When Davie arrives at the house, however, he is much disappointed. The owner is actually Davie's uncle, Ebenezer Balfour. Ebenezer is a miser and kind of a jerk. He even attempts to kill Davie on one occasion. Why is he so threatened by Davie? We're not going to find out for sure until around Chapter 29 of 30. Still, Davie is fairly sure that Ebenezer hates him because he is the rightful heir to the house of Shaws. At any rate, Davie manages to get the upper hand over Ebenezer, who promises to bring Davie to see his lawyer, Mr. Rankeillor, to get a full explanation of Ebenezer's relationship to Davie's father.