"Keep cool, Monsieur," calmly remonstrated Beman, "until I explain. You are aware, Madame," he continued, turning quietly to the widow, "that the recovery of your father's estates would have been easy, but for the loss of two papers and the disappearance of one witness. Those two papers I have for some time had in my possession. I did not mention the fact to you, because the witness was still to be found, and I did not wish to raise hopes that might be disappointed. The grant, or warrant, alone, was not sufficient; for the 'Statute of Limitations'—which enacts that if you can continue a wrong for a certain number of years, the law will perpetuate it by pronouncing it a right—would have cut us off; and the rules applying to the lease—a part of whose meaning is, that no wrong can be righted until you have first proven that no wrong has been committed[1]—would have enabled the other party to put us upon the proof of the signatures. But for the opportune appearance of Mr. McAllen, this would have been impossible. Now, we shall be able to recount for the witness, and for the custody of the papers; and shall, also, be able to introduce other testimony, which would otherwise have been excluded.
"All this, you will say," continued the lawyer, "does not explain the sudden revolution disclosed in the sentiments of Napoleon Le Vert and his father. But listen a few moments. About two thousand dollars will be necessary in order to prosecute the affair to a successful issue. I knew you could not raise this; but I had heard that the young man and Marie were to be married, and I therefore, this morning, told him the whole story. I must do him and his father the justice to say, that they promptly offered to furnish the money—informing me, at the same time, of the mistake of yesterday, and exacting a promise that I would accompany Monsieur Le Vert hither, and throw my weight into the scale."
"Your weight will hardly be sufficient, Sir," said. Madame Lefrette, waving her hand to silence Le Vert, who was about to speak.
"I am aware of that," said Beman calmly, "and rejoice that it is
- ↑ Id est, before you can avoid the operation of the "Statute" named in the text, (in matters of ejectment,) you must prove that there has been no "adverse," or wrongful, "possession."
