credit in the Cleef branch of the Consolidated Bank.

I trust it may assist you to commence an industrious career.

For the rest, it may interest you to know that my capital, which I realized upon your grandfather's death, is already placed in the treasury of the sect to which I belong--where it will remain until claimed by the One in whose ultimate advent I most solemnly believe.
"I make you cognizant of these facts that all disputes and unnecessary differences may be avoided after my death.