THE LEGACY


Mrs. Trent now invited all to partake of the evening meal. The
conversation became animated, and Mr. Trent was happy to find that his
guest was such a sensible, honest man. He then asked him how he happened
to take such a long trip.

Joseph Swift said that a legacy had been bequeathed to him, and that he
was on his way to a distant city to claim it. He had stopped at the
near-by port in order to break the monotony of the journey. "Before the
disaster that befell me," continued he, "I lived in comparative comfort,
but ever since I have been struggling. I was obliged to begin all over
again and build a new house and start a new business. You can easily
understand that I soon fell behind in money matters. The news of this
legacy was very welcome, for every little helps. Some difficulty,
however, has arisen, so I decided to go personally; and whether I shall
get the money or not, remains to be seen."

"I trust you have all the necessary papers and credentials with you."

"O yes," said Joseph, drawing out a wallet containing the papers, in
order to prove his words.

Mr. Trent looked them over and found them correct, but conjectured that
the outcome would be somewhat doubtful. Besides, when he took into
consideration the cost of the journey, living expenses, the cost of the
trial, he found that very little would remain of the legacy after all.