Part 28 (1/2)
”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 confession, 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 ident.i.ty, and lays bare the conspiracy 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.”
”It looks very much like it. At any rate, it is best to be on your guard.”
”I don't think he would find it easy to get it away from me,” said Gilbert, with the confidence of youth.
”You are too confident, Gilbert. You are but a boy, and he is a strong man. Besides, he will want to take it in his hands.”
”Would you not advise me to carry it then, sir?”
”Not the original. Can you not make a copy of the paper?”
”But I am to call at three.”
”You will have time enough. It is not long.”
”Then I shall be obliged to neglect my duties here.”
”Oh! as to that, in a matter of such importance, I will readily excuse you. You can go home at once, and get to work.”
”Thank you, sir.”
Gilbert lost no time in availing himself of the permission accorded to him. Reaching his boarding-house--the same one to which the reader has already been introduced--he took the important paper from its secure resting-place in his trunk, and, seating himself at the table, began to copy it rapidly. When he first entered Mr. Ferguson's establishment, he could scarcely write at all; but he knew how important a good handwriting was, to one who aspired to be a business man, and he therefore soon commenced taking lessons. Now he was master of a handsome hand. Jacob, too, was a good writer, with a handwriting quite similar to his, so that, without any great effort, he succeeded in producing a doc.u.ment very nearly resembling the original.
”Now, Uncle James, I am ready to meet you,” he said to himself, with satisfaction, as he compared the two papers, and then carefully laid away the first in its old place of concealment. ”You are welcome to destroy this, if you think it will do you any good.”
It was still early, for the paper was not long, and Gilbert decided to go back to the store, and resume his duties until it should be time to start for the Burnet House.