He decided to will and bequeath his little property of savings to his godchild, and the point arose how could it be so 'tied up' as that only she should have the benefit of it?
His experience on the lock gave him such an acute perception of the enormous difficulty of 'tying up' money with any approach to tightness, and contrariwise of the remarkable ease with which it got loose, that through a series of years he regularly propounded this knotty point to every new insolvent agent and other professional gentleman who passed in and out.
'Supposing,' he would say, stating the case with his key on the professional gentleman's waistcoat; 'supposing a man wanted to leave his property to a young female, and wanted to tie it up so that nobody else should ever be able to make a grab at it; how would you tie up that property ?' 'Settle it strictly on herself,' the professional gentleman would complacently answer.
'But look here,' quoth the turnkey.

'Supposing she had, say a brother, say a father, say a husband, who would be likely to make a grab at that property when she came into it--how about that ?' 'It would be settled on herself, and they would have no more legal claim on it than you,' would be the professional answer.
'Stop a bit,' said the turnkey.

'Supposing she was tender-hearted, and they came over her.

Where's your law for tying it up then ?' The deepest character whom the turnkey sounded, was unable to produce his law for tying such a knot as that.

So, the turnkey thought about it all his life, and died intestate after all.
But that was long afterwards, when his god-daughter was past sixteen.
The first half of that space of her life was only just accomplished, when her pitiful and plaintive look saw her father a widower.