Page 124 - Fairbrass

But the father was stern, silent and resentful;
the familiar surroundings of the house in

which he was born, the recollections of his

sweet young mother that they conjured up,
together with all the events of his hopeful

early life, only caused him to reflect angrily
that all these things, all this handsome

property, should have been, and now never
would be, his. Even when they reached

the house itself, and passed through the

entrance-hall, where the polished-oak coffin,
with its bright brass plates and handles,

already lay, he took no heed of it, but
passed on into the dining-room where the

mourners were assembled.
Mourners ! There was the lawyer, of

course, reading aloud to two rather gouty

old gentlemen a letter of apology for non-
attendance from the family doctor, who

regretted (no doubt very sincerely) that
their friend had been so suddenly cut off

that he had not had the advantage of his
professional advice. The two gouty old

gentlemen were the two executors named