“I might ask Lawyer Kellogg’s advice,” he said. “He wasn’t Judge Ferguson’s friend, but he knows the law and could tell us what to do.”
“Kellogg! That fat pig of a pettifogger?” cried the old woman, sniffing disdainfully. “I wouldn’t believe him on oath.”
“Never mind the law; give her the box, Toby,” implored Janet.
“Who’s Holbrook?” inquired Mrs. Ritchie. “Never heard of him.”
“He is a young lawyer who has just come to Riverdale to practice. I think Will Chandler has rented him our offices,” explained the boy.
“I--I think so, ma’am. I’ve never seen him but once, a half hour ago. But I’m sure he is competent to advise us.”
“It will be better for you to come with me,” replied Toby, anxious to relieve Janet of the woman’s disturbing presence. “We will go to the hotel, and I’ll leave you there while I hunt up Mr. Holbrook. He may be stopping at the hotel, you know.”
The woman rose deliberately from her chair.
“It’s getting late,” she said. “I want to get my property and drive home before dark. Come along, boy.”
“Thank you, Toby,” whispered Janet, gratefully, as the two passed out of the room.
Mrs. Ritchie’s horse was hitched to a post in front of the house. They climbed into the rickety buggy and she drove into town and to the rambling old clapboard hotel, which was located on the main street. It was beginning to grow dusk by this time.
On the hotel porch stood the man they were seeking. Mr. Holbrook was smoking a cigarette and, with hands thrust deep in his pockets, was gazing vacantly down the street. Turning his attention to the arrivals the young lawyer seemed to recognize Toby. When the boy and the woman approached him he threw away his cigarette and bowed in deference to Mrs. Ritchie’s sex.
“I am Judge Ferguson’s clerk, sir,” began Toby.
“And this is Mrs. Ritchie, who employed the judge as her confidential business agent.”
“I am glad to know you, madam. Step into the hotel parlor, please. There we may converse with more comfort.”
When they had entered the parlor Toby explained the situation. Mrs. Ritchie wanted her box of private papers and Toby was not sure he had the right to give them up without legal authority.
“That is correct,” observed Mr. Holbrook. “You must have an order from the Probate Court to dispose of any property left by Judge Ferguson.”