out his hand i am grateful sir that you have restored to me my name and rank he said in a voice of emotion but i can never be sufficiently grateful for your kindness when i was a poor and unknown wanderer i do not believe a word of all this rubbish broke out before lord could reply and i shall not submit to be robbed of my rights in this manner i shall go to law over it you will do no such thing sir retorted the old lord in a stern tone which the fiery anger of the young man this is a family matter and must be settled here not a word must be breathed outside these walls why so demanded because the father of that lad was a dwarf said pointing to do you think for a moment that i will let you take this matter before the house of lords and permit the secret of our family to be known never you will abandon all claims to my title and estate and receive instead a yearly income to be fixed by me and if i refuse you dare not refuse replied in a quiet tone if you did question the rights of your cousin and shame our family by betraying the secret of the dwarf s the dwarf s chamber chamber you would gain nothing but the proofs which make the heir are too strong to be show him the papers and let him decide at once what course he to take turned sullenly towards who spread out the papers for his inspection the first said he is a of the birth of a dwarf given by my dr in the next a confession by walter stating that he took the dwarf from here by order of my lord and disposed of him to one george a commonly known as the third is a statement by stating that he received the dwarf from and called him from that paper so often referred to here is also the of s marriage at the church of st martin in with commonly known as the fair again the of birth date of now known as and finally an sworn by that is the son of the dwarf you will see mr that not a link is missing and that our friend is really and truly the of your lord could not deny that the proofs were plain enough and stood sullenly looking at his successful rival madam clapped her hands with glee at the solution of the mystery which had perplexed for so long and then the latter spoke how is it that took away my father from this place he said looking at lord with eager curiosity the old man flushed with shame and he hung his head before the gaze of his that was my fault he said in a low voice and one for which i must ask your pardon your father the dwarf s chamber was my eldest son but when he was pronounced a dwarf i could not bear the idea that he should succeed to the title and estates which were his nor did i think it wise that he should be kept in the dwarf s chamber lest he should be discovered by accident and in after years on learning the truth might insist on his rights i therefore gave him to to take away and this was done i did not intend to lose sight of him but disappeared and i could not trace him then my second son s father was born and i thought myself sure of a successor but he was killed and my sin was brought home to me for then there was no one but to inherit i tried to find out what had become of the dwarf but could not discover a trace of him then you appeared and when you told your story i thought that the dwarf father you mentioned might be my son aided by i went to work and learned all you have heard but the truth might have remained had not the landlady of the arms brought to dr her brother s confession that was why mistress sally was in this study on that night yes said dr taking up the story she did not guess the truth being in ignorance of your story but the question you put to her on that day made her fearful of keeping the confession of her brother any longer so she brought it to me it was then that lord and myself knew that you were none other than the heir but you told me that was dead said reproachfully yes at the request of lord said rather you must forgive me for that i did not want you to know the truth till i had proved you said quickly had you been a an i might have held my peace but when i saw you so clever so well bred so handsome in a word so the dwarf s chamber well fitted to be my heir i determined to you in your position i have he added looking steadily at his but it was for the honour of the family and you must forgive me held out his hand too delighted at his good fortune to bear malice at such a moment i do forgive you and also he said heartily i would indeed be ungrateful did i withhold forgiveness after all your kindness to me the old lord took the lad s hand and placed it in that of this perhaps will seal your forgiveness he said with a smile cast one look of hatred on the lovers and fled from the room pursued by the mocking laughter of the dwarf chapter xxi an important communication about two years after the events heretofore recorded � as continued to call him � had occasion to write to his grandfather who was 